N.Y. commuter trains rolling after costly strike

Metro-North commuter trains are running again in the New York area. But no one seems to have won in the costly six-week strike, Monitor correspondent Ed Townsend reports.

Some 90,000 commuters spent one or two hours more - and up to double the Metro-North ticket costs - to reach the city. Metro-North faces a loss of millions of dollars in government subsidies, based on miles operated, and an expected 10 to 20 percent decline in ridership.

The 622 striking conductors and trainmen lost six weeks' pay, an average $2, 500 to $3,000 for most of them, and received only $150 to $217 in strike benefits. Several thousand nonstrikers who refused to cross picket lines also suffered a heavy loss of wages. Those losses won't be offset by bigger wage gains.