Ex-Local 100 VP Pushing Private Lines Breakaway; To Join Another TWU Local
By ARI PAUL
The lack of either a contract or a pension settlement has spurred a former Transport Workers Union Local 100 Private Lines Division vice president into advocating that the division leave the union and affiliate with another TWU local.

ROGER TOUSSAINT: Ex-ally leading an insurrection.

Neil Winberry, who served as vice president of the division until 2006, held a meeting June 27 in the College Point section of Queens urging members to sign an internal TWU International petition to switch to Local 252, which represents bus drivers in Long Island.

'Given Us Nothing'

"The reason we're pushing this is because of what Local 100 has done to us: nothing," Mr. Winberry said. "We have gotten absolutely nothing in terms of contract, pension increases, everything."

Members working for Metropolitan Transportation Authority Bus have been without a contract since 2000, and many Bus Operators have complained that they lack parity with their counterparts at New York City Transit and the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority.

JOE SEXTON: Skeptical about leaving Local 100.

Nearly 50 members and 10 retirees attended the meeting on disaffiliation. Mr. Winberry claimed last week that he has several hundred signatures and said he aims to get the signatures of 70 percent of the nearly 1,900 members in the division.

"We feel like we're third-class instead of second-class citizens," Mr. Winberry said. "They remove officers. We ask for new elections - we don't get them. They're changing bylaws. I mean, they can do all this but they can't seem to get our members to pay dues."

Questions Motives

Retiree and former division officer Larry Bacon attended the meeting and said that while he agreed that Local 100 was ignoring the needs of the division, he distrusted Mr. Winberry's intentions because he served under Local 100 President Roger Toussaint and ran again on his slate in 2006 when he was defeated by dissident Rod Bailey, who would later be promoted out of the bargaining unit.

"This is not the time to break away under Neil Winberry," Mr. Bacon said. "He doesn't have the ability to take you into anything."

The Chief-Leader/Michael O'Kane 'WHAT'S ROGER DONE FOR YOU LATELY?': Citing a lack of proper representation, former Transport Workers Union Local 100 Private Lines Division Vice President Neil Winberry, right, made his pitch to division members to leave Local 100 for a smaller TWU affiliate that represents bus drivers in Long Island.

'Out for Personal Gain'

He added of Mr. Winberry and others pushing for the move to Local 252: "We have people who are looking for their own personal gain."

Mr. Winberry had, in fact, been a Toussaint supporter until his defeat for re-election. After Mr. Bailey stepped down from the vice president's position, Mr. Winberry led a movement to hold an election to fill the vacancy, while Mr. Toussaint insisted on making an appointment. Mr. Toussaint eventually gave Enzo Sinnona the post. Mr. Winberry has remained a critic of the stall in settling the MTA Bus contract. Members of the now-defunct dissident Fresh Start slate have alleged, however, that the Local 100 administration unfairly favored Mr. Winberry in a recent election to fill a vacancy for union chairman at the College Point Depot.

The Chief-Leader/Michael O'Kane 'SHOULD WE STAY OR SHOULD WE GO?': MTA Bus workers assembled outside the Knights of Columbus hall in College Point, Queens to discuss leaving their local for a smaller one. Some officers and retirees voiced dissatisfaction with the current union leadership but argued against breaking away from Transport Workers Union Local 100.

Local 100 spokesmen did not comment on the move to break from the union. Both Mr. Toussaint and MTA Executive Director and CEO Elliot Sander previously said the two sides were working on settling a contract. This time last year, Mr. Toussaint addressed division members in a meeting vowing that settling the MTA Bus contract would remain a high priority for the union.

"We're always 'this close,''' Mr. Winberry said. "We're going on a long time with 'this close.'''

Various private bus companies in Westchester and Queens were organized in the early days of Local 100, and many of them have since been consolidated into MTA Bus. The division also represents workers for companies operating paratransit vehicles and school buses.

'Breakaway Not Viable'

Queens Division Chairman Joe Sexton, despite being a vocal Toussaint critic, opposed disaffiliation, adding that the whole of Local 100, the TWU's largest affiliate, was worth more than the sum of its parts.

"I don't think it's a viable option," he said. "You're with 36,000 people. The only problem is with our leadership."

Mr. Winberry insisted that he is not pressuring workers to sign his petition and that he is merely giving them a new option.

"Do you feel like you've been represented by Local 100?" he asked. "If no, then sign this petition."