(NY) Transit Workers Reject Contract Agreement

[951-Riverside]

(New York - WABC, January 20, 2006) - With 22,000 ballots cast, the Transport Workers Union said no deal in a squeaker of a vote.
11,227 said Yes, 11,234 said no -- that's a difference of just seven votes.

We have team coverage on the contract rejection and what it means for riders. We begin with Eyewitness News Reporter Dave Evans is live in the Flatiron District with the details.

The announcement was supposed to happen at a PR company for the union at about 2 p.m. Friday afternoon. But we waited upstairs for more than an hour, so we knew that something was wrong. But none of us could have predicted that this approval of the contract would be rejected by just seven votes. So now, everyone heads back to the bargaining table.

Roger Toussaint, TWU Local 100 President: "We are disappointed to report that members of our union have voted not to ratify the agreement reached with the MTA."

The vote announced this afternoon was a shocker -- all those workers who had predicted defeat were right.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=traffic&id=3831625

[Cassandra]

1. Wow.

I just walked about 3 miles just for the exercise. I'm glad I've been keeping in practice. (Actually, I'm not expecting another strike).

[jschurchin]

2. Where's Diebold.....

When you need them?

[951-Riverside]

3. Hey Welcome To DU!

:hi:

[Fredda Weinberg]

4. Oy! eom

[Bill McBlueState]

5. New York Transit Workers Reject Contract by 7-Vote Margin

By a margin of only seven votes, members of the New York City transit workers' union yesterday rejected the contract settlement that their leaders reached with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in the aftermath of last month's debilitating subway and bus strike.

The rejection, which seemed to catch city officials off guard, derails a painfully wrought agreement, represents a stunning defeat for the union's president, Roger Toussaint, and opens a potential Pandora's box of complications in any future negotiations. Those on both sides, however, were quick to say that another strike, while a possibility, was unlikely.

At the center of the rejection seemed to be a last-minute concession by the union in December that its members pay 1.5 percent of their wages toward health insurance premiums in return for the authority's dropping its insistence on inferior pensions for new workers. Just how unpopular that change was with union membership became starkly clear yesterday.

continued here

[Renew Deal]

6. Wow

I wasn't really expecting this. I knew there was some discontent in the membership, but not enough to vote down the contract.