New York union goes to court over transit strike

As New Yorkers faced day three of a commute without subways and buses, union leaders faced a court date to explain why they shouldn’t be held in criminal contempt for halting the city’s mass transit system.

As legal and financial pressures mounted on the union, State Supreme Court Justice Theodore Jones ordered Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint and his deputies to appear in court today, warning jail time was a “distinct possibility”.

Meanwhile, Toussaint signalled the union may resume negotiations and possibly go back to work without a contract if the Metropolitan Transportation Authority took its current pension proposal off the table.

The contract covering 33,000 New York transit workers expired last week, and the union called the strike on Tuesday morning despite a state law banning public employee strikes.

With state-supervised mediation talks under way, millions of New Yorkers braved another frigid commute, streaming into commuter rail hubs, hiking over bridges and pouring into cars and cabs. Some tried to hitch a ride.