As the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Transport Workers Union continue their contract talks, the prospect of a potential strike looms large. As a New Yorker who served as the MTA’s chairman during the last walkout, I have been observing the intensifying clash and having a case of déjà vu.

Nearly 15 years ago, when I was MTA chairman, contract talks broke down, leading to an illegal walkout. New Yorkers endured a three-day strike that placed a heavy burden on the city, the economy, our citizens and our workers.

But when it was all over, employees agreed to contribute a larger percentage of their salaries to a comprehensive health plan. It was a good start toward reining in the unsustainable costs facing the MTA.

Unfortunately, the agency lacked the courageous leadership and political will to stay on the reform path. Concessions won in the wake of the 2005 strike were allowed to lapse, and baseline costs were permitted to grow.

The MTA’s labor costs are ­expected to surpass $10 billion in 2019. In 2018, the MTA spent $3.4 billion in fringe benefits for workers and retirees. Of this, more than $1.3 billion went toward health insurance.

Today’s MTA leadership is looking at a deficit projection for 2022 of $1 billion. This, even ­after a number of fare hikes over the past decade or so.

The TWU has telegraphed its hard-ball intentions to MTA Chairman Pat Foye with a series of scathing radio ads that personally attack him, painting him as an “out-of-touch millionaire.”

It was the same tactic the TWU used against me during the 2005 strike, and it will have the same result in 2019 — sound and fury of no consequence.

Foye strikes me as a straight-shooter looking to defend the system, its riders and taxpayers while at the same time presenting a fair proposal to the union.

The TWU must move beyond its scripted rhetoric and appreciate that the MTA is at a point where it is prepared to take a strike if that’s what it takes to prevent a catastrophic financial implosion.

For sheer survival, the transit agency must negotiate for greater health care contributions from its employees and pension reform while offering fair but reasonable pay in return for labor reform and greater productivity.

What is at stake is nothing less than the survival of the MTA and its ability to safely, efficiently and reliably transport millions of New Yorkers daily.

If a strike occurs, several things can happen. Since New York’s Taylor Law prohibits strikes, the MTA will go to court to end the illegal strike. The MTA will ask for significant monetary penalties against the union, which were leveled against it in the 2005 strike.

Most significantly, the court could, as it did with the 2005 strike, take away the union check-off, preventing the union from having its dues automatically deducted from members’ paychecks. Finally, the court could order union leadership to jail, as it also did in 2005.

A strike doesn’t need to happen. In 2002, I joined with the TWU leadership in stopping the deadline clock, and we hammered out a compromise that saw concessions and benefits that benefited rider and worker alike.

At the time I said, “We want to go from confrontation to cooperation. … We want our members and our workers to have health care. We want our members to get wages and improvements based on productivity. Most of all, we want our workers to be treated with dignity.”

I am not new to the world of unions. I have had unions in my real estate business my entire adult life as well as during my ownership of this newspaper.

The latter case presented very difficult economic circumstances, yet with open dialogue and fair treatment, we were always able to reach a negotiated settlement without the unions resorting to strikes, which would have been legal in the private sector.

We simply can’t let the transit ridership, taxpayers and employees down. There is a path to a negotiated settlement that achieves the MTA’s objectives while treating the employees fairly and with respect. It takes a lot of hard work and less name-calling — but failure is not an option.

Peter Kalikow is a former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.