The news is this: the union leadership has agreed to recommend to its executive board that the members go back to work, possibly by late afternoon or tonight, while mediation continues.

There are concerns, though. From what I could tease out from the mediator’s comments, the MTA has not taken the issue of the pension cuts off the table. In fact, the MTA has apparently said that it would look at the idea of preserving pensions BUT do so by putting health care costs in the mix. So, as one reads this now, the transit workers are still looking at either pension cuts or higher health care costs.

Which brings the issue of healthcare. If we extended Medicare To All, we would be able to solve the health care crisis, which would translate directly to the bargaining table where health care costs–and demands that workers pay more for health care–is often the primary issue.