Rush Hour for N.Y. Transit Talks

Intensive, round-the-clock negotiations began Friday between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and union negotiators in an effort to avert a subway and bus strike that would leave millions of riders scrambling to get to work.

As expected, a state Supreme Court justice issued a preliminary injunction Friday against a walkout under New York’s Taylor Law, which forbids strikes by public employees.

In his decision, Justice Jules Spodek said a transit strike would be “enormous, debilitating and destructive.”

The ruling, which clears the way for possible contempt citations and jail time for union leaders, was designed to pressure the 34,000 members of the Transport Workers Union to agree to a new contract before 12:01 a.m. Monday when the old pact expires.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg applauded the judge’s decision. The mayor, who pledged he would pedal from his Upper East Side Manhattan home to City Hall downtown, bought a $500 mountain bike.

“Nobody’s going to shut down New York,” he vowed.

Both sides said they were far apart on wages, payments to pension funds and disciplinary policies.

A central question is whether the MTA has sufficient funds to grant raises. The transportation authority claims it faces a $1-billion budget deficit, despite an increase in ridership.

But last year, the authority reported a $300-million surplus. Agency officials say the surplus was spent to dramatically improve subway and bus service and to grant discounts to riders.

Union negotiators view the explanation with skepticism and wonder if the authority exaggerated its successes so that Gov. George E. Pataki would not face financial problems before his reelection in November or whether some money is being withheld for eleventh-hour bargaining.

During the last transit strike in 1980, which lasted 11 days, the union was fined $1 million and workers gave up two days’ pay for each day of the walkout.

The Bloomberg administration is preparing to seek much stiffer penalties.