The city's transit workers ratified a new three-year contract yesterday by a 60 percent majority, despite a vigorous campaign by union dissidents to have the contract rejected.þþIn announcing the results, Roger Toussaint, president of the union representing 34,000 subway and bus employees, said a majority of workers backed the contract because they concluded that it was a good deal, even though it includes a first-year wage freeze.þþOfficials with Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union said the vote, conducted by mail ballot, was 11,757 for ratification and 7,825 against.þþÿWe believe this is a very good contract,ÿ Mr. Toussaint said. ÿIt will change our members' lives and their relationship with the transportation authority.ÿþþIn addition to the wage freeze, the settlement calls for a $1,000 one-time payment in the first year, raises of 3 percent in the second and third years and an overhaul of disciplinary and safety procedures. Under the agreement, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority agreed to increase its contribution to workers' health coverage by nearly $400 million over three years.þþPeter S. Kalikow, the authority's chairman, said he was gratified by the ratification vote. þþThe settlement was reached on Dec. 16, after frenzied last-minute negotiations averted a strike that would have shut down the nation's largest subway and bus system.þþAn independent arbitrator, Martin Scheinman, oversaw the vote count, which began on Wednesday morning and was finished at 3 p.m. yesterday.þþMr. Toussaint said the vote showed members' confidence in his leadership, noting that a majority of workers in each of the union's 13 divisions approved the contract. þþMr. Toussaint said the vote for ratification would have been overwhelming were it not for confusion spread by political opponents who were promoting their own future campaigns.þþBut Tim Schermerhorn, the vice president of the union's rapid transit division and an outspoken opponent of the settlement, said many union leaders and workers disliked the contract because it included a first-year wage freeze and eliminated the no-layoff clause that was in the previous contract.þþÿI don't think a 60-40 vote is a great mandate for the leadership,ÿ Mr. Schermerhorn said. þþMr. Schermerhorn said the workers approved the contract partly because the transportation authority was calling for arbitration if the contract was rejected, and many workers feared they would get a worse deal under arbitration.þþþ
Source: NY Times
