Rule Toussaint Can Set Rules On Job Release

By ARI PAUL

The Transport Workers Union of America has rejected a complaint by TWU Local 100 dissident John Samuelsen that the local's president has illegally altered the procedure for giving members time off from their New York City Transit jobs to perform union business.

JOHN SAMUELSEN: Toussaint a flippin' hypocrite.

Mr. Samuelsen, a Track Inspector, had alleged Sept. 23 to the International that Local 100 President Roger Toussaint's recommendation that filling union positions on NYC Transit release time should be the responsibility of the division vice president, which the Local 100 executive board adopted, violated the local's bylaws. TWU International Administrative Vice President Michael Bakalo informed him Oct. 11 that his appeal was denied.

Changed His Stance

In a biting letter to International Secretary Treasurer Joseph C. Gordon, Mr. Samuelsen stated that it has long been the tradition of the local for the division executive committees to administer the affairs of the division. Mr. Samuelsen also reminded Mr. Gordon that when Mr. Toussaint was Local 100's Track Division chairman in the 1990s, he vigorously defended that practice.

"But that was then and this is now," he said in the letter. "In 2007, Toussaint is now Local 100 president and wouldn't you know it, he now has a totally different take on the issue.

He went on, "Unfortunately, this is the exact type of behavior which has led to the wholesale disillusionment of our members both with their own local and with the International. The TWU has now shouted from the rooftops that justice will never be done."

In response to a release-time charge filed by Private Lines Queens Division Chairman Joe Sexton last month, Local 100 General Counsel Walter Meginniss asserted that the president had ultimate control over the affairs of each division.

'President's Call'

"Article XXIV(b) of the bylaws provides that the Division Executive Committee is to administer the affairs of the division between division meetings," he said in recommendation to the Local 100 executive board. "But constitution Article XVI(1) provides that the local president 'shall be responsible for the efficient control of the affairs of the local union representative.' It stands to reason that the fulfillment of these presidential responsibilities would include a determination as to which union representative should be charged with what task in representing members."

Mr. Samuelsen is pushing for the International executive council to review his denied appeal, where he believed he had some political support.

"I want everyone at the table to know that Toussaint is a flip-flopping hypocrite," he said in a phone interview. "But I'm sure they're used to that."