By a margin of only seven votes, members of the New York City transit workers' union yesterday rejected the contract settlement that their leaders reached with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in the aftermath of last month's debilitating subway and bus strike. The rejection derails a painfully wrought agreement, represents a stunning defeat for the union's president, and opens a potential Pandora's box of complications in any future negotiations.
See "New York Transit Workers Reject Contract by 7-Vote Margin", Sewell Chan and Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, January 22, 2006