NYC Transit strike over

[Balta1701]

The NYT Transit strike Is over, for now.

 

The executive board representing more than 30,000 New York transit employees voted Thursday to return to work while contract negotiations continue with the Metropolitan Transit Authority.

 

The vote was 36-5, with two abstentions, two union board members said.

 

"They go back right away," said Transit Workers Union President Roger Toussaint, who was greeted with chants of "T-W-U" as he approached the podium outside union headquarters. He added only that more information would come "in the next several days."

 

Still, the timetable for bus and subway service to resume remains unclear.

 

The transit workers went on strike early Tuesday, shutting down the nation's largest public transportation system and creating hardships for more than 7 million commuters. The transit strike is the first in the city since 1980. (A map for the transit strike)

 

Richard Curreri, director of conciliation service of the state Public Employment Relations Board, said the mediators had met separately over the past 48 hours with the union leadership and representatives of the MTA, describing the talks as "fruitful."

 

"We requested the leadership of the TWU to take the action necessary to direct its membership to immediately return to work, and they have agreed to take such actions," he said.

 

One key issue -- the union's pension plan -- continues to be a sticking point. Earlier, Toussaint had said taking the plan off the table would "go a long way" toward getting the union to return to talks.

 

But the mediator said that the transit authority had agreed to look at the possibility of finding cost cuts in the health care arena.

 

The disagreements between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and TWU created "emotionally charged" talks, Curreri said, but the bitter feelings between the two had improved over the course of the day.

[The Critic]

Since the thread about the strike was titled "NYC=f***ED", shouldn't this thread about the strike ending be titled "NYC=CUDDLING" or "NYC=AWKWARDLY GETTING DRESSED TO LEAVE" or "NYC=PROMISING TO CALL" or "NYC=PAYING THE LADY"?