Deal reached that could end NYC transit walkout while talks continue

NEW YORK — Striking bus and subway workers agreed Thursday to "take steps" to go back to work while their union and the transit authority resume negotiations, a mediator said.

The deal with the Transit Workers Union could pave the way for a resumption in service by Friday, if the union's executive board gives the final OK. The strike, the system's first in 25 years, halted service for millions.

"Both parties have a genuine desire to resolve their differences," said Richard Curreri, head of a three-member state mediation panel. "They have agreed to resume negotiations while the TWU takes steps to return its membership."

Gov. George Pataki, a strident critic of the union, said the announcement was "very positive for all New Yorkers."

The announcement was in contrast to the harsh rhetoric of the last two days. The deal was approved by union leaders who met with the mediator but still needs final approval from the executive board of Transport Workers Union Local 100. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has said it would take at least 12 hours to restore service once the board votes, expected sometime Thursday afternoon.

The two sides had returned to a Manhattan hotel around 1 a.m., the first time both sides were in the building since the strike began. On Wednesday, union president Roger Toussaint raised the possibility of an agreement to halt the walkout when he said negotiations could resume if the Metropolitan Transportation Authority took its current pension proposal off the table.

The announcement came 56 hours after workers walked out at 3 a.m. on Tuesday. Curreri said there would be a news blackout during further negotiations, as agreed to by both sides. Citing that blackout, union spokesman Jesse Derris said in a recorded message that he would not comment.

Curreri spoke at the same time lawyers from the city and state were due in a Brooklyn courtroom in an effort to get union workers back on the job. That session was postponed until 4 p.m.

The contract covering 33,000 transit workers expired last week, and the union called the strike Tuesday morning despite a state law banning public employee strikes.

The pact was announced after a day of sometimes bitter comments. At a news conference Wednesday, Toussaint angrily replied to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who had said the union "thuggishly" turned its back on New York.