BREAKING: Transit Strike End Is Near!

BREAKING: A state mediator says the striking union and the transit authority have agreed to resume negotiations while transit workers take steps to return to work.

Transit union leaders agreed that the city’s subway and bus strike should end while talks resume, a mediator said Thursday in an announcement that brings hope to a city that has been crippled by the three-day walkout.

No timetable was announced for the restoration of transit service.

The deal, while approved by union leaders who met with a mediator, still needs final approval from the executive board of Transport Workers Union Local 100. Word from the board was expected before the end of the day, and the upbeat mood at the announcement contrasted with the harsh rhetoric of the last two days.

“Both parties have a genuine desire to resolve their differences,” said Richard Curreri, head of a three-member state mediation panel. “They have agreed to resume negotiations while the TWU takes steps to return its membership.”

Gov. George Pataki, a strident critic of the union, said the announcement was “very positive for all New Yorkers.” Millions of New Yorkers were left stranded by the first citywide transit strike since 1980.

The strike, which began at 3 a.m. Tuesday, was the first citywide transit walkout in the nation’s largest city since 1980. It has disrupted life for millions of New Yorkers and suburbanites, while wreaking havoc on the city economy in the week before Christmas. Mayor Michael Bloomberg estimated $700 million in lost revenue in the first two days of the strike.

The two sides returned to a Manhattan hotel around 1 a.m., the first time both sides were in the building since the strike was announced. One day earlier, union president Roger Toussaint — who faced the possibility of jail at a Thursday hearing — suggested a settlement was possible if the Metropolitan Transportation Authority took its current pension proposal off the table.

The tentative deal came without the MTA pulling its pension proposal.

Curreri said there would be a news blackout during further negotiations, as agreed to by both sides. He spoke at the same time lawyers from the city and state were due in a Brooklyn courtroom in an effort to get union workers back on the job. That session was postponed until 4 p.m.

There were no immediate plans for the two sides to sit down, although Curreri said his group was available right now to help forge an agreement.

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

On Thursday, in the first serious injury since the strike began, an off-duty firefighter was critically injured when he was struck by a private bus while riding his bike to work. The accident happened at East 52nd Street and Third Avenue.

Meanwhile, millions of New Yorkers braved another frigid commute Thursday morning, streaming into commuter rail hubs, hiking over bridges and pouring into cars and cabs. Some tried to hitch a ride.

Groups of commuters huddled at designated areas to be picked up by company vans or buses or prearranged car pools. The scarves, hats and warm coats were back paired with running shoes or hiking boots.

On Manhattan’s East Side, traffic was moving smoothly during the early part of the morning rush. But the story was different the night before, said Yves Desrmeaux, 47, a Manhattan parking lot attendant who lives in Brooklyn.

“Traffic was dense coming over the Manhattan Bridge,” he said. “It (the strike) has really made a significant difference. But the transit workers work hard. I hope the MTA gives them something to make them happy this Christmas.”

Others were not daunted by the strike.

“Rain, sleet, snow or strike, we’ll get to work,” vowed Paul Jensen, the office manager at the Weber Shandwick public relations firm in midtown.

A judge has already imposed a $1 million-per-day fine on the union for defying an order barring the strike — a punishment that would not take effect until appeals are complete.

A chief sticking point for the union has been the pension proposal to raise contributions to the pension plan for new workers from 2 percent to 6 percent. The union contends it is woefully inadequate and would be impossible to accept.

“The MTA has informed us it has not withdrawn its pension proposals but nevertheless is willing to discuss whether adequate savings can be found in the area of health costs,” Curreri said.