Swap Charges of Politics
New TWU Feud On Sick-Leave Donation

By ARI PAUL

Transport Workers Union Local 100's leadership has lashed out at Line Equipment and Signal Recording Secretary John Chiarello for allegedly withholding documents from the union regarding a sick member's leave of absence. Mr. Chiarello denied the accusation, with each side accusing the other of politicizing the incident.

JOHN CHIARELLO: 'Toussaint made it political.'

A Local 100 bulletin distributed to Signal Maintainers Feb. 15 said that Mr. Chiarello asked New York City Transit managers on Jan. 28 to allow co-workers of Signal Maintainer Noel Cork, who has cancer, to donate some of their vacation and sick days to him. The negotiation for Mr. Cork's extra sick leave needed union clearance, Local 100 said, but that it wasn't until three weeks later that the Local 100 president or division vice president received documentation regarding Mr. Cork's case.

'Played Politics'

"The letter [Mr. Chiarello] gave to management states that 'time is of the essence' to come to the aid of the sick member," the pamphlet stated. "Yet Mr. Chiarello has withheld the letter to this day from your union, apparently preferring to play politics with this member's life."

The union also accused Mr. Chiarello of threatening to publicize Local 100's alleged inaction on Mr. Cork's case.

"We have established arrangements with management over the past two years to create additional paid leave based on members contributing to a pool intended to provide relief for catastrophic illnesses and injuries," the Local 100 statement said. "When brought to the vice president and president of your union, the situation with this particular Maintainer was solved right away by an agreement with management. Mr. Chiarello knows of this protocol. If he had followed it, the sick Maintainer would not have waited for three weeks for a resolution to his problem."

Insists Union Knew Early

But Mr. Chiarello said that division Vice President Charles Ayala confirmed on Feb. 6 that he had been made aware of Mr. Cork's situation. In a letter to Mr. Ayala Feb. 20, Mr. Chiarello called the accusations in the statement "despicable lies and misrepresentations."

"What is the real issue, I made every good faith effort to keep the union involved, but somehow President [Roger] Toussaint has to make everything political," he said. "I sleep well at night knowing I have made every effort possible to help my fellow union brothers and sisters."

Mr. Chiarello suspected that the union's statement was delivered in retaliation for his public criticisms of the depletion of the Local 100 Child Care Fund, which was acknowledged a few days before the bulletin was issued. He was elected in 2006 on an opposition slate.

One of Mr. Cork's co-workers who reached out to Mr. Chiarello seeking help donating sick time said that Mr. Chiarello constantly updated them on the request.

"I don't believe that part of it," said Bronx-based Signal Maintainer Delroy King of the union's statement. "We really appreciate what John is doing for us right now."

In addition, the chairman of the union's IRT Signal Section, Roberto Watson, said that Mr. Chiarello acted appropriately and that division chairman Ricardo Figueroa had been informed of Mr. Cork's situation in a timely manner.

"This issue is not about politics," he said. "This issue is about the life of a Signal Maintainer."