THE CHIEF-LEADER welcomes letters from its readers for publication.
Correspondents must include their names, addresses and
phone numbers. Letters should be submitted with the understanding
that all correspondence is subject to the editorial judgment of this
newspaper. Letters can be e-mailed to: RSTEIER@RCN.COM or
mailed to: Richard Steier, Editor, 277 Broadway, Suite 1506, NY, NY
10007.

SPINMASTER JOHN

Spinmaster John

To the Editor:

The claim by John Samuelsen that more than 20,000 TWU Local 100 members petitioned to get rid of Roger Toussaint and Ed Watt is clearly a spin of Orwellian magnitude.

The purpose of the petition process was most definitely not to get rid of anyone, but simply to put officers on the ballot.

I was at 16th and 8th and observed petitioners from Rail and Bus asking members to sign their petitions to get them on the ballot. To use such a benign reason to get a signature, and then turn around and claim that it is a validation of one's desire to get rid of someone is, to say the least, disingenuous.

Their cheating in this process has been reported on in this and other media, so I would not comment on it.

As to Carlos Albert's claim (Nov. 24 letter) that someone wrote Jeffrey Lee's letter, that is a case of the kettle accusing the pot. Moreover, it is better to have someone write your letter and have it well done than to send it out laden with errors in grammar and sentence construction, as in the case of the Track News which is sent out by Carlos and his cronies.

PERCIVAL THOMAS, Track Worker