Aspiring TWU Steward Encounters a Catch-22; Union Puts Program on Hold
By ARI PAUL
When 1-line Conductor John Ferretti found a posting at the Van Cortlandt terminal in The Bronx signed by Transport Workers Union Local 100 Conductor Division Chair William Wyatt stating that Mr. Ferretti had wrongly been telling workers he was a shop steward, he assumed it was a case of retribution.

The Chief-Leader/Pat Arnow JOHN FERRETTI: Has the training, not the designation.

In August, Mr. Ferretti, who helps publish the Revolutionary Transit Worker newsletter, had called for a dues-payment plan to help members who are in arrears get back into good standing. The union's executive board at President Roger Toussaint's insistence responded by passing a motion saying any officer proposing dues amnesty would be removed from his post.

'Absolutely Political'

"We think it's clearly about the call for dues amnesty," Mr. Ferretti said in a phone interview. "It's absolutely a political reprisal."

But the case points to a larger issue for shop stewards in the union's Rapid Transit Operations Division. The local has not formally credentialed shop stewards in the division for more than a year, RTO sources said, even though Mr. Toussaint originally ran for president on a platform of increasing the stewards' ranks.

The union's RTO Division has been holding training classes for shop stewards regardless, and these stewards, such as Mr. Ferretti, have been acting as union reps.

"We don't have the authority to make people stewards; that has to come from [Local 100 Secretary-Treasurer] Ed Watt's office," said Steve Downs, the union's Train Operator Division chair. "We've been asking the local leadership to recognize these people as stewards. Technically none of these people in this class were listed as stewards by the local."

'Wanted to Help Lead Fight'

Mr. Ferretti said that even though Mr. Wyatt had signed the letter telling members that he was not a shop steward, Mr. Wyatt and other Local 100 officers had previously encouraged his role as a rep, in particular building a committee of members to address issues on the 1 line.

"I went through the process that the bureaucrats said you had to be a shop steward and devoted a year of going to meetings when I didn't have to because I wanted to take a leadership role in fighting the bosses," he said.

Mr. Wyatt said in a phone interview that because Mr. Ferretti had not gone through the local-wide training for shop stewards, he was wrong to tell workers that he was a union rep. Mr. Wyatt added that the local was planning to hold more training for shop stewards, but did not say when.

Mr. Ferretti has also long been an opponent of the Toussaint regime. His newsletter called for workers to vote against the contract in 2006, and the RTW's supporters constitute one of the radical factions within the union that has denounced Mr. Toussaint's decision to work in a partnership with management on issues such as track safety.

Spokesmen for Mr. Toussaint did not respond to requests for comment.

Christopher Hogg, a Train Operator on the 1 line, who is also based at Van Cortlandt, said that Mr. Ferretti was very knowledgeable about New York City Transit rules and was effective in handling issues for workers on the 1 line.

Blasts Union Bureaucracy

"It's like Al Gore having lost to Bush, that's how absurd it is," he said of Mr. Ferretti's removal and the lack of credentialing for shop stewards. "It's difficult, because there's such a bureaucracy at the [Metropolitan Transportation Authority], and the bureaucracy seems to be mirrored in the union as well."

And he said that an on-the-job union rep was especially necessary for workers on the West Side IRT because Train Operators and Conductors receive a high number of disciplinary actions as a result of passenger complaints of improper behavior.

"On the 1 line you have the much-vaunted Upper West Side," Mr. Hogg said. "They're big pains in the ass and they think they are entitled to the world."

He added that regardless of whether some workers were at fault, management on the line had created an environment where workers were considered guilty until proven innocent.

"There's very little recourse," he said. "The 1 line is sort of known for these types of passenger complaints, which can cause personnel all kinds of grief, and many, many times these things are proven to be without merit."

A Long Trip Without a Break

The journey from Van Cortlandt to South Ferry takes about two hours, and Train Operators and Conductors don't get a break before taking the train back uptown for another two hours, he said, making lack of rest another issue for 1 line workers. Mr. Hogg added that he was grateful that despite the union's decision not to recognize Mr. Ferretti as a shop steward, he would continue those duties anyway.

"I myself have not been in a lot of trouble, but I've referred people to him. He's on the ball," Mr. Hogg said. "Very few locations in the MTA have a shop steward. How do you explain something like that?"