Why Stall on Track Safety?

The deaths of two Track Workers in less than a week back in April became a rallying point for legislation to require the same kind of safety standards in the subway system as exist for railroads under Federal law.

Yet a bill championed by Transport Workers Union Local 100 appears to be languishing in Albany due to the opposition of two key players: Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Union sources told this newspaper's Ari Paul that Local 100 President Roger Toussaint stated at a meeting last month that Mr. Bruno slammed the brakes on the bill out of pique over Local 100's aggressive support of Democratic candidates in the 2006 elections. The Senator's spokesman did a bob-and-weave when asked about that claim, saying the bill hasn't moved because it doesn't have a sponsor in the upper house of the Legislature.

Talk about disingenuous! It's hard to imagine that one of the Republican Senators from the city couldn't have been persuaded to sponsor the bill if Mr. Bruno hadn't privately made clear his objections. As it is, Sen. Serphin Maltese of Queens has introduced a bill on the issue, but it merely would create a task force to study the issue rather than require concrete standards.

It would be understandable if Senator Bruno was opposing a pension bill benefiting the members of a union whose electoral efforts could threaten his position. But this bill involves the safety of those who work on the subway tracks, and as such it should not be weighed down by political quarrels.

The MTA's opposition to the measure is also tough to understand. A spokesman for the agency says it supports enhanced safety for Track Workers, but wants the goal achieved through negotiations rather than the legislative process. Why? Is there any aspect of the safety bill, which has been approved in the Assembly, that MTA leaders find objectionable?

If so, spell it out. Otherwise, the claims of being interested in better protecting employees, as well as the professions of concern from New York City Transit, ring hollow.