TWU Track Division Reps Face Removal for Dissent; Claim Toussaint 'Trumped Charges'

Three dissident officers of Transport Workers Union Local 100's Track Division have been suspended and are awaiting a Local 100 executive board hearing on whether they should remain union reps.

ERIC JOSEPHSON: Says he acted appropriately.

Division Chair Carlos Albert, Recording Secretary Jack Blazejewicz and Vice Chair Eric Josephson received notification last week of the action against them, which stems from an August meeting they held regarding the possibility of New York City Transit mandating that Track Division members give up both weekend days as Regular Days-Off.

'Charges Are Lies'

The executive board voted Sept. 30 to suspend the officers, charging Mr. Albert with attempting to lead a division membership meeting at the union's headquarters about the RDOs when he was behind in his dues, a claim he disputes. Mr. Blazejewicz and Mr. Josephson were accused of defying Local 100 staffers who were attempting to keep Mr. Albert from leading the meeting.

"The charges are all lies," Mr. Josephson said. "Anybody that was accused of being behind on their dues either paid up or was paid up."

ROGER TOUSSAINT: Puts internal critics on trial.

The Track Division is a hotbed of dissent against President Roger Toussaint, who was once a Track Worker and a division chair. Mr. Blazejewicz and Mr. Albert were elected on the now-defunct Rail and Bus United slate, which ran in opposition to Mr. Toussaint's slate.

The two officers have criticized the administration for, among other matters, accepting a compromise bill passed last summer in Albany setting up a track safety task force consisting of the presidents of both Local 100 and NYC Transit instead of insisting on an earlier version that would have created regulatory oversight of track work-safety. Both men have been removed from their employer-paid release time status and replaced by union staff reps.

Wary of 'Vocal Opposition'

Mr. Josephson, a Bronx-based Track Worker, helps publish the Revolutionary Transit Worker, a socialist newsletter that has blasted Mr. Toussaint's administration for working closely with NYC Transit management on issues such as track safety. His small faction of adherents angered the Local 100 leadership when it proposed a system of dues payment for members in bad standing in a letter published in this newspaper.

"My guess would be that with contract negotiations coming up, Toussaint finds a particularly vocal opposition to be a stumbling block for him, so he wants to get them out of that post before contract negotiations begin," Mr. Josephson said.

The three officers had vocally opposed any attempt by NYC Transit to impose mid-week RDOs during the August meeting in question. Mr. Toussaint's aides assured division officers that the president would not allow such a measure, but Mr. Blazejewicz insisted that the union should consider a work stoppage if management went forward in abolishing weekend RDOs.

'A Recipe for Anarchy'

Over the weekend, Local 100 released a statement calling the officers' insistence on Mr. Albert chairing the meeting an "unwelcome surprise" to the union's leadership and that Mr. Blazejewicz and Josephson threatened a "confrontation" that would have prevented the union's affairs from taking place.

"At no time can a union permit people who are supposed to be the officers of the union [to] refuse to pay their dues and at the same time insist on trying to run the show," the union's statement said. "That would be a recipe for anarchy and the destruction of this proud union."

The union insisted that the officers would receive a fair trial, while charging that the officers were in violation of the local's constitution.

Track Inspector John Samuelsen, a former Toussaint loyalist who is likely to run for Local 100 president next year, planned to defend the officers at their executive board tribunal.

"This is the Toussaint we've all come to aspire to get rid of," he said. "In the midst of the greatest fight that Track Division has ever faced, potentially facing the loss of weekends off for a few hundred Track Workers, Roger trumps up charges on the officers."