FOR THE RECORD

Considering the number of issues on which Rudy Giuliani has revised his position lately - gun control, abortion rights, civil unions for gays, his memory regarding Bernie Kerik's questionable associations - it shouldn't be surprising that a revised edition of a book questioning Mr. Giuliani's fitness for higher office has just been published.

The 2005 "America's Mayor: The Hidden History of Rudy Giuliani" has been reissued by Soft Skull Press with a new title: "America's Mayor, America's President? The Strange Career of Rudy Giuliani."

A compilation of essays by journalists who have covered him over the years, the book features an updated introduction by its editor, Rob Polner, as well as the original preface by Jimmy Breslin.

The first edition's essays by Times columnist Jim Dwyer about Rudy's employment of smear tactics against his critics, Village Voice investigative reporter Tom Robbins on his knack for exaggerating his role as U.S. Attorney in decimating the Mafia in New York, and Kathleen Brady on the mistakes that led our former Mayor to place the city's emergency command center in a World Trade Center building that collapsed on 9/11, are supplemented by three new chapters.

In one of them, Paul Schwartzman of the Washington Post deals with Mr. Giuliani's formative years. Times reporter Michael Powell explores Mr. Giuliani's fractured relations with most black residents, while this newspaper's Richard Steier writes about the insight provided into Rudy's character by his relationship with Bernie Kerik, the aide whom he elevated from campaign driver to Police Commissioner and later pushed for U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security.

The revised edition was due to hit bookstores May 15.

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The deaths of two Track Workers who were struck by trains last month has intensified the clamor for the state to approve safety standards for track work that are consistent with those governing Federal railways.

Transport Workers' Union Local 100 has lobbied hard for such standards in the past, but the opposition of ex-Governor George Pataki and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority stymied legislation.

Governor Spitzer was elected with the support of Local 100, and the last vestiges of the Pataki regime are fading with the announcement last week that MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow will step down shortly. MTA Executive Director Lee Sander has echoed Mr. Spitzer's campaign declaration that a better working relationship has to be forged between labor and management, and New York City Transit President Howard Roberts drew praise from union officials for his response to the deaths of Daniel Boggs and Marvin Franklin.

But when Local 100 Secretary-Treasurer Ed Watt was asked May 8 whether management had indicated it might now support the safety legislation, he replied, "Ask the MTA."

MTA spokesman Jeremy Soffin indicated that it hopes to make the necessary changes without the need for mandated standards.

"We are completely committed to worker safety," he said in a phone interview. "We are awaiting the outcome of the Boards of Inquiry" into the two deaths before deciding on concrete actions.

"At this point," Mr. Soffin continued, "we felt the tack we've taken is the surest way to ensure the highest level of safety possible. We don't feel the legislation is necessary at this time."

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A conference to celebrate 25 years of Worker Education Centers at the City University of New York will be held June 1 and 2 in the CUNY Centers for Worker Education at 25 Broadway in lower Manhattan.

Running from 3 to 8 p.m. for the Friday session and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, the program will feature speakers including AFL-CIO New York City Central Labor Council Executive Director Ed Ott, Communications Workers of America Local 1180 Vice President Bill Henning, Professional Staff Congress President Barbara Bowen, and her state counterpart, United University Professions head Bill Scheuerman.

For further information, call (212) 966-4014.