TWU Internal Battle On Ending Grievance Over Flagging Shift

By ARI PAUL

A Transport Workers Union Local 100 official is threatening bylaw charges and possible legal action against his union because it withdrew a grievance he filed over what he believed was a New York City Transit violation of Track Division seniority rights.

JACK BLAZEJEWICZ: TWU undermining seniority.

Local 100 Track Division Recording Secretary Jack Blazejewicz filed a grievance in May claiming that Conductors in NYC Transit's Rapid Transit Operations Division had been doing flagging work on the 7 line for members of the Track Division, a subset of the Maintenance of Way Division.

Strict Division of Labor

He argued that under the current contract with NYC Transit and in line with years of tradition, RTO Conductors flag exclusively for contract workers on the tracks, while workers in MOW flag for workers in their subset MOW divisions. The changes, Mr. Blazejewicz said, would have violated seniority rights.

But Luciano Cipriano, a Local 100 Track Division executive board member, had withdrawn the grievance before Mr. Blazejewicz was to meet with NYC Transit officials at the authority's lower Manhattan headquarters.

Not Counting on Toussaint

"Upon finding him and berating him for a while, I asked why he did it," Mr. Blazejewicz said. "He said that [Local 100 President Roger] Toussaint was discussing this issue with management. I then told him that I don't give a damn who Toussaint is talking to about this issue. There is nothing to discuss. Management must cease and desist. Any discussions could lead to Toussaint allowing this to occur and that was not an option to me, the Track Committee or the members of Track Division."

Mr. Blazejewicz, who along with several other MOW officers who were elected on an opposition slate in December 2006 have lost their employer-paid release time, said he would take action against Mr. Cipriano and the union.

"I am drawing up executive board charges on Cipriano for conduct unbecoming," he said. "I am speaking to counsel regarding drawing up charges against the union to be heard at [the Public Employees Relations Board]."

Spokesmen for Mr. Toussaint did not respond to requests for comment, but the union president has openly supported the possible merger of flagging work into a central NYC Transit department rather than having flaggers split between two divisions. Mr. Toussaint has argued that such a move would increase safety for workers on the tracks as well as Train Operators and has vowed that the change would not harm members' seniority rights.

Local 100 Power Division rep Thomas Creegan speculated that the work on the 7 line was a gradual move towards centralized flagging and said that he expected to see more Conductors flagging for MOW workers on other lines and in other subsets of his division.

"The minute they start doing it for third rail I'm going to do the same thing Jack did," he said, noting that Local 100 would probably withdraw it as well. "You have to fight for your job."