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NEW YORK, NY January 04, 2006 —Governor Pataki continues to insist he had no knowledge that the MTA agreed to give a $130 million refund to transit workers as part of its tentative contract with their union. WNYC's Beth Fertig has more.

REPORTER: The governor has said transit workers shouldn't be rewarded for striking. If approved, the contract would give them almost 11% in wage increases over three years. And thousands of members would get a refund on their pension contributions. Pataki has criticized this part of the deal. But he defended himself when asked if he should have been more involved in negotiations, given his control over the MTA.

PATAKI: The only thing they never told me about was the existence of this side agreement, that's extremely upsetting and not right.

REPORTER: But Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver noted that Pataki said he had full confidence in the MTA negotiators. The pension deal needs state approval or the MTA will be stuck with the bill. Meanwhile, mayor Michael Bloomberg says his four MTA board members are being instructed to vote for the deal.