In the days leading up to the transit strikes, critics and supporters alike contended that any labor action would affect mainly low-income minorities, and the limited strike indeed turned out to be a real hardship for low-income Queens residents. The local union's official reason for the strike was the transit workers' grievances over the hardships that were increasingly being placed on them by the MTA, specifically the issue of pensions. Among other things, the MTA called for the retirement age to be increased seven years (from 55 to 62) and for the amounts received at retirement to be reduced dramatically through the creation of a new "tier" (Tier V) of workers. Most importantly, the MTA had insisted on requiring negotiation of pensions as a condition of negotiating of a new contract although the Taylor Law prohibits this. The MTA had agreed to keep the retirement age at 55 before the strike.