What a way to (almost) end 2006 - with an arbitrator making a decision about the MTA's transit workers' contract! And the decision is pretty anti-climactic - it's basically the deal that ended the strike last year, though it was later rejected by the Transit Workers Union, then passed but then denied by the MTA. Anyway, arbitrator George Nicolau said the deal was "the most just and reasonable" solution. From the AP:

Both the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and its foil, Transport Workers Union Local 100, hailed the decision as a triumph -- then needled each other. more ›

Huh. Transit Workers Union president Roger Toussaint tells the Daily News that he had a "secret deal with the MTA really ended the walkout." Toussaint faces re-election to be TWU president this month and has been criticized by opponents for ending the strike before getting a contract. So we think it's pretty convenient for Toussaint to tell all now. From the Daily News:

Toussaint said he kept the original pact secret because of the highly charged atmosphere: Gov. Pataki had insisted on the second day of the strike that the MTA wouldn't negotiate while workers were still walking picket lines. more ›

Besides getting the actual new contract approved by the union members, Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint admitted to a group that the union was battered from the strike. At a Wall Street Project breakfast, he said:

"We paid the price in millions of dollars in fines, 10 times that for our members, and face impending loss of dues check off which is going to hemorrhage the finances of our union. But you cannot take on a fight like this and not get bloodied. We are still here standing before you bloodied but unbowed."

Gothamist on our theory that the MTA hates hipsters. And DCist on the Metro's future. more ›