What Is Toussaint's Problem?

A couple of weeks ago, Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint threatened to revoke the release-time privileges given to Thomas Creegan, the local's Power Division chairman, under which he is excused from his New York City Transit job to perform union-related duties.

The reason? According to a memo from Mr. Toussaint, Mr. Creegan allowed an injured member to be transferred from one hospital to another without being present, something he termed "irresponsible and unacceptable."

Mr. Creegan had an explanation: he learned other members of the work crew were being interviewed by NYC Transit supervisors about the injury, and no other union representative was available to protect their rights. He explained the situation to the injured worker, James Schaeffer, before leaving him at Jamaica Hospital to go monitor the interviews in Brooklyn.

Even more compellingly, Mr. Schaeffer had no problem with the decision, telling this newspaper's Ari Paul last week, "I think he handled the situation fine."

And so it would seem fair to ask Mr. Toussaint, "What's the problem?" Our suspicion is that what really bothers him is Mr. Creegan's persistent criticism of his leadership in recent months, sometimes in the letters column of this newspaper. Mr. Toussaint dwells on that column the way Yankee fans immerse themselves in the sports pages, and has stopped talking to us because we haven't censored his critics.

He doesn't seem to understand that the real source of his troubles among his members these days is his own conduct, rather than what his political rivals say about him. For several years, he has been subject to charges - often from former allies - that he has become a dictator. Lately he has seemed determined to turn what once was a hyperbolic charge into an accurate assessment.

Last week about 20 union members protested outside Local 100's headquarters as the executive board chose a new vice president for its Private Lines Division. Mr. Toussaint insisted that even though the next regular election is more than two years off, Local 100's bylaws give the executive board the right to fill the vacancy rather than holding an election for the post.

The protesters disagree, saying the bylaws require an election for any executive board post that becomes vacant more than 18 months before a general election.

Even if Mr. Toussaint is right on the letter of the bylaws, his action violates the spirit of union democracy on which he campaigned for office. In the months leading up to his first election as President in 2000, he helped push through a bylaw change that required elections for vice president posts, which until then were filled by the Local 100 president. The thought was that the old procedure disenfranchised rank-and-file members.

By insisting on his right to use his sway over the executive board to get his choice placed in the job, President Toussaint has practiced the very disenfranchisement that Candidate Toussaint once decried.

We're not sure what has gotten into Mr. Toussaint, but we hope there's a cure.