NEW YORK, April 18 (UPI) -- The union that represents New York City transit workers approved a new contract on the second vote, leaders announced Tuesday.
The results were released a day after a judge imposed harsh penalties on Transit Workers Union Local 100 for a 60-hour strike in December, The New York Times reported. The union must pay a $2.5 million fine and also loses automatic payroll deduction of dues for 90 days.
Last week, Local 100 President Roger Toussaint was sentenced to 10 days in jail.
Toussaint said that the contract, which lost in a close vote in January, was approved by 71 percent of those voting. With 20,593 votes counted, 14,716 were favorable.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said that the walkout and the earlier vote against the contract mean that its terms are no longer on the table. Toussaint says that the board has "a legal and moral obligation" to approve the pact.
The Public Employment Relations Commission has recommended binding arbitration.
