BREAKING NEWS:

The MTA and Transit Workers Union have reached a deal. They entered into binding arbitration to settle the dispute over the labor contract that caused last year’s transit strike.

The arbitrator has announced that the contract is almost identical to the contract proposed shortly after the strike. The contract went to vote before the 38,000 union members, and it was voted down. However, now it appears that they will have to live with that contract anyway, or at least a very similar one.

The NO vote landed the dispute in binding arbitration, led by Chief Arbitrator George Nicolau known for his work on Major League Baseball’s collusion case in the late 1980s.

State law gives the arbitration panel the right to impose the decision on the two groups.

Also today, transit workers are voting to keep or remove union President Roger Toussaint from office. Union members are split over Toussaint’s leadership. He spent 3 days in jail earlier this year for contempt of court when defending the union’s walkout. The Union is in the process of paying $2.5 million in fines over the walkout, which was prohibited by state law.