Newsday (New York), December 23, 2005, Friday

Copyright 2005 Newsday, Inc.
Newsday (New York)

December 23, 2005 Friday
NASSAU AND SUFFOLK EDITION

SECTION: NEWS; Pg. A39


HEADLINE: STRIKE BEHIND THE DEAL;
Getting things moving;
Government official, mediators help rejuvenate derailed talks

BYLINE: BY ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO. STAFF WRITER; Staff writers William Murphy and Michael Rothfeld contributed to this story.

BODY:
A veteran government official and two private labor mediators with close union ties were instrumental in getting the transit talks back on track, several officials said yesterday.
The trio was led by Richard Curreri, the director of conciliation at the state Public Employment Relations Board for the past 15 years. He was joined by veteran mediators Martin Scheinman of Sands Point and Alan Viani of Dobbs Ferry.
They finished their work yesterday, but remain poised to return as mediators, not arbitrators, if the talks stutter again.
"We're just standing by now," Viani said yesterday. "We'll be ready in a flash, if needed."
Viani and others stressed that the mediators needed to get the talks going again and were not expected to settle the issues between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union.
Scheinman, 53, has handled labor disputes in both the public and private sectors, including those involving health care workers, Long Island Rail Road employees and the Newspaper Guild.
Viani, 69, was the lead negotiator for District Council 37, the largest municipal union, until he joined the Office of Collective Bargaining - the city's version of PERB - in 1985. He retired in 1993 to become a private mediator/arbitrator.
Curreri, a resident of Voorheesville, is "a terrifically skillful mediator in the Ted Kheel tradition," said David Lipsky, director of the Institute on Conflict Resolution at Cornell University.
Lipsky said Curreri and Kheel, a transit negotiator in the 1970s, are of a mold of mediators who are effective because in terms of conflict "they kind of embrace it, put arms around it."
Staff writers William Murphy and Michael Rothfeld contributed to this story.
Talking points
Along with Curreri, these two men played a key role:
Alan R. Viani
Age: 69
Hometown: Dobbs Ferry
Education: Kansas State University
Experience:
More than 35 years of experience in collective bargaining.
Member of NYC Board of Collective Bargaining from 1985 to 1993, former chief of research and negotiations for District Council 37, the largest municipal union.
Has mediated disputes involving 2001 NYC PBA contract in 2001, Suffolk County Court Employees Association in 1993.
Has a reputation as a cool-headed mediator following a career as a fiery labor unionist.
- WILLIAM MURPHY
Martin F. Scheinman
Age: 53
Hometown: Sands Point
Education: Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations; New York University School of Law
Experience:
Arbitrated more than 10,000 public and private sector disputes across the U.S. since 1978. Mediated more than 2,000 labor-management disputes.
Arbitrated and mediated public employee disputes in Nassau and Suffolk counties, New York City, Connecticut, New Jersey and elsewhere for police, civil service, college, health care and transit, including the Long Island Rail Road.
Private cases include Greater New York Health Care Facilities Association, the Newspaper Guild, Daily News.
- MICHAEL ROTHFELD

GRAPHIC: 1) Newsday Photo / Moises Saman - The Hyatt. Richard Curreri, director of conciliation at the state Public Employment Relations Board, was vital to getting wheels turning again. 2) AP Photo - Alan R. Viani, Richard Curreri and Martin F. Scheinman. Chart - Talking points (see end of text)