End of New York Transit Strike Brings Relief to Working Parents

NEW YORK, Dec. 22, 2005 — -- Frazzled parents across the New York City area are getting an early Christmas gift: New York's transit system workers agreed to return to work as the executive board of the Transit Workers Union voted 38-5 to end the walkout that brought the nation's largest mass transit system to a standstill.

Tens of thousands of moms and dads scrambled to make arrangements for their young children when more than 33,000 transportation workers walked off the job early Tuesday morning. The TWU action left many child care providers who are among the 7 million daily riders who rely on New York's public transit system with few options to get to work.

Days before New York's system screeched to a halt this week, Manhattan mothers were already racing to make contingency plans for their child care employees. E-mails flew back and forth between women who belong to an informal network of mothers of twins on the city's Upper West Side.

Friends brainstormed about possible carpooling options for nannies residing in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens. Working moms contemplated telecommuting. And everyone wondered how they would wrap up last-minute holiday shopping and errands with two babies in tow.

But when news of the walkout broke two days ago, reality quickly set in.

Baby Sitters Given the Day Off

Lesley Alpert, 32, a senior account executive with TMG, a marketing group that handles Broadway shows, had no other choice but to work from home. She did not have a backup arrangement for her 5-month-old daughter, Zoe. Her baby sitter typically has a one-hour commute from Queens on the subway and it was too far to walk or bike into Manhattan. Alpert gave her the day off.

"It's very hard to work at home with a newborn. They don't nap while Mommy is home," said Alpert, who ended up waiting until her husband came home from his job to return e-mails and phone calls.

"I was really getting nervous about how to get our baby sitter to us if the strike continued," she said. In the days that followed, her employee was able to carpool, and Alpert did make it to the office the next day. But the drive home to Queens for her baby sitter topped two hours on Wednesday night.

With a deal to end the strike reached, Alpert says she will be extremely relieved when the subways are running again.

So will the director of Bright Horizons child care center based at New York Presbyterian Hospital. A quarter of the center's teaching staff couldn't make it to work on the first day of the strike, which forced the facility to send some children home early.

"It's hard for parents, and it is an irregular schedule for the kids. The parents are stressed out and the kids sense that. So it is difficult," said director Rachel Silver, whose facility serves 73 children ages six weeks to 5 years old.

Silver said Bright Horizons teachers living outside Manhattan have been getting up at dawn to share rides with co-workers driving in from the outer boroughs. In the evenings, those heading back to Brooklyn and Queens have faced three- to four-hour treks home through seemingly endless gridlock.

Working Moms Get a Few Extra Hours With Their Little Ones

There was a silver lining for some parents who already had planned to take some time off for the holidays. 32-year-old Risa Goldberg, founder of Big City Moms -- a social group for New York City mothers -- says many working women she knows made the most of the frustrating week by leaving early for vacations or taking extra days off.

And despite the headaches, even Alpert concedes she and her family got something out of the craziness. Working from home gave her an excuse to spend precious time with her infant.

"It was nice to have the time with my newborn daughter," she said. "To spend a few extra moments with her was kind of a blessing."