The labor dispute between nearly 34,000 transit workers and the Metropolitan Transit Authority has been put under the jurisdiction of three arbitrators, some three months after a holiday season marked by transit strikes. The decision by the New York State Public Employees Relation Board is seen as a victory for the MTA, as union leaders feel arbitration would unfairly deny workers the right to vote on any deal that is reached.
See "Long After Strike Shut Subways, Dispute Heads Into Arbitration", Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, March 23, 2006