Leaders of striking bus and subway workers in New York agreed today to a return to work after talks at which the union and transit authorities undertook to resume talks on a contract, mediators said.
Some 34,000 workers in the Transport Workers Union Local 100 walked off the job on Tuesday after contract talks broke down over pay, healthcare and pensions, stranding some 7 million passengers who use subways and buses each day.
City officials have estimated the strike could cost New York some $1 billion in the first three days, hitting retailers and other businesses at the height of the holiday season.
With the strike on America's largest mass transit system in its third day, mediator Richard Curreri said Transport Workers Union Local 100 leaders and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority negotiators had agreed to resume negotiations.
"We have requested the leadership of the TWU to take the actions necessary to direct its membership to immediately return to work and they have agreed to take such actions," Mr Curreri, the director of conciliation at the New York State Public Employment Relations Board, told reporters.
The union board was expected to consider the recommendation to return to work later on Thursday.
Assuming it agrees to end the strike, transport officials say it could take at least 12 to 24 hours for full service to resume on the subway and bus system, though Curreri said he expected the return to work to begin later in the day.
Curreri said union and management had agreed to further discussions on key areas such as pensions and healthcare.
"It is clear to us that both parties have a genuine desire to resolve their differences," he said, adding that there would be a media blackout on the contract talks.
State law prohibits public sector employees from striking and a court on Tuesday fined the union $1 million a day for the duration of the strike, while workers faced the loss of two days pay for each day they remained on strike.
Public opinion has been divided over the strike. A WNBC/Marist poll published late on Wednesday showed 55 percent of New Yorkers opposed the transit workers' decision to strike, while 38 percent supported it.