Ten days from a contract deadline, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is clashing with transit workers over its demand for cheaper pensions for new employees and has made a bold proposal: having subway conductors walk through train cars instead of staying in their booths. The authority's contract with the transit workers expires at 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 16. On Saturday, thousands of union members will gather at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center to vote on whether to authorize a strike.
See "M.T.A. and Union Clash on Pensions and Roving Conductors as Deadline Closes In", Sewell Chan and Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, December 6, 2005