New York transit strike averted, says one labor union in contract talks

By Jonathan Allen (Reuters) - A threatened strike on New York's Long Island Rail Road has been averted after a tentative contract agreement was reached on Thursday, one of the labor unions involved in the negotiations said on its website. "A STRIKE HAS BEEN AVERTED!" the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 589 wrote. There was no immediate comment from Governor Andrew Cuomo. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the region's public transit, said it could not confirm that a tentative deal had been reached. The state-controlled MTA and the coalition of eight unions representing about 5,400 rail workers have been involved in fraught negotiations to replace a workers' contract that expired in 2010. The negotiations appeared to have reached a stand-still on Monday and the unions' chief negotiator said workers would begin a strike on Sunday. Cuomo called the two parties back to the bargaining table on Wednesday and was participating in talks on Thursday morning at his Manhattan office. A strike would leave roughly 145,000 daily commuters on the nation's largest commuter railroad scrambling for alternative transportation between New York City and Long Island's suburbs. (Reporting By Jonathan Allen; Editing by Bill Trott)