TWU Iconoclast: Restore Democracy and Inclusion

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood-James SAYS UNION JUMPED TRACKS: Train Operator Kevin Harrington, who made headlines when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority briefly forced him to remove his turban while on the job, is running for Transport Workers Union Local 100 vice president of the Rapid Transit Operations Division because he believes the current administration has not addressed the urgent needs of Train Operators and Conductors.

Kevin Harrington is a known entity in Transport Workers Union Local 100. In 2004, the Train Operator of two decades sued New York City Transit when managers demanded that he remove his turban, which as a Sikh he is required to wear, while on duty. After he refused, he reluctantly accepted a compromise under which he affixed a Metropolitan Transportation Authority logo to his turban.

His long white beard and weatherworn face give him the aura of a learned teacher; his Industrial Workers of the World patch on his work bag with the slogan "An Injury to One is An Injury to All" is a reminder that he's a militant trade unionist. Now a Local 100 vice chair in the Train Operator Division, he is running for vice president of the Rapid Transit Operations Division, which comes with a seat on the executive board, on the dissident Take Back Our Union slate.

Sees An Anti-Democratic Turn

Mr. Harrington said that the power of the division has deteriorated under the leadership of Curtis Tate, who is running for the top job on the incumbent United Invincible slate. While he admitted that Mr. Tate is far more affable than out-going Local 100 President Roger Toussaint, who is known for his caustic reactions to criticism of his decisions, the UI presidential candidate was complicit, Mr. Harrington argued, in the anti-democratic actions of the administration.

"When we had openings for vice president elections, he stood by Roger and said, 'Let's appoint the people rather than have elections,' " said Mr. Harrington, whose father and grandfather were also Local 100 officers. "When they removed people from release time, he stood by Roger and allowed officers who should be having release time to do union work to be not put in that release time, and [Mr. Toussaint] put people in it who didn't win in the elections."

He has a similar view of his opponent, Acting RTO Division Vice President William Wyatt. Neither he nor Mr. Tate returned calls seeking comment.

"I don't think he has any policies of his own," Mr. Harrington said. "I don't think he wants to vitalize our department to make it the spear-point for Local 100. We're the people right at the point of production; we drive the trains, we move the people. We're like the bus drivers. We're the ones with real power in the union if we wanted to take action."

Laments Steward Training Delay

One major problem under the current leadership in the division has been the delays in training new shop stewards, he said, which has resulted in inadequate worker representation.

In the last few years, Mr. Harrington said, advancements in train technology such as Automated Train Operation have made it easier for NYC Transit management to keep tabs on Train Operators and Conductors and discipline them for moving violations.

But the bigger issue, he continued, was that one of these disciplines, according to the current contract language, can stay on a worker's record for up to seven years, when the industry standard is two or three.

"It directly makes it very hard to stay in the title because of the discipline," Mr. Harrington said, noting that the accumulation of disciplines on a worker's record can result in demotion or termination.

The union, he lamented, was unconcerned with this issue.

'Everything's Monitored'

"It's very difficult for people to have a pristine career, because everything you do is monitored," Mr. Harrington said.

The RTO vice chair believes that Sikhism, a religion this Irish- Catholic from Queens converted to after college, guides his approach to union democracy and fighting the MTA.

"We fight against tyranny," he said. "The Sikhs were very big in fighting against fundamentalism in India. They always fought against caste. I think Sikhism is one of the few religions that actually has a statement in their scripture that says that women are equal."

The religion's ecumenical and egalitarian nature, Mr. Harrington noted, promoted democracy and inclusion, something he believed was lacking in the local and that he would bring to the RTO Division if elected.

"The Transit Authority has hired professionals to fight us, and the only way we can beat them is if we use all the mental capacities of our members," Mr. Harrington said. "You'd be surprised where good ideas come from."