Transit Worker Contract On Hold . . . Again

The arbitration panel convened to determine a final outcome in the transit worker contract dispute is on hold until perhaps January:

After six days of hearings, a state-appointed arbitration panel has come no closer to reaching an agreement between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the transit workers’ union to end their bitter and protracted contract dispute, and a resolution to the dispute may not occur until a new governor takes office in January, said experts who have followed the negotiations.

The three-member arbitration panel began hearings on Aug. 4, but on Friday afternoon, the panel’s chairman, George A. Nicolau, announced that the hearings had been recessed until sometime this fall with no conclusion. “I have directed the parties to use this break in the hearings to reflect on their positions and discuss ways among themselves to narrow the disputed issues in this proceeding,” Mr. Nicolau said.

. . .

In a statement on Friday, Mr. Nicolau said the arbitration panel could not consider all the issues until the state labor-relations board ruled on petitions by both sides concerning the proper scope of arbitration.

“Those questions will not be resolved by PERB until later in the year,” Mr. Nicolau said. He said the arbitration panel would resume its hearings in the fall.

Backstory: “Whatever Happened To . . . ?” Subway Workers’ Contract Edition.