The president of the Transport Workers Union Local 100 was joined by more than a dozen City Council members, Assembly members, and state senators yesterday in calling on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to approve a revote on the contract agreement rejected by the union’s membership in January.

By a total of just seven votes – 11,234 to 11,227 – the union’s membership decided not to approve the contract, a result that the TWU president, Roger Toussaint, attributed to a campaign of misinformation and slander by Governor Pataki, dissident union leaders, the New York Post, and the MTA.

“The contract ratification process occurred under a cloud of uncertainty, where members were encouraged to call into question whether they would get what they were voting for,” Mr. Toussaint said at a press conference on the steps of City Hall. “The contract unfortunately got taken hostage for politics.”

An internal union survey found that more than half of the members misunderstood a critical clause of the contract agreement about health care benefits contributions, he said. The survey also showed that more than two-thirds of the members believed the contract would be ratified if given a second chance before the membership, he said.

The union’s executive board on Friday voted 24-12 to revisit the failed contract, but the MTA said it wants a state arbitration panel to dictate a binding contract and that the old agreement is no longer on the table.

A state mediator, Richard Curreri, recommended binding arbitration be employed to get a contract, but said it would be better if the two sides could come to an agreement on their own.

Council Member Leroy Comrie, a Democrat of Queens, said the MTA has a responsibility to New Yorkers to more promptly reach an agreement with the TWU than would happen with binding arbitration, which would last several months.

“We need to move this contract forward and get past this point,” he said. “People don’t want to be concerned about a strike anymore.”

Among the 17 politicians supporting Mr. Toussaint yesterday were Council Member Gale Brewer, Senator Martin Connor, and Assemblyman Nick Perry.

The revote is expected to take place in the next few weeks – in time for the union’s executive board meeting in April, union officials said.

A union vice president who voted opposes a revote and the contract agreement, Ainsley Stewart, said he and others would again campaign among the membership. This time, he said, he expects the members will vote the contract down by an even greater margin.

“Toussaint is making one of the most major mistakes: to ignore the position of the membership,” Mr. Stewart said. “How many times do you have to vote no for him to understand ‘no’?”

If the MTA continues to refuse to accept a revote, the two sides will have to go to court to settle the question of whether the MTA can revoke the contract agreement, officials said.