Come join us for a Take Back Our Union (TBOU) fundraising event hosted by the
Car Equipment Division Candidates of Take Back Our Union.
You will have an opportunity to meet and greet with
candidates of TBOU from various departments.
Date: Thursday, April 30, 2009
Time: 3PM – 7PM
Location: Shell Lanes (Bowling Alley), 1 Bouck Court,
Brooklyn NY, 11223.
Off of Shell Road one block south of Avenue X, across the
street from the Coney Island Yard Entrance. F train to Ave X.
Belt Parkway to Ocean Parkway.
Donation: $20 includes international buffet, and soft drinks. Cash bar.
Entertainment: Musical Mike
50/50 raffles with instant winners, and prize
Contacts: for tickets
Richard Rivera 646-996-5981 Horace Briggs 718-877-9824
Nicholas Lucas 917-658-1702 George Perlstein 917-364-3635 3PM-7PM
Michael Russel 207 Maintenance Shop Lawrence Rafalovich Coney Island OH
Ron Jones Jerome Maintenance Shop Jose Arroyo 917-678-5260
Marvin Holland 347-804-6982
Please visit our website for more information on the Take Back Our Union Campaign.
www.takebackourunion.org
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Rally Today to Stop MTA Service Cuts
Rally Today To Stop MTA Service Cuts: Union Square South @5:30PM
Time is running out to prevent layoffs, deep service cuts and steep fare hikes on the MTA. Due to lack of funding at by both the State and City , 8 million transit riders will face a 23% fare increase and wide service cuts. In addition over 1,10o transit workers face layoffs which would make the NYC transit system less safe and secure.Mass transit is essential to ensuring our City runs efficiently. More importantly, it is the only means of transportation for many people.
Workers who have been priced out of the City will face even longer commutes. Even more of their already shrinking paychecks will have to go to paying for transportation. With our environment facing a serious crisis, we need to encourage more people to take public transportation, not discourage them by making transit more expensive and less accessible. You can act to stop this from happening.
Rally Tuesday, April 28Union Square, South Plaza5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Make your voice heard. Hold Albany responsible for the gridlock that has prevented action on a workable MTA plan for months. It's a matter of protecting our workers, our environment and our jobs. You can also take a minute to let your state representative know that you are fed up with the roadblocks in Albany and want to see a real, workable plan for the MTA. Visit: http://ga3.org/campaign/adv_keepnymovggen
Time is running out to prevent layoffs, deep service cuts and steep fare hikes on the MTA. Due to lack of funding at by both the State and City , 8 million transit riders will face a 23% fare increase and wide service cuts. In addition over 1,10o transit workers face layoffs which would make the NYC transit system less safe and secure.Mass transit is essential to ensuring our City runs efficiently. More importantly, it is the only means of transportation for many people.
Workers who have been priced out of the City will face even longer commutes. Even more of their already shrinking paychecks will have to go to paying for transportation. With our environment facing a serious crisis, we need to encourage more people to take public transportation, not discourage them by making transit more expensive and less accessible. You can act to stop this from happening.
Rally Tuesday, April 28Union Square, South Plaza5:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Make your voice heard. Hold Albany responsible for the gridlock that has prevented action on a workable MTA plan for months. It's a matter of protecting our workers, our environment and our jobs. You can also take a minute to let your state representative know that you are fed up with the roadblocks in Albany and want to see a real, workable plan for the MTA. Visit: http://ga3.org/campaign/adv_keepnymovggen
Monday, April 27, 2009
No Contract For TWU Still No Plan from Toussaint & Tate
The Daily News reported last week that the MTA will soon meet with Acting President Curtis Tate to tell him there is no money for raises this year. This bad news comes only a week after the MTA announced that 1500 TWU members may lose their jobs.
What is our Union’s strategy for getting a good contract in the face of this terrible news? According to our Union’s website, the Tate/Roberts/Watt team’s response is to “not attend” the meeting to learn the details of the problem. Pretty feeble response to a really bad situation, don’t you think?
The fact is the Tate/Roberts/Watt team doesn’t know what to do and is in a state of panic. They have repeatedly shown that they have no idea about how to properly run Local 100, return it to the power it once had and get a good contract for the members.
For a year, during all of 2008, the Tate/Roberts/Watt team allowed Toussaint to secretly negotiate our contract with the MTA. The membership was not mobilized for a contract campaign and not one word was ever said to the membership about the progress of negotiations. The only progress report we ever got was the shocking news that Toussaint decided to put our contract into binding arbitration without getting any Executive Board approval. The Tate/Roberts/Watt team just stood there silently and let Toussaint take away the right of the membership to vote on the contract.
After putting our contract into binding arbitration, it was doubly shocking to find out that Toussaint appointed himself to be one of the arbitrators. Again, the Tate/Roberts/Watt team and their Executive Board simply stood there, did nothing and let Toussaint give himself the power to decide the terms of our contract.
In early January on the Union’s website Toussaint promised that, “In the weeks ahead, arbitration hearings will proceed and a final decision will be issued.” To our knowledge hearings have not occurred. And weeks have turned into months as the news about what is happening gets worse and worse.
After leading a disastrous strike that nearly destroyed Local 100, Toussaint and Watt should have rebuilt the Union and organized the members for a full court press to get a good contract. Instead, it appears that Toussaint - supported every step of the way by the Tate/Roberts/Watt team - thought he could get a good contract by simply being nice and asking for one.
As one of three Arbitrators, all Toussaint now has to do to get us a contract with good wage increases, no layoffs, no bus regionalization, no new reduced pension tiers and which restores our free health insurance is get one of the other two arbitrators to agree with him. The Tate/Roberts/Watt team’s strategy for getting such a contract has been to bet on Toussaint while keeping the membership completely demobilized. That’s a bad strategy. The recent demonstration - where only about 1,000 members showed-up to protest against layoffs - shows how hard it is to carry on an effective fight after spending years demobilizing the membership.
If elected, Take Back Our Union (TBOU) will rebuild Local 100 by organizing, mobilizing and uniting the membership in a Union that has real power in the subways and on the buses and in the halls of government to get us good contracts. We don’t bet. We believe in a sure thing: having a Union with real power that management must respect. John Samuelsen President candidate Take Back Our Union (TBOU).
What is our Union’s strategy for getting a good contract in the face of this terrible news? According to our Union’s website, the Tate/Roberts/Watt team’s response is to “not attend” the meeting to learn the details of the problem. Pretty feeble response to a really bad situation, don’t you think?
The fact is the Tate/Roberts/Watt team doesn’t know what to do and is in a state of panic. They have repeatedly shown that they have no idea about how to properly run Local 100, return it to the power it once had and get a good contract for the members.
For a year, during all of 2008, the Tate/Roberts/Watt team allowed Toussaint to secretly negotiate our contract with the MTA. The membership was not mobilized for a contract campaign and not one word was ever said to the membership about the progress of negotiations. The only progress report we ever got was the shocking news that Toussaint decided to put our contract into binding arbitration without getting any Executive Board approval. The Tate/Roberts/Watt team just stood there silently and let Toussaint take away the right of the membership to vote on the contract.
After putting our contract into binding arbitration, it was doubly shocking to find out that Toussaint appointed himself to be one of the arbitrators. Again, the Tate/Roberts/Watt team and their Executive Board simply stood there, did nothing and let Toussaint give himself the power to decide the terms of our contract.
In early January on the Union’s website Toussaint promised that, “In the weeks ahead, arbitration hearings will proceed and a final decision will be issued.” To our knowledge hearings have not occurred. And weeks have turned into months as the news about what is happening gets worse and worse.
After leading a disastrous strike that nearly destroyed Local 100, Toussaint and Watt should have rebuilt the Union and organized the members for a full court press to get a good contract. Instead, it appears that Toussaint - supported every step of the way by the Tate/Roberts/Watt team - thought he could get a good contract by simply being nice and asking for one.
As one of three Arbitrators, all Toussaint now has to do to get us a contract with good wage increases, no layoffs, no bus regionalization, no new reduced pension tiers and which restores our free health insurance is get one of the other two arbitrators to agree with him. The Tate/Roberts/Watt team’s strategy for getting such a contract has been to bet on Toussaint while keeping the membership completely demobilized. That’s a bad strategy. The recent demonstration - where only about 1,000 members showed-up to protest against layoffs - shows how hard it is to carry on an effective fight after spending years demobilizing the membership.
If elected, Take Back Our Union (TBOU) will rebuild Local 100 by organizing, mobilizing and uniting the membership in a Union that has real power in the subways and on the buses and in the halls of government to get us good contracts. We don’t bet. We believe in a sure thing: having a Union with real power that management must respect. John Samuelsen President candidate Take Back Our Union (TBOU).
Friday, April 17, 2009
Take Back Our Union endorses & supports TWU Rally this Thursday April 23
Take Back Our Union (TBOU) fully supports and endorses the emergency demonstration to stop the layoffs this coming Thursday April 23, 2009 from 4:30 to 6:30 PM @ MTA HQ -347 Madison Avenue at East 44 street Mid -town Manhattan.
TWU Local 100 has called an emergency demonstration to protest the threatened layoffs of hundreds of Bus Operators,Station Agents,and Cleaners.Take Back Our Union(TBOU) urges all members and supporters to attend.This is not a time for partisan politics, as every union member and supporter must do everything they can to help stop the layoffs of our brothers and sisters.
Take Back Our Union (TBOU) has been demonstrating with our allies around the city for months against the threatened layoffs. We have testified against layoffs at MTA Board meetings and at every fare hike hearings in NYC.In addition we have attended dozens of community meetings ,protests and rallies to stop service cuts and fare hikes.Unfortunately,until now, our current union leadership has not understood the need for action.We welcome them to the struggle to stop the layoffs.So once again Take Back Our Union(TBOU) is calling for all members to come out to the: Emergency Demonstration To Stop The Layoffs this Thursday April 23 2009 from 4:30PM to 6:30PM @ MTA HQ 347 Madison avenue at 44th street.
So wear your Take Back Our Union (TBOU) hats, buttons and T-shirts. Brings signs and banners every TWU Local 100 member should plan on attending.
TWU Local 100 has called an emergency demonstration to protest the threatened layoffs of hundreds of Bus Operators,Station Agents,and Cleaners.Take Back Our Union(TBOU) urges all members and supporters to attend.This is not a time for partisan politics, as every union member and supporter must do everything they can to help stop the layoffs of our brothers and sisters.
Take Back Our Union (TBOU) has been demonstrating with our allies around the city for months against the threatened layoffs. We have testified against layoffs at MTA Board meetings and at every fare hike hearings in NYC.In addition we have attended dozens of community meetings ,protests and rallies to stop service cuts and fare hikes.Unfortunately,until now, our current union leadership has not understood the need for action.We welcome them to the struggle to stop the layoffs.So once again Take Back Our Union(TBOU) is calling for all members to come out to the: Emergency Demonstration To Stop The Layoffs this Thursday April 23 2009 from 4:30PM to 6:30PM @ MTA HQ 347 Madison avenue at 44th street.
So wear your Take Back Our Union (TBOU) hats, buttons and T-shirts. Brings signs and banners every TWU Local 100 member should plan on attending.
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