Strike this
22 Dec 2005 
around evening time 
Matt Winckler
This whole kafuffle in New York is exactly why I could never be a negotiator. If I were negotiating for the city (because I’d never be negotiating on behalf of the union) I would take one look at their illegal strike, turn to them, and say, “Well, you know what, if you don’t want to work, that’s fine with us. We’ll go find some people who do want to work.” And with that, I’d tear up their contract and go replace my entire workforce.
Feasible? No. But it sure would be glorious to see it happen someday. If I were a New Yorker dependent on mass transit, I would be happy to be inconvenienced even for weeks on end in exchange for the entire union getting a steel-toed kick in the seat of the pants.
What really got me riled up yesterday was union reps complaining that the million-dollar-a-day fine being imposed upon them for their illegal strike was “excessive”. Evidently it’s not excessive enough–after all, they were still striking! Again, if it were me, I’d come back and say exactly that, plus “And since you’ve brought to our attention the fact that the fine is too small to be an effective deterrent, let’s just make that five million per day. Retroactive! Now get out of my office!”