BROOKLYN BRIDGE, 7:30am As we enter day 3 of the transit strike, it's a good time to reflect on public opinion. NY media coverage has focused mostly on commuter frustrations and heated words between the heads of the MTA, TWU, Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg (who actually has no control over the MTA). If you were to just watch the local Fox News channel, with their "Illegal Strike" graphics, you would think everyone hates the union and there is no public support for the strike. However, according a new Marist Poll, New Yorkers are actually pretty split about who's to blame for the strike with 39% blaming the MTA vs. 40% for the TWU. As you could imagine, due to the many inconveniences, a majority (55%) of New Yorkers are against the strike, but surprisingly 38% of people actually favor the strike. When broken down on ethnic and racial lines, there is a wide divide between support for the strike between New Yorkers who are white (23%), Latino (44%) and African-American (61%).

While no public official gets high approval rating for their handling of the strike, TWU president Roger Touissaint's approval is 39% vs. 27% for Pataki (who really controls the MTA's board). Bloomberg has a 43% approval rating for the strike.

In general I think this shows that there is little love for the MTA and shows that minority groups have higher support for unions taking action.