Surer of Supporters
Claim by Toussaint: Gain Despite Losses

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

The most recent election results posted on Transport Workers' Union Local 100's Web site show the incumbent One Union slate retaining its majority on the union's executive board with 32 out of 49 slots.

ROGER TOUSSAINT: Defectors diluted strength.

One Union members captured or held on to executive board seats in TA Surface and TA Operators, the Maintenance of Way (MOW) Structure division, the Car Maintenance division, Stations and Rapid Transit Operations. It will share power with Rail and Bus United in two other MOW divisions, and was shut out of executive board seats in the Private Lines division.

Loyalists Had Defected

Until now, Local 100 President Roger Toussaint's slate held an estimated 33 out of 47 executive board seats. A union spokesman said, however, that five people elected on his slate in 2003 had ceased voting with him on key issues prior to last month's election.

In one respect, Mr. Toussaint solidified his majority this time by taking seven of the union's top 10 positions: the three held by him, Treasurer-Secretary Ed Watt and Recording Secretary Darlyne Lawson, as well as four vice presidential seats. In the last election, he held only five out of 10.

Rail and Bus United took all five executive board seats in the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority and won the two seats for the Queens division of Private Lines. Both are longtime bastions of the Old Guard opposition to Mr. Toussaint.

The three executive board seats in the Westchester division of Private Lines were swept by Fresh Start candidates. But those results, along with the rest of the election for that division, were nullified after it was discovered that close to 1,000 members didn't receive ballots. A second election for that division will be held in the next three to six weeks, union sources said.

VP Slot Up for Grabs

It's also possible that the division vice presidency, tentatively awarded to Rod Bailey of Rail and Bus United, will yield a different outcome the second time around.

Mr. Bailey won the Queens division of Private Lines by several hundred votes and was trailed by Fresh Start's John Day and Neil Winberry of One Union.

In the Westchester division, Mr. Day won, followed by Mr. Winberry and then Mr. Bailey. Once new elections are held in Westchester, the results will be added to existing tallies from Queens. If former One Union voters throw their support behind Mr. Day, he could end up taking the vice presidency.

Winberry a Longshot

It's unlikely, sources said, that the One Union candidate, Mr. Winberry, would be able to capture enough Westchester votes to overcome the sizeable lead Mr. Bailey enjoyed in Queens.

An expansion in membership increased the number of executive board seats this year - moving it from 47 to 49. Divisions get one seat per 1,000 members.