'Guild' Leader Divisive
To the Editor:

Walking through New York City Transit's main buildings at 2 Broadway and 130 Livingston these days and talking to Chapter 2 members of the Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375 feels like walking through a raided field ruined by aerial attack.

Claude Fort, Local 375's president, carried out an assault against the local's largest chapter of 1,100 members by destitution of its elected officers. You can catch glimpses of union members at their desks and in hallways shocked, disappointed, frustrated, outraged, and angry at Claude's raid.

The despotic systemic actions that Mr. Fort is steadily establishing throughout the local are nowhere more suffocative and oppressive than in our Chapter 2. Mr. Fort stripped 11 elected chapter officers of their duties because "they were not fulfilling their obligations as union representatives," he told The Chief (June 20 issue), then proceeded to appoint his supporters.

As evidence of members' support, Behrouz Fathi and George Dames have both been re-elected for second terms.

More than 15 pending out-of-title grievances are suspended regarding members' issues including those of salary, service increments, longevity, implementation of recently negotiated working conditions, promotional and Transit career development, pension, civil service, membership and the anti-privatization struggle to keep more projects in-house, just because of Claude Fort's irresponsible act of discharging elected chapter officers.

What's so bad about Claude Fort taking this action? He violated local procedure prior to taking the action. Even if the chapter's program, vision, and active role among members were not to his liking, his unilateral move is completely damaging members' representation.

On the other hand, Claude's ruling to discharge elected officials will give an upper hand to management, allowing it to delay and not respond to contractual obligations.

Local 375 officers and board members who have not recently visited NYC Transit Chapter 2 may not see the gravity of the negative effects of Fort's raid, which is suffocating and dividing members and the union organization as a whole.

A sister member of the union, Rosemary Paniagua, Architect, took an initiative to organize members and collected more than a hundred signatures in just a few days to invite President Fort to come to Chapter 2 and answer members' questions regarding his discharging elected officers of the chapter. The invitation was repeated again on June 13.

Unfortunately, Mr. Fort did not respond to either of the two invitations. He claims that these members' requests are a trap for him. This kind of response to the membership is indicative of the paranoia and arrogance of Claude Fort.

Yet it is also important to note that more than 400 Chapter 2 members' signatures were collected in a petition to oppose Mr. Fort's actions and demand retraction of his uncalled-for decision.

Members at Chapter 2 relentlessly stand up for their elected representatives and persuasively indict Mr. Fort's actions. Members demand to keep their democratic process of fairness intact.

BEHROUZ FATHI

Editor's note: Mr. Fathi is the president of the New York City Transit chapter of the Civil Service Technical Guild, which is Local 375 of District Council 37.