Harsh Words for TWU

Harsh Words for TWU
For Mayor, Blame A One-Way Street

By HOWARD MEGDAL

As his administration dealt with the biggest challenge of his tenure, Mayor Bloomberg showed controlled fury toward the striking Transport Workers' Union Local 100 during a press conference on the first day of the walkout.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow 'TURNED THEIR BACKS ON CITY': With Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly (left) and Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta looking on, Mayor Bloomberg excoriates the leadership of Transport Workers' Union Local 100 on the first day of the strike. Mr. Bloomberg repeatedly invoked the word "selfish," and asserted that the action by Local 100 President Roger Toussaint and his members was hurting New Yorkers.

Faults Only TWU

If anyone was looking for the Mayor to share the blame, they were greatly disappointed. Despite a negotiation that broke down because the Metropolitan Transportation Authority insisted on increased pension contributions from future employees, and the fact that such a measure would save just $20 million over the three years of the proposed deal, all the Mayor's anger was directed at the "selfish, illegal strike."

"Roger Toussaint and the TWU have shamefully decided they don't care about the people they work for and that they have no respect for the law," the Mayor said. "The leadership of the TWU has thuggishly turned their backs on New York City, and disgraced the noble concept of public service."

Mr. Bloomberg then turned to other city unions, including the United Federation of Teachers, as contrasting, shining examples of public service. "I have butted heads with the PBA, the UFT, the UFA, and the Sanitation and Corrections unions - strong unions that form the backbone of our municipal work force, keeping our streets safe and clean, putting out fires and educating our children," the Mayor said. "But for all the acrimony, they never walked out on the job, walked out on New York, and hurt the people they work for."

Solidarity Criticized

But Mr. Bloomberg was clearly on unfamiliar ground with such praise, and tempered his enthusiasm for the unions with a criticism of those who showed solidarity with the TWU in a rally Dec. 19, just hours before the strike began. He equated the support with encouraging the strike, though he did say many union leaders he reached out to did not feel the two were equivalent.

His manner for much of the press conference evoked the inconvenienced-man-ofwealth image that kept his approval ratings low throughout the first two years of his term.

Without a dramatic gesture to make his mark on this moment in city history, save his trek across the Brooklyn Bridge that merely echoed the more ebullient Ed Koch, the Mayor turned to higher rhetoric as the news conference closed to connect with ordinary New Yorkers.

"In the meantime, we will need to carry on in the same intrepid spirit New Yorkers have shown since the early hours of the morning, and even since this great city was founded," the Mayor said.