NYC Transit: Back To Work They Go

No New Contract, But No More Fines And Everyone Seems Happy For Now

(CBS/AP)  Buses returned to city streets and subways whooshed through tunnels Friday as New Yorkers began the first morning rush since the end of a three-day strike that shut down the nation's largest mass transit system.

"When the transit union went on strike, it was almost as if the foul mood of Scrooge had taken over the city," said WCBS-AM's Peter Haskell. "Now, the spirit of the season is returning."

The city's transit authority said buses and subways were running normally and on schedule by the morning commute after first rumbling to life around midnight.

"Routine is setting back in as New Yorkers shuffle aboard buses and subways," reports CBS News correspondent Steve Kathan from the Columbus Circle subway station. One worker told Kathan "It's good to be earning a paycheck again."

Passengers also said they were relieved they wouldn't have to car pool, bike, skate, hitch a ride or walk to work for another day.

"I think the timing is good, so I'm kind of getting in the mood. I was bah-humbug the whole three days," said New Yorker Gary Brown.

"It was fabulous. It's great to be back at work — never thought I'd be saying that!" said a woman.

"I'm happy everything's back to normal. It's good. It's been a tough few days," said a man.

"I felt really excited when I swiped my card. I hadn't done it in a few days," said Rachael Staten at Penn Station.

The strike ended Thursday after the Transport Workers Union worked out the framework for a deal with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority after an all-night session with a mediator.

The union for the 33,700 transit workers and the transit authority are back at the bargaining table, but there is still no a contract, reports CBS News correspondent Sharyn Alfonsi.

If negotiations fail, a walkout could happen again.

The MTA did not pull its pension proposal, which Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint has said is a sticking point. The union vocally opposed the MTA's plan to raise new workers' contributions from 2 percent to 6 percent.

The breakthrough was announced minutes before Toussaint and two of his top deputies were due in court to explain why they were continuing the strike in defiance of a court order. Toussaint recommended the union's executive board accept the deal. Some felt the union caved in.

"This was a disgrace," said TWU vice president John Mooney. "No details were provided to the executive board."

The three day strike may have cost the city $1 billion, reports Alfonsi. That includes tens of millions in overtime, $240 million in lost retail sales and countless lost customers.

"Something you can't get back. Once it's gone, it's gone," said a restaurant manager whose business was cut in half during what should have been his most profitable period.

"It may actually end up driving us out of business," added a storeowner.

As his bus cruised along the Upper East Side early Friday, bus driver Dady Halaby said he was glad to be back on the job, but that a contract needs to be signed.

"We want to know what we gained and what we have to give up," said Halaby.

Nothing, say some.

"I think everybody lost," said one commuter. "It just seemed that it was an effort in futility from the beginning and it turned out to be that way as far as I could see."

The mood surrounding the announcement of the strike's end was upbeat, a stark contrast to the previous two days, when New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Toussaint traded barbs. At one point, Bloomberg blasted the union for "thuggishly" turning their backs on New York, a remark black leaders decried as racist in the context of a predominantly black union.

The transit strike was the first in 25 years, and happened in defiance of a law barring such an action. City officials said it caused millions of dollars of damage to the city's economy at the height of the holiday season.

"In the end, cooler heads prevailed," Bloomberg said. "We passed the test with flying colors. We did what we had to do to keep the city running, and running safely."

But city officials vowed there would be repercussions for those who walked off the job. A judge has already fined the union $1 million a day for striking, and under the state's no-strike law, rank-and-file members are automatically docked two days' pay for each day they stayed off the job.

Gov. George Pataki warned there was no possibility of amnesty for the striking workers who were fined. The fines "cannot be waived. They're not going to be waived," he said.

Once subways and buses were in motion again, much of the animosity across the city began to cool. As the first subways began running, some stations offered free rides, while riders said others were simply unstaffed.

Jeffrey Simmons, 27, intended to take a bus to meet friends — then heard the sweet sounds of the subway and hopped the turnstile.

"There was nobody at the train stop," he said. "It was eerie but cool being the first person on the whole entire train."

For Vance Vannerman, who is homeless, the end of the strike meant he had a warm place to sleep again.

"Now I have my apartment back," said Vannerman as he came off a train about 1 a.m.