By Doug Cunningham

New York City's transportation Workers Union has called a partial strike against private bus lines after late-night talks on a new contract agreement broke down.
TWU President Roger Toussaint says the strike could spread to the city's public subway and bus systems if a fair agreement that protects pensions and health care benefits isn't reached with the Mass Transportation Authority.
The MTA wants to erode pension benefits for newly hired transit workers and wants workers to begin paying some health care premium costs. Both concession demands are coming at a time when the MTA has a surplus of a billion dollars.
A decision on a system wide transit strike in New York City will be delayed four days, according to the union. A strike would be illegal and the union could be targeted for heavy fines and other sanctions, including penalties against individual members.
The fight is about defending pension and health benefits and making sure future transit workers get decent benefits in return for their years of service. There's also concern that if the union agrees to these demands it could help create a pattern that would make it easier to extract concessions from other public unions.