Agency, union struggle for pact

The workers are barred by state law from striking.
NEW YORK (AP) -- With a midnight deadline looming, the city transit agency and its bus and subway workers struggled to reach a new contract Thursday and avert a strike against the nation's biggest transit system at the height of the Christmas rush.
As of midafternoon, the two sides remained far apart, and leaders of both groups expressed frustration as the prospect of New York's first transit strike in more than 25 years seemed to grow.
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.
Wondering how to cope
New Yorkers were left wondering how they could manage without the system, which serves about 7 million riders a day. Many companies were encouraging employees to telecommute or work outside the city, and some were arranging buses and ferries for their workers.
"Hopefully it will work out," said Kyle Bazemore, 28, who lives in Brooklyn and takes the subway to his job at a clothing store in Manhattan. "A friend who works with me said I could stay at her apartment."
As the day wore on, Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman Peter Kalikow suggested that an arbitrator might be the best person to help reach a deal -- a statement that infuriated the union.
Roger Toussaint, president of Transport Workers Union Local 100, put the chances of reaching an agreement at "less than 50-50 at this point."
Gov. George Pataki urged the union to keep working with the MTA. "When it comes to a strike, I have three words: Don't do it," Pataki said.
The city would lose hundreds of millions of dollars a day in overtime and lost business and productivity in the event of a walkout, according to some estimates.
The city drew up a contingency plan that would require cars entering the busiest areas of Manhattan to carry at least four people at certain times. Taxis would be allowed to pick up multiple fares, and commuter rail lines would increase service.
The MTA and the union's 33,000 members were at odds on such issues as wages and pension contributions. The old contract was set to expire at midnight.
The MTA proposed 6 percent raises spread over 27 months. The union, contending workers should get a share of the MTA's $1 billion surplus, asked for an increase about four times that.
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