These unions, both sides, always wait until the final moment. That is, sadly, their "thing" - whether it's show business or transportation or anything else. Their biggest bargaining chip is fear - fear that their actions will cause grief to the other side. In the case of this particular strike, the MTA feel that if there's a strike the public will hate the workers, and the workers feel that if there's a strike the public will hate the MTA. The public will, of course, hate them all and with good reason, although the people to really hate are the negotiators for both sides. They are usually made up of adults behaving like grammar school children. All that said, I do not think they will allow the strike - I think they'll take it to the eleventh hour and settle or postpone until after New Year's.
