NYC transit deal gets OK
Union executive board overwhelmingly approves new contract; members must still ratify package.

NEW YORK (CNN) - The Transport Workers Union's executive board voted Tuesday night in favor of a new contract with the Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York City, union president Roger Toussaint announced.

The executive board vote was 37 to 4, with one abstention.

The labor deal must now be voted on by the 33,000 members of TWU, Local 100, for final ratification.

The package includes raises of 3, 4 and 3.5 percent during the next three years. Workers would also receive Martin Luther King Day as a paid holiday.

Collective bargaining sessions ended in a stalemate early Dec. 16, when the union walked away from what the MTA called its "final offer."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in his first press conference after the walkout, blasted union leaders for calling a "selfish and illegal strike."

The next day, Toussaint said, "When you have transit workers stand up for their rights and their dignity, then we are then called thugs, selfish, greedy, overpaid, by a billionaire."

Despite the public rhetoric, both sides were looking for a way to find a solution, several people involved in the negotiations said.

The MTA and the union began separate meetings with a mediation panel set up by the New York Public Employment Relations Board the Tuesday before Christmas.

Richard Curreri, the lead mediator for the board, said Thursday that despite their anger, it didn't take both sides long to "get past that and deal with us."

"These are intelligent people," Curreri said. "You should be able to get past emotions."

On Wednesday morning, Toussaint called Bruce Raynor, general president of United Here, the union that represents apparel, hotel and restaurant workers, and Mike Fishman, head of the Service Employees International Union, (SEIU), and asked them to intercede with the mayor.

Although he was not directly involved in the negotiations, "the mayor wanted to see the strike ended ... and clearly had influence with the MTA," Raynor said.

Raynor and Fishman both supported Bloomberg's re-election last month.

"On several occasions, we intervened with the mayor," Raynor said. "We had several conversations with Roger."

Raynor said he talked to Bloomberg about having the MTA drop its demand that new workers increase their contribution to the pension fund in exchange for having workers pay more towards health-care costs. After first rejecting the idea, the mayor came to support it.

"We explored other things that didn't work," as ways to achieve long-term savings, Raynor said. "The mayor has been a big advocate of finding the money somewhere -- like productivity increases," he said. "We weren't able to achieve anything, so health care became a way to resolve it," Raynor added.

Last week's three-day transit strike was estimated to have cost New York City businesses about $1 billion and caused a public transit nightmare for New York bus and subway commuters.

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The massive financial impact of the strike is still becoming apparent. You can read the full story here.

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