Speaking of, Transit Workers Union Local 100 voted yesterday to reject their new contract 11,227 for, 11,234 against. Needless to say, that seven vote margin has made the city's news organizations very, very excited. And us? Well, a little on edge (the excitement we got out of our system making that snazzy new logo to your right).

That itty-bitty margin of seven votes, the News calls it "thinner than a MetroCard," puts Union Boss Roger Toussaint in a very uncomfortable position. Not only is his union split down the middle over pensions, raises and healthcare premiums but now the MTA holds a few more cards thanks to diminished public opinion of the union (which is why, we'd wager, they are now petitioning for binding arbitration despite Toussaint's previous rejections). And it gets even more uncomfortable within the union as the Times makes a pretty reasonable argument that the split seems "to boil down to one simple number: age." Expanded healthcare got the older members to vote yes while the new 1.5 percent and upwardly mobile healthcare premiums got the younger members to vote no.

Beyond that though, despite all of the coverage we're all giving this new development, all we've actually gotten from most of it comes down to the fact that nobody really knows what is going to happen. Until the dust settles a bit there are just too many variables in this case. However, our gut tells us that common sense will prevail and another strike won't happen (though, our gut might also believe in wildcat actions). What does your gut tell you?