Court Denies TWU Appeal to Restore Dues Check-Off

A State Appellate Division panel Oct. 15 denied Transport Workers Union Local 100's bid to reinstate dues check-off rights, affirming a lower-court order that the union's leadership must first promise not to engage in another illegal work stoppage.

MICHAEL A. CARDOZO: City 'gratified' by ruling.

Local 100 asked in June that the appeals court overturn a decision by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Bruce Balter that adopted the stance of the Bloomberg administration — not a party to the actual case — that Local 100 President Roger Toussaint's previous affirmation that the union lacked the legal right to strike did not go far enough. The union has been without dues check-off since June 2007 as part of the punishment for its three-day strike in 2005.

Calls Affidavit Inadequate

"Considering the extent of the union's willful defiance of the Taylor Law in conducting the 2005 strike, as well as the strike's impact on the community and the union's history of destructive, patently illegal strikes, the court was justified in requiring more than an affidavit by the union's president stating only, in effect, that the union did not assert the right to violate the law," the panel's decision said.

JOHN SAMUELSEN: Dues loss aids Toussaint.

The court modified Justice Balter's ruling, saying that each member of the union's executive board did not have to swear off striking, and instead instructed the union to "submit a duly-authorized affirmation stating unequivocally that the union does not assert the right to strike against any government, to assist or participate in any such strike, and that the union has no intention" of conducting or aiding illegal strike efforts.

The Bloomberg administration's friend-of-the-court argument before Justice Balter in November 2007 went beyond what the named plaintiff, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, had called for, which was a conditional reinstatement of dues check-off rights that gave the court the ability to revoke such rights if it became apparent that Local 100 was planning another job action in violation of the Taylor Law.

City: 'Must Unequivocally Commit'

"The court has again ruled that the TWU is not entitled to be free of sanctions until it is prepared to commit itself unequivocally to comply with the law by refraining from future transit strikes," Corporation Counsel Michael A. Cardozo said in a statement. "We are gratified by this decision, which protects the safety and welfare of all of the city's residents."

The judges concurring were Robert A. Spolzino, Steven W. Fisher, Edward D. Carni and Thomas A. Dickerson.

The union has gone nearly 17 months without dues check-off rights, and in March U.S. Department of Labor documents revealed that just more than half of the union's New York City Transit members were fully paid up in their dues and in good standing.

The punishment has taken its toll on the local. Shrinking finances have resulted in the elimination of several staff positions and cutbacks in some areas of member representation, members have said. The lack of check-off has also added fuel to the union's internal fighting. Several officers and reps, many of whom are vocal critics of Mr. Toussaint, have been removed from their positions on the international and local level on accusations of late dues payment. Many of these former officers, such as Ainsley Stewart, who ran against Mr. Toussaint in 2006, have denied they were delinquent in their payments, in some cases offering written documentation.

Local 100 also chose the long road in the appeals process by arguing that Mr. Balter's order violated the union's free-speech rights. The alternative was to argue that the union's lack of steady cash flow for so long, in addition to a $2.5-million fine and having its leader briefly imprisoned, had punished the union enough, a course which would have expedited the union's case.

Political Ploy?

Spokesmen for Mr. Toussaint did not indicate what legal recourse the union will take from here.

Track Inspector John Samuelsen, a former Toussaint loyalist running for union president in next June's election, has stated that the administration has benefited politically from the loss of dues check-off, as many members upset with the leadership have fallen behind on dues payments and lost voting rights, giving Mr. Toussaint a better chance at re-election.

"I'm surprised," Mr. Samuelsen said of the appeals court decision. "I thought they would restore it. It's certainly been long enough."