Union big\u2019s trains of thought<\/p>\n
John Samuelsen<\/a>. Subway track worker by trade and international president of the Transport Workers Union of America \u2014 the biggest airline union in the US with 165,000 transport workers.<\/p>\n Samuelsen: \u201cI oversee 100 coast-to-coast unions, including the Caribbean, plus our big transit cities \u2014 like 30,000 workers at American Airlines, 34,000 at Southwest Air. Plus NYC, Philadelphia and San Francisco cable cars.<\/p>\n \u201cMy first time on a subway was Avenue U and East 16th Street. I was about 8. Nazareth High School in East Flatbush. A working-class Irish neighborhood in southern Brooklyn. I still live there. Right where my father grew up. Same address. Then, in \u201993, I found that I was a good organizer.\u201d<\/p>\n Pricing stays fare<\/p>\n Why is it so expensive? I mean, when we had George Washington as president was when I first took the subway, and it was a nickel.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, time marches on, and it\u2019s relatively not at all expensive compared to the rest of the transit systems across the country. And look at what the cost of these systems are in some of the cities in Europe. Look even at the Long Island Rail Road or Metro-North or New Jersey Transit.<\/p>\n \u201cJust think, you can get on the system in Coney Island and take it up to Yankee Stadium for a flat fee, $3. It\u2019s not that much money. What can you do for three bucks? You can\u2019t get a slice of pizza for three bucks in the city anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tGet opinions and commentary from our columnists\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter!\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n What do people misunderstand about the subway? Everybody complains about it.<\/p>\n \u201cThe problem\u2019s the internet, Twitter, Instagram, cellphones, everything instantly available. Systems are under scrutiny that they weren\u2019t years ago. Five transit workers a week get assaulted on average in NYC. If five schoolteachers were assaulted each week, there\u2019d be massive societal steps to end that plague.\u201d<\/p>\n So what\u2019s going to happen with the new Second Avenue subway?<\/p>\n