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Never Snubbed Toussaint

To the Editor:

Once again my name appears in an article in The Chief that is not close to being accurate.

The Dec. 5 article, "Local 100's Toussaint Taking on Major Role for TWU International," included a section with the subhead, "Feud Cost Toussaint Post." This section could not be further from the facts.

It stated, "Mr. Toussaint had long sought the International vice presidency, which has traditionally been given to the head of Local 100. It was denied him soon after his election in 2000 by then-International President Sonny Hall, whom Mr. Toussaint had harshly criticized while running for office."

The true facts are that prior to Roger Toussaint's 2000 election, I had no direct or indirect union experience, good or bad, with Toussaint.

Our International convention, where delegates elect — not appoint — International officers, was only two months after Toussaint's 2000 Local 100 election. I, as International President and a candidate for re-election, very much wanted and expected that Toussaint and [Local 100 Secretary-Treasurer] Ed Watt would be members of my slate as International vice presidents.

Towards that goal I immediately invited Toussaint and Watt to my office and asked them both to be candidates for vice president as part of my slate. Toussaint, to my disappointment, said he had not yet made a decision as to what his goal was for the TWU convention.

I told Toussaint that he needed to make a decision soon, because the convention was only weeks away. Toussaint said he would soon call me, but never did. Nonetheless, I continued to hold open the two V.P. positions on my slate.

It was just one day before the convention opened when Toussaint called me to say he wanted to meet with me. I was pleased, assuming Toussaint would accept the vice president nomination.

It turned out to be a very brief meeting. Toussaint immediately told me that he would be a candidate for vice president on my slate but he would campaign against other members on the slate, including one for the International secretary-treasurer position.

Frankly, I was amazed that Toussaint and Watt thought it would be proper and acceptable for me to gain their being on my slate by betraying other members of my slate. I said no, and would do so again.

I learned a great deal during my first encounter with Toussaint. After I rejected his demand, he ran against me and he lost. I note that Toussaint and Watt boycotted and attacked the history of our International convention under my successor as International President, Mike O'Brien, who stated at the convention that Toussaint as Local 100 president should be there, where he could be a candidate for International office.

It's clear that Toussaint and Watt prefer to be appointed to International offices rather than elected by convention delegates.

I applaud my International leadership's decision to fill the three vacant positions, including directorship of the Health and Safety Department, and the decision to establish a Department for Strategic Planning. I make no comment as to the choices for director of these important departments.

SONNY HALL, Former TWU International President