Union agrees to end New York transit strike

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, December 22, 2005

NEW YORK – After three days of commuter chaos and traffic-choked roads, of grim and muttering New Yorkers and bitter mudslinging, of frozen zones and police roadblocks, the 2005 transit strike is over – just in time for Christmas.

The executive board of Transport Workers Union Local 100 voted 36-5 Thursday, with two abstentions, to end the strike and return to work immediately while continuing contract negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Agency.

Although buoyed by the good news filtering out through the day, New Yorkers struggled through another monstrous evening commute. Some city buses were rolling again late Thursday afternoon, but the subways needed an estimated 10 to 18 hours to return to service. They were expected to be back at full strength by this afternoon’s rush period.

City Comptroller William Thompson said the economic effect of the strike was closing in on $1 billion. City officials said the strike cost $10 million a day in overtime, and an estimated $12 million in sales tax revenue was lost.

The vote to end the first transit strike in 25 years followed hours of intense early-morning negotiations involving state mediators and the two sides. Just 12 hours earlier, the transportation agency and the transit workers union had seemed hopelessly divided over proposed changes to the pension plan.

In midafternoon, amid cheers from workers, union president Roger Toussaint thanked riders for their patience, but said little more. The TWU has never gone on strike and then returned to work without a contract.

Even board members received limited details, and the union leader faced backlash from dissident members who charged he had given up bargaining leverage.

The union is likely to still face fines, which could total up to $3 million – $1 million for each day of the strike.