By Doug Cunningham

New York City's transit workers have rejected the tentative agreement on a new contract by just seven votes. The vote greatly complicates the resolution of the issues that triggered New York City's first transit strike in over twenty years last month.

It's also being seen as a defeat for Transportation Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint. The union agreed to have its members pay 1.5 percent of their wages toward health insurance benefits and that may have been what caused such a close vote, ultimately derailing the agreement reached between TWU leaders and NYC officials.

Although the union has opposed the idea, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials say they will press now for binding arbitration to come up with a new contract for the transit workers.

Where things go from here are unclear. More negotiations could happen, mediators could be used, or it could go to arbitration. Union leader Toussaint is disappointed about having to go back and try to reach a new agreement after such a strong confrontation with the city over the strike.

The transit union's rank and file have rejected paying a percentage of their wages to health care in addition to vigorously defending pensions. But the defeat of this agreement could also endanger a deal the union had worked out to give workers refunds for past overpayments to their pension fund. New York Gov. Pataki disliked that provision and he has power to possibly block that in any new agreement since he controls several of the 14 votes on the New York City Mass Transportation Authority board. More than $120 million to be paid to 20,000 workers is at stake.

More than 33,000 NYC transit workers went on strike to defend their pensions, risking very heavy fines and other legal consequences to do so. They returned to work only after the city agreed to take pension concessions off the table.