Practicing What He Protested

Two elected chairmen of Transport Workers Union Local 100's Private Lines Division have accused Local 100 President Roger Toussaint of violating the union's bylaws by barring them from contract negotiations with management.

This is not the first time that a Local 100 head has excluded union officials who were political foes from contract talks that directly affected their members. The last time it happened, in 1999, the union's Track Division chairman brought charges against then-Local 100 President Willie James.

That case is especially familiar to Mr. Toussaint, since he was the Track Division chair who was left outside the door during those contract talks.

His internal critics say that his applying the same tactics to Pete Denicolo and Joe Sexton, who chair the Westchester and Queens chapters of the Private Lines Division, represents another betrayal of the ideals Mr. Toussaint ran on when he was first elected in 2000.

Mr. Denicolo said Mr. Sexton had been accused by Mr. Toussaint's allies on the Local 100 executive board of being disruptive at earlier talks, something both men deny. They say they believe Mr. Toussaint does not want them involved in the talks because he wants to be able to negotiate lesser terms for those members than he has obtained for those who work for New York City Transit.

Since Mr. Toussaint, as has been his habit for the past year, has declined to comment, there is no way to know what his reasoning is. He may believe that any knowledge the two chairs have of what's happening at the bargaining table could be turned against him for political reasons.

That might turn out to be the case. It is still no excuse for denying them the right to be at the table for a contract covering those they were elected to represent. The problem is that in asking the executive board to sanction Mr. Toussaint, Mr. Denicolo and Mr. Sexton are asking fellow union officials to take just the sort of action that has gotten countless other officials - more than a few of them former close allies of the Local 100 president - exiled from the kingdom.

In a letter to the editor that appeared last week, International TWU President James Little said in response to urging here that he rein in Mr. Toussaint's high-handed conduct, "the proper party to correct alleged lack of judgment or abusiveness is not the International, but the members of the local voting for officers in their local elections."

The one time where he would step in, Mr. Little said, was when there was a violation of the union's constitution. That clearly has occurred here. Mr. Toussaint is repeating the behavior he once complained about. If Mr. Little follows in the footsteps of the International TWU President at the time, Sonny Hall, by permitting such violations, he will just perpetuate the practice of disenfranchising members by not having those they elected as division chairs in a position to advocate for them at the bargaining table.