Letters to the Editor
TWU's Woes Aren't Over

To the Editor:

As a transit worker for over 20 years, I have never seen my union, Transport Workers' Union Local 100, in such a sorry state.

In our recent bitter union elections, Roger Toussaint won a "deserved" re-election as president with less than 50 percent of the vote. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for his leadership after two terms.

As a former Toussaint supporter, I was among the many who voted against him. Every transit worker knows that Toussaint was re-elected simply because there were far too many slates on the ballot, thus splitting the vote against him. After a poorly-led strike, a vote of no confidence for his contract negotiations and then settling for inferior pay and benefits through arbitration after a year without a contract, any other union would've shown Toussaint the door.

Admittedly, Local 100 was up against a very vile anti-union atmosphere in our contract battles. Amongst the potent characters trying to break Local 100 were Governor Pataki, Mayor Bloomberg, MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow and two of New York's leading tabloids. Don't forget that the Daily News sunk to having the homeless hawk newspapers in an attempt to break its labor strike.

But Local 100 would've faced our strike in a far stronger position if Toussaint hadn't purged the ranks of our elected union officers. Toussaint fired or otherwise forced out more Local 100 staffers than all the previous presidents combined.

This isn't some Mickey Mouse fan club for Roger Toussaint. It's our labor union, for all its members. Hundreds were put on the union payroll to go campaign for Toussaint, but now not one union rep is out explaining the contract to our members.

But apparently the union elections aren't over after all. How smug that the Toussaint followers are still wearing their campaign buttons in the union hall. So much for the credibility of the lip service that "we're all going to work together."

RAY LYNCH, Train Conductor