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On Monday, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's largest union advised subway operators to use extra caution when driving into stations, given the deaths of three people hit by oncoming trains two weekends ago.

Motorman Curtis Tate said he hopes operators will slow down so they will not have to live with the guilt he has had for 20 years, ever since his train ran over a passenger who had stumbled unto the tracks at the Franklin Street station in Lower Manhattan.

"No matter how you describe it, you can never convey to a person the way it really affects you," said Tate.

The flyer came as the Transport Workers Union and the MTA wrangled over a new contract, talks the union calls "slow." The union denies it is calling for a work slowdown, as that would be an illegal job action under the state's Taylor Law, but it is calling on operators to slow down.

"The union has to take the lead to protect the passengers from the transit authority's obsession with on time performance," said Transport Workers Union Vice President Kevin Harrington.

The MTA said it shares the union's concerns with the safety of riders and did not notice any delays out of the ordinary on Monday.

Another bone of contention for the union was an email an MTA manager sent to his staff, ordering each of them to write five violations per month on the train operators they oversee.

"You're trying to intimidate people into a constant state of fear that they'll be written up just to make a quota, even though they're not doing something incorrect and they're operating safely," said Harrington.

The MTA says the order was not authorized and it has been rescinded.

TWU officials said contract talks are scheduled to resume on Thursday. MTA officials said they cannot confirm or deny this because they do not discuss contract negotiations.