A year after strike, NYC transit fight over; Union boss keeps his Job

Friday, December 15th 2006, 10:13 pm

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) The transit union boss who led a strike that paralyzed New York City for 60 hours at the height of last year's Christmas shopping season has been re-elected, union officials said Friday.

Transport Workers Union Local 100 announced the results of the vote preserving President Roger Toussaint's job several hours after an arbitration panel announced it was imposing a new three-year contract on subway and bus workers.

The pair of developments end the bitter labor dispute that brought the nation's largest public transit system to a screeching halt almost exactly a year ago.

Union officials were still counting ballots Friday evening, but with fewer than 1,000 votes left to be tallied, Toussaint had a lead of around 2,000 votes, according to union secretary-treasurer Ed Watt.

Watt said that Toussaint would likely finish with slightly less than 50 percent of the about 22,000 votes cast in a five-way race.

Polling in the election ended Friday morning after several weeks of voting.

The chief arbitrator announced a new contract that is nearly identical to the pact that ended the strike but was later rejected by both TWU rank-and-file members and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Chief arbitrator George Nicolau said reviving the agreement was "the most just and reasonable" way to bring labor peace.

Toussaint and the MTA's top labor negotiator both said they were pleased with the arbitrator's decision.

The union is in the process of paying $2.5 million in fines over the walkout, which was prohibited by state law. Toussaint also served 3 1/2 days in jail for contempt of court.