Toussaint's The One

To the Editor:

It seems like the strategy of Rail and Bus (dis)United is just to level accusation after accusation at Roger Toussaint with the hope that something would stick.

They claim that Roger is a dictator, while simultaneously claiming that he controls the executive board. If he is indeed a dictator, then he has no need to control the executive board, and if he controls the executive board, then the real issue is the caliber of the members of the executive board, some of whom are now running for Rail and Bus.

Isn't it coincidental and very convenient that after working with Roger for years, they suddenly discover that he is a dictator just in time to use our contract fight to launch their campaign to take over the union? It is obvious that they have no interest in the welfare of transit workers, since none of them bother to attend any activity that is organized to bring pressure to bear on the MTA to give us a contract. It stinks to high heavens that a few months after they discovered that Roger was evil personified, they find themselves as part of a well-funded motley crew of clearly divergent interests whose only common philosophy is hatred for Roger Toussaint. They do make strange bedfellows - some former members of New Directions wanting to return Local 100 to Sonny Hall.

It is said that "until the lions have their historians, tales of hunting would always glorify the hunters." Transit workers should not allow Rail and Bus to distort our history. The fact is that under Roger Toussaint, Local 100 made great strides in addressing the needs of its members. Shop steward training, the training and upgrading fund, the child welfare fund, the publishing of a monthly newsletter, mass membership meetings and mobilizations are just a few of the things we have come to expect that were not there before Roger took over.

It is ironic that the Rail and Bus slate in the Track Division is taking credit for a number of gains that our union made under the leadership of Roger Toussaint. Some of these things took place before some members of the slate were even hired. They claim credit for things that happened even before they came into existence.

We should not allow ourselves to be deceived by persons who only want to further their personal ambitions with no real regard for our welfare. We cannot reward them by voting for them. Vote for principle. Vote the One Union slate.

PERCIVAL THOMAS, Track Worker

Editor's note: Mr. Thomas is a candidate for the TWU Local 100 executive board on Mr. Toussaint's slate.