TWU's Petty, Petty Cash

Top Transport Workers Union officials are giving new meaning to the phrase "petty cash" with their bid to remove Ainsley Stewart as a vice president of TWU Local 100 for allegedly owing $15.50 in dues.

Mr. Stewart, who ran against Local 100 President Roger Toussaint last December, denies he is in arrears. He was actually on a list of members in good standing that the union issued on Sept. 12.

Three weeks earlier, however, a union staffer sent a memo to Mr. Toussaint claiming Mr. Stewart was not paid up in full, and so on Sept. 17 he was suspended and the TWU of America is now seeking his removal.

Mr. Stewart contends that he is the victim of a political hit, with other union activists asserting that TWU International President James Little is going along with Mr. Toussaint to ensure his support when he seeks re-election in 2009.

Neither Mr. Toussaint nor Mr. Little returned calls from this newspaper's Ari Paul, which isn't surprising. When you have no reasonable explanation, there's not much to be gained by offering your side of the story.

We're inclined to believe Mr. Stewart's claim that he's up to date on dues, since Mr. Toussaint on more than one occasion recently has used the suspension of Local 100's dues check-off rights prompted by the union's 2005 transit strike to trump up cases against his political foes.

But for argument's sake, let's assume for a moment that Mr. Toussaint's account is accurate. What sort of union seeks to remove an officer elected by its members over $15.50?

We can imagine Mr. Toussaint arguing that at a time when the union needs all members to voluntarily pay dues in full, it can't tolerate a bad example being set by an elected officer.

But any Local 100 member who thinks that this is a valid justification might want to ask Mr. Toussaint why he waited until five weeks after the point when he could have petitioned in court for the restoration of automatic dues deduction from employee paychecks to actually do so.

Which hurt the union's treasury more - Mr. Stewart's allegedly missing $15.50 or the five-week delay in seeking reinstatement of check-off rights?