Veteran Arbiter Nicolau to Chair Local 100 Panel; TWU Asks Judge To Compel MTA Okay Of Vote on Pact

Veteran Arbiter Nicolau to Chair Local 100 Panel;
TWU Asks Judge To Compel MTA Okay Of Vote on Pact

Veteran arbitrator George Nicolau was named May 23 as the third member of the state panel that will finalize contract negotiations between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Transport Workers' Union Local 100.

GEORGE NICOLAU: Tapped to produce pact. Mr. Nicolau, who was selected as the public, or "neutral" arbitrator, will be joined by the MTA's chief negotiator, Gary J. Dellaverson, and labor lawyer Basil A. Paterson, who represents the union.

Deal Went South

The trio will attempt to reach a contract for the city's 33,700 transit workers through binding arbitration. The deal that had been approved by the Local 100 executive board following a three-day strike in December was rejected by the general membership in January by seven votes. Mr. Nicolau, 81, a military veteran who lost his lower left leg fighting in aerial combat during World War II, is a well-respected arbitrator who has long served as an impartial member of the Board of Collective Bargaining. He is a past president of the National Academy of Arbitrators and the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution.

BASIL A. PATERSON: TWU's advocate. The son of Greek immigrants, Mr. Nicolau got his start as a labor lawyer, and later joined the Peace Corps. He made a local name for himself mediating a variety of community disputes ranging from a conflict over housing on Manhattan's Lower East Side to instructing civic leaders and police on how to ease tensions in Brooklyn's Crown Heights in the 1970s.

His most high-profile arbitration work, however, has been conducted in the sports world. In 1990, he found baseball owners guilty of collusion in their salary offers to players who were free agents following the 1986 and 1987 seasons.

Process of Elimination

Mr. Nicolau was selected by an elimination process that presents a list of possible arbitrator names to the MTA and Local 100. The two sides cross off unacceptable candidates until they arrive at a name that both agree upon.

A re-vote last month in which a majority of Local 100 members overwhelmingly approved the previously rejected deal bore no fruit. MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow refused to hold a vote on whether to accept the delayed ratification at an April board meeting.

GARY J. DELLAVERSON: Management's rep. At a May 24 board meeting, the still-unfinished contract business wasn't even mentioned - except by a Local 100 member who during the public comment period beseeched Mr. Kalikow to honor the Local 100 contract.

Toussaint Reluctant

Local 100 President Roger Toussaint has said he has misgivings about binding arbitration because it would deprive his members of their right to approve any final offer made by the MTA.

His union filed papers with Brooklyn State Supreme Court Justice Theodore T. Jones asking for a declaratory judgment on whether the MTA must honor its final offer. He has also appealed Justice Jones's April 17 ruling that levied a $2.5 million fine against the union and suspended its automatic dues check off rights for at least 90 days. The union said its punishment should have been mitigated by the actions of the MTA that it claimed forced the strike.

A payment agreement reached two weeks ago between the city, the MTA and the union afforded Local 100 some relief - it has a year to pay off the $2.5 million penalty before it loses its right to deduct members' dues from their paychecks.

The MTA responded May 22 to the union's request for declaratory judgment. Agency lawyers submitted papers to Justice Jones arguing that only PERB could decide if the MTA had to honor its final offer.

A union source with knowledge of the proceedings said Local 100 had submitted its legal arguments to PERB as a fail-safe, but that it fully expected the matter to be settled in court.

Ed Watt, Local 100's secretary-treasurer, said the union has a series of events planned designed to "remind the public and union members that the MTA still has not been held accountable for its role in provoking a strike."

There will likely be a protest on the first day of every month, and possibly even some informational pickets in front of the houses of individual MTA board members.

Mr. Watt said the union might even hit the campaign trail "to point out to voters how Governor Pataki abrogated his responsibility" to act in the public interest.