Potential Transit Strike Would Cripple NYC [View All]

By SARA KUGLER, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 23 minutes ago

Millions of New Yorkers might be stranded if the city's transit workers strike when their contract expires in a matter of days, a scenario that would be especially crippling in the middle of the bustling holiday season.

Workers face big fines if they stage a walkout, which is illegal under state law. But the union representing 38,000 transit employees has not ruled it out, and its president recently praised their counterparts in Philadelphia who forced a deal after a weeklong strike.

The talks do not appear to be going well. Union president Roger Toussaint said this week that Metropolitan Transportation Authority proposals to cut sick days and raise the pension eligibility age are an "insult" to the members of Transport Workers Union Local 100.>>

<<The MTA proposes giving workers a 3 percent raise in the first year and a conditional raise of 2 percent the second year.

Labor negotiations can take many turns in a week, and it is far too early for anyone to say whether a strike is likely. But the union is set to vote Saturday on whether to authorize a strike Dec. 15, and as the contract deadline approaches, city officials are hauling out the contingency plan they created in 2002 — the last time the union and the MTA tussled over a new contract.

That year, the two sides reached an agreement hours after the deadline passed, relieving millions of commuters who feared they would have to walk, bicycle or find a car pool.

The system shuttles more than 7 million riders throughout the city on an average day. Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office says a transit shutdown would cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars a day.>>

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