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The temperature is getting briskly cool, the leaves are changing colors, and in the air there's a feeling of — what's that? ah, yes — MTA labor-negotiation time! As coverage in the three New York papers this weekend made clear, it's that magical time of year when the Transport Workers Union decides that the best way to get the city to accede to its contract demands is to terrify us into thinking they'll go on strike and we'll all be very, very late for work.

We've got to assume everything will work out at the very last minute, as it did last time around, three years ago. But, still: We're rarely this happy that we work from home.

Talks on Transit Contract Begin [NYT]
Transit Union Tackles MTA for Pay Hike [NYDN]
Transit-Union Boss 'Raises' the Stakes on MTA $urplus [NYP]