Letters to the Editor
Toussaint Took TWU Backward

To the Editor:

Roger Toussaint, president, TWU Local 100 has outlived his usefulness - if anyone found him useful to begin with.

All Toussaint did in his two terms was advance his political aspiration at the expense of the membership. "No contract, no work" only to return us to work from a strike without a contract was a defeat for the labor movement - not a victory, as Toussaint claims, by any stretch of the imagination.

Toussaint knowingly provided false information to The Chief during his Sept. 27 interview, based on your Oct. 6 article titled, "Defiant Toward In-House Critics." It is typical Toussaint.

First, whether Toussaint was elected by 60 percent of the membership or whether he should lead is irrelevant. The fact and problem is, he runs Local 100 like a dictatorship, suppressing dissent, chilling free speech, and denying elected officers and the membership input - limiting 37,400 members to his narrow views and ideas.

And, regardless of the number of dissenters on a particular issue, they all have a right to be heard - which is what Toussaint does not permit. Toussaint has repeatedly demonstrated that if you are not prepared to agree with him, he will not allow you to express your views.

Regarding the booklet of Local 100 bylaws Toussaint produced to you, reading the duties of vice presidents as, "They shall assist the president in the discharge of his duties, to the such an extent the president shall determine," it is false - a complete lie. The fact is, Toussaint read to you language from the old bylaws which was amended in 2000, and replaced with new language which states, "The Vice Presidents shall work with the division and section officers to see to it that the policies of the Local Union are carried out in their Division(s)."

The amended bylaws give vice presidents new powers to run their departments first and foremost - not assist the president, as Toussaint continues to mislead everyone to believe.

And, to keep everyone in the dark regarding vice presidents' "new" responsibilities, since taking office in 2001, Toussaint has repeatedly reprinted the bylaws booklet but failed to include the amendments.

For some history, going into the December 2000 election with Toussaint as our New Directions "dissident" candidate for president, he spearheaded bylaws amendments to end the practice of vice presidents being elected by the 37,400 members and having to "assist the president." The amendments led to vice presidents elected only by members from the department they will serve, and working with the division and section officers instead.

The idea was, if our slate won only vice president seats, at minimum, the VPs would be able to run their departments effectively, free of interference and undermining by the president. However, Toussaint has turned the bylaws and that idea upside down.

Regarding the issue of the "president's duties," union bylaws do state, "the president shall have the authority to appoint, direct, suspend, or remove such employees as he may deem necessary, and shall fix their compensation."

However, Toussaint deliberately did not inform you that the above apply only to the hiring of persons who are not Local 100 members - persons from off the street primarily.

The "finance" section of our bylaws states: "The written approval of the Executive Committee shall be required before any member is taken off the job to work for our union ..." completely different than what Toussaint reported to you.

The executive committee, different from the executive board, is a constitutionally mandated body of our union made up of the president, seven vice presidents representing each of our seven divisions, recording secretary and treasurer. The executive committee decides which "union member" is taken off the job to work for our union after a discussion and a vote.

After Toussaint lost control of the majority vote on the executive committee at the last election, he ignored the bylaw mandate dictating which "union member" is hired. The result: every member is beholden to Toussaint.

Using the executive board to correct Toussaint's dictatorial policies and practices has proven useless. If not all, a great majority of board members at one point or another were hired by Toussaint to work for our union, making them beholding to him and corrupt.

There is no controversy on the 1.5-percent give-back for health premiums. The 1.5-percent give-back of gross wages to offset the cost of retiree benefits was a scam. According to the 2002 contract, retirees benefits cost only $10 million annually. The 1.5 percent would have generated $40 million annually. Where does the extra $30 million go? Members having to pay future health-care cost increases was no bargain either, as it only compounds the scam.

Why should a maintainer pay a $35 bi-weekly premium when today, NYC Transit supervisors' medical plan costs a flat rate of only $6 bi-weekly? DC 37 representing 121,000 workers did not have to give back 1.5 percent of their income, and there were no changes to their pension contribution. On July 10, the arbitrator in the Chicago Transit Authority contract dispute ruled retirees will continue to receive free medical benefits, and there will be no changes to workers pension contribution - all while the CTA bosses complain of a financial crisis. Unions everywhere have since reached agreements not having to give-back 1.5 percent. The MTA has a billion dollar surplus - we should not have to give back.

Toussaint has taken us backward instead of forward. He has failed to improve our wages and benefits over his last two contracts. Willie James's 1999 contract was worth $550 million; Toussaint's contract before the strike was worth $477 million; his contract after was worth only $400 million. Toussaint is taking us backward.

Today, many reports in circulation claim the contract was rejected by as many as 2,700 votes, not just seven votes, as Toussaint verbally reported.

The sad part of the situation is to this date, Toussaint refuses to produce the AAA documents with the numbers he reported on the Jan. 20 contract vote results, and the April 18 "re-vote" results - giving credence to the 2,700 figure. Regarding the sale of our union headquarters, Toussaint limited officers to little or no input as he moved to sell the building, which he reported had a million dollar profit annually, after expenses. This leaves us homeless and in debt, having to pay rent of $1.3 million a year - a deal even a donkey would find foolish.

For centuries farmers always wanted to own the land they planted on because it was the better deal for their families, but Toussaint has no interest in anything that would help move the Local 100 family forward.

At minimum the property should have been developed into condominiums - not sold, using part of the profits to help buy members the best retirement medical plan money can buy. But again, dictator Toussaint did otherwise.

AINSLEY STEWART

Editor's note: Mr. Stewart, the vice president of the Car Equipment Division of TWU Local 100, is running against Mr. Toussaint.