I Declare The Strike Is Over

The Transport Workers Union has allowed its membership to return to work while negotiations continue between the union and the MTA:

Spelling enormous relief for the city’s 7 million commuters, the executive board of the Transport Workers Union has voted 36-5-2 to end the transit strike that has crippled the city over the last three days.

Although a contract agreement has not yet been reached between the Transport Workers Union and the MTA, the union — bowing to pressure — voted to return to work Thursday afternoon.

Transit workers have been asked to return to their jobs immediately, although it’s estimated that it take at least until late Thursday for the transit system to start resuming normal operation.

The first sign of significant progress toward ending the three-day-old transit strike came late Thursday morning as mediators who met separately with the transit union and the MTA all morning announced that both sides have agreed to resume talks while the union takes steps to return its members to work.

Representatives from the union and the MTA unexpectedly returned to the Midtown Grand Hyatt early Thursday morning, where they met separately with mediators from the state Public Employment Relations Board (PERB).