The Port Authority board said yes, but the union's executive board said no yesterday, negating any possibility that a new contract for bus and trolley workers could be achieved through fact-finding.

As a result of the split-decision, along with dwindling cash for bills and payroll, the future remains increasingly uncertain for the authority and 230,000 daily riders.

Patrick McMahon, president and business agent of Local 85, Amalgamated Transit Union, said he'll wait for a call from management before returning to the bargaining table to work on a new contract.

He said at a news conference yesterday that members could be asked to authorize a strike as a last resort "if talks are not productive."

Had Local 85 accepted the recommendations of state-appointed fact-finder Jane Rigler, "It would set our members back 50 years," Mr. McMahon said, pointing to diminished health care, retirement and pension benefits that were gained over years.

"Part of me thinks they want us to go on strike," he said. "[But] at this time, we'll stay on the job, with the hope that the authority comes back to the table and negotiates in good faith."

In order for the fact-finder's report to have become the basis for a new contract, both sides would have had to accept Ms. Rigler's recommendations in their entirety.

Authority board members unanimously approved it earlier in the day, although savings over the next three years would have averaged less than $1 million a year in the operating budget.

Following the fact-finding decisions, a new threat to the authority's viability came into play: possible bankruptcy.

County Chief Executive Dan Onorato held a news conference late yesterday, saying he would continue to withhold more than $27 million a year in county funds, which the authority needs to qualify for about $184.5 million in state matching money.

Mr. Onorato said the transit agency can't survive under the existing labor contract that provides for early retirements and health care for life.

"No one should take this news as another ploy in negotiations," he said. "There's a strong likelihood that transit service won't exist by the end of the year in Allegheny County."

Cash-flow projections recently obtained by the Post-Gazette showed the authority could run out of money in January.

Authority Chief Executive Officer Steve Bland issued a statement expressing disappointment in Local 85's decision.

"We are now back to square one with negotiations," he said. "The fact-finder's report is now thrown out and it will not represent our position in subsequent bargaining."

He said the board accepted the fact-finder's report although it did not provide a "silver bullet" to solve all of the authority's financial problems. He said it did reduce future legacy costs while maintaining "competitive wages and benefits" for rank-and-file employees.

The 22-page report called for 3 percent wage increases for each of the next three years, ultimately raising the average bus-trolley operator's wage to about $25.70 an hour and about $30 an hour for first-level supervisors.

Mr. McMahon said cost of living, raising employees' contribution to 3 percent of the cost of health premiums, higher medical and prescription co-pays and other issues would easily wipe out the wage increases.

He also was critical of recommendations that would have required most employees to reach age 60 and have 30 years of service in order to qualify for full retirement benefits now available after 25 years of service without an age requirement.

Mr. McMahon said the union was entitled to the benefits after it contributed more than $100 million in the pension fund that's fully funded at a time when most government-type pension funds are vastly underfunded.

"Our members understand the [authority's] economics," he said, "but we're not going go where they want to take us."

Authority board Chairman Jack Brooks said the fact-finding report didn't provide the financial relief that the agency needs, "but it will stop the bleeding" and "establish the foundation to build a better, more efficient transit system for the future."

"It would enable us to start tackling our legacy costs," board member Joan Ellenbogen said, noting an $88 million reduction in future retirement obligations, mostly as a result of workers retiring later.

Although both sides have gone to the fact-finding process in past negotiations, the process has yet to result in a contract.

Nevertheless, the union has not walked off the job since 1992. Court intervention ended the strike after 28 days.