Partial Strike On NYC Transit

The New York City transit union called for a partial strike Friday against private bus lines after a night of intense bargaining failed to produce a deal. The city's subway system was not immediately affected.

Roger Toussaint, president of Transport Workers Union Local 100, made the announcement after union leaders rejected the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's latest contract offer. The strike could eventually extend to the subway system, but the possible timing of such a move was unclear.

"The MTA has through its actions and inaction provoked our members too many times. We have been left with no choice," Toussaint said. "We tried to bargain with the MTA. We negotiated well past our contract deadline because we wanted to get a deal done and we still do."

Through Monday morning's rush hour, no restrictions on incoming auto traffic were in effect, the subway system and city-operated buses were running, and WCBS-AM traffic reporter Tom Kaminsky reported auto traffic into the city was lighter than usual.

There were reports the union had set a new deadline of Tuesday morning.

There was no word when the job action against the two bus companies, Jamaica and Triborough, would begin.

Transit workers are barred by state law from striking. The workers could lose two days' pay for every day on strike, and the city is seeking much larger damages against the union and its individual members.

But the two bus companies initially targeted are slated to become, but are not yet, part of the city system. As still-private companies, says WCBS-AM's Irene Cornell, they probably are not covered by the anti-strike Taylor law or the court injunction won by the transit system earlier this week.

"As city attorneys look at this, the union officials are probably chuckling to themselves," Cornell said.

The two sides kept talking past the deadline, until about 4:30 a.m., with no word on where the negotiations stood.

After a day marked by heated attacks, the Transport Workers Union and the MTA returned to the bargaining table at 11 p.m. for a session that ended at about 4:30 a.m. Toussaint then went to the union's executive board to present the details of what the MTA is offering.

The offer by the MTA included an increase in raises — 9 percent over three years. They had been offering 6 percent over 27 months.

Despite the labor strife, commuters expressed relief that they had a way to get around amid fears of a strike that threatened to leave millions of people stranded after a midnight contract deadline.

"I was really hoping that everything was running," said Mary Marino, who arrived at Penn Station on Friday morning to connect with two subway trains for her job at a Manhattan nursing home. "I didn't sleep too well last night. I kept turning on the TV to see if they had settled."