New York City representatives from multiple industries resist congestion pricing.

As the congestion pricing of the MTA approaches, New Yorkers are feeling like they are facing a formidable enemy. The unions representing various industries are also speaking out against the congestion pricing. The union of EMS responders from the Fire Department even issued a call: urging their members to abandon the emergency stations south of 60th Street in Manhattan and work elsewhere to avoid this new burden.

According to a message on the Local 2507 platform of the EMS union, the union is urging its members to “evacuate” lower and midtown Manhattan in New York before the congestion pricing is implemented.

“The current wage standards do not support additional costs for EMS workers because it will erode their already low wages,” the union stated in a release. The congestion pricing will require firefighters and EMS workers to pay $45 per week for working, while many of them earn an hourly wage of $18.94.

Under the congestion pricing rules, any vehicle entering south of 60th Street in Manhattan will be required to pay a daily fee of $9, including public servants. Moreover, the congestion pricing is only within the 60th Street and below area in Manhattan, with different tolls for bridges and tunnels before entering this area, meaning that for many drivers, the daily costs on tolls could reach tens of dollars, especially for those without an E-ZPass.

The president of Local 2507, Oren Barzilay, posted an interview he recently had with the New York Post on his Facebook. He mentioned that if congestion pricing is not exempted for firefighters and EMS workers, it would be a ticking time bomb waiting to explode public safety.

Additionally, many industry unions in New York City are speaking out against the congestion pricing, including the MTA’s own transportation workers’ union.

The United Federation of Teachers in New York City (UFT) had already filed a lawsuit against the MTA in November.

“Our lawsuit against the congestion pricing is ongoing,” said Michael Mulgrew, the president of the union, in a statement. “No one doubts the need for New York to invest in public transportation, but doing so at the expense of the working people is wrong and against public opinion.”

Transportation workers are also against the congestion pricing. In May of last year, the New York Trucking Association (TANY) filed a federal lawsuit against the MTA, the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, and the New York State Attorney General.

Even the MTA’s own union is against the congestion pricing. The Local 100 union, representing 41,000 transportation workers, initially supported congestion pricing, but now they oppose the fee. The union’s president, John Samuelsen, told the New York Post in March last year, “This fee will hit blue-collar and out-of-town workers, it’s class discrimination.”

The president of the New York City Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA), Patrick Hendry, previously said in June when the Governor suspended congestion pricing, “Congestion pricing is not only a burden on police officers but also on other major commuters and is detrimental to public safety.”

Among the clear opponents of congestion pricing are: the Local 237 union representing public servants, the Municipal Labor Committee representing 400,000 government workers, the New York Farm Bureau representing farm workers, the Local 638 union representing construction workers, and more.

Not to mention the severely impacted New York City restaurant workers, delivery workers, and property owners.

The NYC Hospitality Alliance and the Food Bank for NYC, among many other organizations, stated in a joint declaration last December, “We are already conducting business, transporting, and providing food in one of the most expensive cities in the world,” and earnestly pleaded to “not fund another essential service (public transportation) on this critical service (food distribution).” ◇