Homestation Online...soon to be the new home of the TBOU Blog

The People's Solidarity Concert Friday January 8 @ Local 32 BJ

2009-12-27T22:15:00.002-05:00

mark your calendars and PASS THE WORD !the PEOPLE'S SOLIDARITY CONCERT PARTY HEARTY TO BEGIN THE NEW YEAR

Friday, January 8, 2010 – 7 pm till Midnight at Local 32-BJ

101 Avenue of the Americas (6th Avenue)
between Watts and Grand St, in lower Manhattan

Donation: $15.00 (no one turned away)

Sponsored by the People's Organization for Progress and The Alliance for Progressive Media

Sick and tired of government transferring wealth from the workers to the bankers - well, you wouldn't know it from the mass and liberal media who ignore or distort our voices. So no matter what your issue is, the question is how do we get our
stories heard and who tells them in 2010? Begin the new year with a solidarity concert and eat, drink, and meet those who'll work to get the voices of the people heard.

PERFORMERS:

Sonia Sanchez, nationally recognized poet

Heritage OP, percussion sensations
Fred Ho, jazz baritone saxophonist
Kinshasa and Friends

The Doo Wop Classics
and DJ Peace
Travel: #1, A, C, E trains to Canal Street, Manhattan
Information: 646-506-9422

As TWU Local 100 is in transition the MTA sinks to new low and puts NYC students at Risk!

2009-12-27T03:44:00.004-05:00

Listen to Building Bridges on WBAI 99.5FM this Monday and every Monday at 7:00PM for all your community & labor news and updates on the MTA service cuts.

Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report
National Edition
Produced by Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg
**************************************
Day of Outrage
NYC Student Rally at MTA Headquarters
Protesting Metrocard Cutbacks
With
New York City High School Students:
Jordan Orvam, Kyle Maer, Francine Prince, Sherana Woods

More than a thousand students from across NYC protested against a
proposal passed by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)
Board in favor of serious budget cuts taking place next year. Among
the most critical effects of these budget cuts is the discontinuation
of a program which provides free subway and bus MetroCards for
more than 500,000 city students. This outrageous plan will hit poor
families the hardest and will affect many students ability to attend
school and obtain the free education that they deserve
**************
NYS Governor’s Budget Attacks School Children
With
Alan B. Lubin , Exec. Vice Pres., NYS United Teachers
and
Geri D. Palast, Executive Director, Campaign for Fiscal Equity

Governor Paterson unilaterally withheld $750 million in scheduled
payments to schools and local governments. The impact of these cuts
on education statewide from kindergarten to college level will be
devastating, especially in the poorer districts. A coalition of teachers’
unions and local school officials countered with a lawsuit against
Paterson arguing that his decision violated New York’s Constitution.
Paterson argues cut back while a broad coalition urges among
other things tax the rich.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
To Download or listen to this 27:46 minute program,

Pacifica Station only can go to Audioport - Menu Option
“Weekly Program Section" dated 12-26-09
http://www.audioport.org/index.php?op=program-info&program_id=30197&nav=&

all others go to http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/38411
or
http://www.archive.org/details/BuildingBridgesNewYorkCutsKidsSchoolAidAndTransportation

Please email Building Bridges if you are broadcasting our National Edition.
We'd like to have an accurate list of which stations are airing Building Bridges.
So please let us know! Email knash@igc.org

Building Bridges is regularly broadcast live over WBAI,
99.5 FM in the N.Y.C Metropolitan area on Mondays from
7-8pm EST and is streamed, archived and pod cast at
www.wbai.org .
Our website is www.buildingbridgesradio.org

Building Bridges National Edition is regularly broadcast over:

WERU Blue Hill and Bangor, Maine
WGOT - Gainesville, Florida.
WUOW - Oneonta, N.Y.
WWUH, - West Hartford, CT
WVJW- Benwood, WV
KRFP, Moscow, ID
KCSB, Santa Barbara, CA
WXOJ, Northampton, MA
KSOW,Cottage Grove, Oregon
WKNH ,Keene, NH
CKDU, Halifax, N.S., Canada
KRFC, Fort Collins, Colorado
WRPI, Troy, New York
WNRB, Wausau, WI
KRBS, Oroville, CA
WHLD, Buffalo, NY
Free Radio Olympia, Olympia,WA
KQRP Salida, California
East Hill Radio, Snoqualmie, WA
KSKQ, Ashland, Oregon
KWMD, Kasiloff-Anchorage, Alaska
WPRR, Grand Rapids, Michigan
WCRS, Columbus, Ohio
WSLU, St. Leo, Florida

as well as internet stations:

Radio Free Kansas
Radio Veronica, West Point, PA
The Journey Radio
WXXE
Seattle Radical Radio
Radio for Peace International
Radio Labourstart
AmericanFM.org
RadioDriftless.org
Grateful Dread Public Radio
=========================================
For archived Building Bridges National Programs go to
http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/series/Building+Bridges
For archives of all Building Bridges programs go to our website:
http://www.buildingbridgesradio.org

TBOU Member Tip of the Week -Why Unions do Politics

2009-12-21T07:25:00.004-05:00

Member Tip

for the week of December 21, 2009

Influence Inside and Outside the Workplace

For every employee, both those in the public and private sector, what goes on in the world of politics has a direct connection to the union's ability to advance and protect the members' interests. Legislatures pass and enforce laws that can make it easier or harder for unions to organize, to protect members' health and safety, to bargain for reasonable health care coverage, and to improve countless other aspects of working life. What is won at a bargaining table can be taken away with a stroke of a pen by elected officials who are not worker-friendly, or by appointed or elected judges.

Adapted from The Union Members Complete Guide, by Michael Mauer

--
read more at http://www.unionist.com/big-labor

NYC Transit Workers Take Back Union prepare for battle with the MTA on Building Bridges:WBAI 99.5FM

2009-12-21T07:14:00.003-05:00

NY Building Bridges Labor Report Interviews NYC TWU 100 New Leadership‏
This interveiw took place live Monday December 14 follow link below to hear the new leaders of TWU Local 100
NY Building Bridges Labor Report Interviews NYC TWU 100 New Leadership

Building Bridges: Your Community and Labor Report
National Edition
Produced by Ken Nash and Mimi Rosenberg
**************************************
NYC Transit Workers Take Back Union After Bitter Election
with
. John Samuelsen, President-Elect ,TWU Local 100
. Israel Rivera. Secretary Treasurer-Elect
. Benita Johnson, Recording Secretary-Elect
. Angel Giboyeaux, Administrative VP Elect

Subway Track Inspector John Samuelsen & the Take Back Our Union
slate won the hotly contested TWU Local 100 elections Dec. 7 after a
multi-year campaign of criticizing the administration of Roger Toussaint
& Acting Pres. Curtis Tate over issues of union democracy & militancy.
Their first priorities will be getting the MTA to honor an arbitration award
granting union members 11% raises under a 3-year contract & fighting
cutbacks due to the reduced revenue to the MTA.
*******
Brave New Films presents:
Where Was the Fed
with
Senator Bernie Sanders

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, in charge of the central bank since 2006,
could have demanded that Wall Street provide adequate credit to small
and medium-sized businesses to create decent-paying jobs in a
productive economy, but he did not. He could have insisted that large
bailed-out banks end the usurious practice of charging interest rates of
30 percent or more on credit cards, but he did not. He could have broken
up too-big-to-fail financial institutions that took Federal Reserve
assistance, but he did not.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
To Download or listen to this 27:19 minute program,

Pacifica Station only can go to Audioport - Menu Option
“Weekly Program Section" dated 12-20-09
http://www.audioport.org/index.php?op=program-info&program_id=30083&nav=&

all others go to http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/program/38290

Please email Building Bridges if you are broadcasting our National Edition.
We'd like to have an accurate list of which stations are airing Building Bridges.
So please let us know! Email knash@igc.org

Building Bridges is regularly broadcast live over WBAI,
99.5 FM in the N.Y.C Metropolitan area on Mondays from
7-8pm EST and is streamed, archived and pod cast at
www.wbai.org .
Our website is www.buildingbridgesradio.org

Building Bridges National Edition is regularly broadcast over:

WERU Blue Hill and Bangor, Maine
WGOT - Gainesville, Florida.
WUOW - Oneonta, N.Y.
WWUH, - West Hartford, CT
WVJW- Benwood, WV
KRFP, Moscow, ID
KCSB, Santa Barbara, CA
WXOJ, Northampton, MA
KSOW,Cottage Grove, Oregon
WKNH ,Keene, NH
CKDU, Halifax, N.S., Canada
KRFC, Fort Collins, Colorado
WRPI, Troy, New York
WNRB, Wausau, WI
KRBS, Oroville, CA
WHLD, Buffalo, NY
Free Radio Olympia, Olympia,WA
KQRP Salida, California
East Hill Radio, Snoqualmie, WA
KSKQ, Ashland, Oregon
KWMD, Kasiloff-Anchorage, Alaska
WPRR, Grand Rapids, Michigan
WCRS, Columbus, Ohio
WSLU, St. Leo, Florida

as well as internet stations:

Radio Free Kansas
Radio Veronica, West Point, PA
The Journey Radio
WXXE
Seattle Radical Radio
Radio for Peace International
Radio Labourstart
AmericanFM.org
RadioDriftless.org
Grateful Dread Public Radio
=========================================
For archived Building Bridges National Programs go to our website at
http://www.buildingbridgesradio.org
or
http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/series/Building+Bridges

always visit www.tbou.org for latest labor news

The Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Women's Committee invites the TWU Local 100 Women's Committee to Brunch this Saturday December 19 , 2009

2009-12-17T06:27:00.006-05:00

This Saturday December 19, the Take Back Our Union (TBOU) women's committee has invited the TWU Local 100 women's committee to a Solidarity Brunch Meeting . The purpose of this meeting is to put the recent bitter TWU elections behind us and to do what's best for all of the sisters in TWU Local 100. The meeting will take place this Saturday at the IAC located at 55 West 17 Street on the 5th floor (between 5th and 6th avenue in Manhattan)

WHAT : Solidarity Brunch to Rebuild TWU LOCAL 100 from a Women's Prospective
DATE : Saturday December 19
TIME : 10:00AM to 1:00PM
Where: 55 West 17 street 5th floor in Manhattan
Sorry Guys this is a Women's only meeting,To take part in the rebuilding of TWU Local 100 visit our blog often at www.tbou.org

The MTA Attacks TWU Local100 ,Transit Riders and Students

2009-12-15T22:31:00.003-05:00

JOIN COUNCIL MEMBER CHARLES BARRON, TRANSIT WORKERS, RIDERS AND YOUTH TOMORROW, WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 16, 2009 8:30 AM

TO PROTEST THE MTA'S ATTACK ON STUDENTS AND OTHERS

Wednesday, 8:30 AM at MTA Headquarters, 347 Madison Street , Bet 44th and 45th Street

As Wall Street prepares to lavish its bankers and traders with billions in year-end bonuses, the MTA is getting ready to worsen the economic crisis for millions of New Yorkers.

Why? To make sure bankers get their billion-dollar bonuses by paying off the monstrous debt service the MTA owes to the banks.

Don’t believe the media reports claiming that the raises – standard 3.5% and 4% annual increases – awarded to the transit workers on Friday are the cause of these outrageous cuts. To claim a crisis over $400 million – a pittance in comparison to the billions in bonuses going out to Wall Street even as we speak – is ridiculous. $30 billion in bonuses will be paid out among the top three banks alone. Trillions were handed out in bailout money.

In fact, it is the banks who are creating this crisis. The MTA is scrambling to pay its debt service to the long list of banks it owes money to, many of whom are collecting interest on loans whose principle was paid off long ago.

If anybody needs to “sacrifice,” it is these banks, who are bleeding public transportation and every other sector of society dry even as they kick people out of their homes and loot the treasury to cover their casino-gambling losses.

By re-introducing the “doomsday cuts” in a jobless recovery – cuts that were supposedly avoided mere months ago – the MTA has made it crystal clear that its role is to serve the rich at the expense of the riders. Its illegitimacy is obvious to all. The riders, transit workers, and all the people who make this city and its subway run are the only ones who can be trusted to make these decisions justly. Bail out the riders, not the banks!To stay informed about the MTA service cuts visit www.takebackourunion.org or www.BailOutPeople.org

Incoming TWU Local Officers to appear live on WBAI 99.5 tomorrow at 7:00PM

2009-12-13T16:25:00.004-05:00

WBAI Radio's Building Bridges: Your Community & Labor Report
Produced & Hosted by Mimi Rosenberg & Ken Nash
Monday, December 14, 2009, 7 - 8 p.m. EST, over 99.5 FM
or streaming live at http://www.wbai.org
Transit Workers Take Back Union After Bitter Election join the the newly elected leadership of TWU Local 100
. John Samuelsen, President-Elect ,TWU Local 100
. Israel Rivera, Secretary Treasurer-Elect
. Benita Johnson, Recording Secretary-Elect
. Angel Giboyeaux, Administrative VP -Elect
Tomorrow live at 7PM 99.5FM

the Take Back Our Union (TBOU)
slate won the hotly contested TWU Local 100 elections Dec. 7 after a
two-year campaign of working on the members issues and fighting with the community to stop the MTA from cutting service to the riding public.They defeated the administration of Roger Toussaint and his hand pick successor Curtis Tate and look to rebuild TWU Local 100 from the bottom up.

Their first priorities will be getting the MTA to honor an arbitration award
granting union members 11% raises under a 3-year contract that this pass Friday December 11, Judge Peter Sherwood ruled that the MTA was to give transit workers there pay increases. The new TWU leadership vows to increase the fighting of cutbacks due to the reduced revenue to the MTA.
*******
Building Bridges and most WBAI Programs are now being archived
for 90 Days. They are also being PodCast. These links will be live.
15 minutes after the program ends. To listen, download or pod cast
archived shows go to http://archive.wbai.org/allshows.php
Visit our web site -
www.buildingbridgesradio.org and visit the take back our union website at www.takebackourunion.org and our blog at www.tbou.org

TWU Local 100 Defeats MTA in Court Battle Over Arbitraion Awarded Contract.

2009-12-12T17:03:00.004-05:00

Judge Peter Sherwood of the supreme court of NY state has upheld TWU/MTA arbitration awards and the MTA’s petition to vacate the awards. This means the MTA is running of options in stopping transit workers from getting the fare increases they deserve.

The MTA and the Mayor went to court to hold up the arbitration award in order to continue to punish transit workers for the 2005 strike .The MTA's case was weak to begin with at the court hearings in November the MTA lawyers only attacked two provisions in the arbitration decision one was giving transit workers 3% in 2011 the last year of the contract and the other was the capping of the 1.5% health care payments. The reason the MTA did not attack the 4% raises in 2009 and 2010 is the arbitration agreement calls for these 4% raises in 2009 and 2010 to be staggered so that the MTA would have the ability within there budget to pay transit workers the same 4% raises as other public sector workers where given.This also means however , where as transit workers where given the same 4% raises as other NYC public sector workers actual take home pay for TWU members would only be around 2.5% for 2009 and 2010.

The ironic part is TWU Local 100 members would have gotten a 3.5% wage increase in 2011 but wages where cut by a half percent to pay for the capping of the 1.5% health care tax. The TBOU independent research team has obtain documents which show that TWU members paid almost 57 million dollars to the MTA in 2006 and 2007 due to the 1.5% health care tax. In 2008 alone the 1.5% health care tax cost transit workers $32,575,236.28. Records for 2009 are incomplete but for the first half of the 2009 transit workers have already given the MTA over 20 million dollars due the 1.5% health care tax. So where as capping the 1.5% is nice transit workers should keep in mind two things one is they paid for the capping of the 1.5% with a wage reduction and two the 1.5% was clearly stated to be for retirement health care benefits in the 2006 MOU. To stay informed visit www.tbou.org daily.

Incoming TWU-Local 100 President John Samuelsen Scheduled to Appear on WWRL 1600AM's "Working New York" - Saturday, December 12th 2009

2009-12-11T20:59:00.003-05:00

Incoming TWU-Local 100 President John Samuelsen is scheduled to appear on Working New York this weekend. The program, which is broadcast on WWRL 1600AM is hosted by longtime New York radio host and political commentator Mark Riley and airs Saturday afternoons from 2-5PM EST.

"Working New York" is a platform for people who are working, people looking for work, and people who have worked all their lives and are now retired. It's a show for unionized workers, workers fighting to maintain their jobs, and all those New Yorkers who work hard to keep this city alive and well.

Mark Riley talks to elected officials, union officials, labor experts, and more. "But most important," says Riley, "we talk to you, the hard working men and women of the New York City tri-state area."

WWRL proudly boasts the most progressive talk in the nation.WWRL 1600AM, is licensed to Access 1 Communications Corp., and is a 24-hour African American owned and operated radio station serving the New York metro area.

TBOU Action Alert - Tomorrow Saturday December 12 Join the Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Movement for Two Big Events

2009-12-11T06:57:00.007-05:00

It's been a great year for the Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Movement and as the year comes to a close we will like to invite all of our co-workers in transit as well as all of our supporters from the social justice movement to two big end of the year TBOU events tomorrow Saturday December 12, 2009.

In the morning starting at 11:00 AM to 2:00PM there is a Solidarity Brunch hosted by the TBOU Women's committee at the International Action Center located at 55 West 17 street 5th floor all sisters in TWU Local 100 are invited in good or bad standing.

Also tomorrow Saturday December 12 starting at 8:00pm please join us for our first ever Holiday Extravaganza at the Blarney Stone Bar and Grill Located at 121 Fulton Street New York NY 10038. Tickets are $40 which includes open bar & buffet tickets may be purchase at door or online (see post below).

TWU Local 100 Election - NYC Reformers Rise Again by Steve Early

2009-12-10T23:38:00.005-05:00

NYC Reformers Rise Again—In Transit And Teamsterdom

Working In These Times
Wednesday
December 9
http://www.inthesetimes.com/working/

By Steve Early

The rise, fall, and rise again of union reformers is a familiar story line in American labor. To some observers, in fact, it's a source of much cynicism about the whole project of union democracy and reform.

The day-to-day demands of full-time elected office, combined with heavy pressure to conform to the norms of business unionism, has led more than a few rank-and-file heroes down the primrose path, sooner or later.

After reformers get elected, their "Si se puede" campaign rhetoric has been known to give way to a litany of excuses about why "we can't" -- empower members, fight the boss, or "build a new union," as promised during the campaign. There are, fortunately, always some committed activists ready to push the boulder of reform back up the hill again. But starting over is never easy. It requires winning support from fellow workers now angry, frustrated and/or disillusioned by the actual or perceived failure of previous insurgencies.

Two iconic New York City labor unions—TWU Local 100 and Teamsters Local 804--provide a recent case in point.

Local 100 of the Transport Workers has 38,000 subway worker and bus driver members. In 2000, a Caribbean-born track worker--bearing the name of a great 18th century liberator--took office as the presidential candidate of the "New Directions" caucus. Roger Toussaint was a battle-tested militant, with a left-wing political background, previously fired by the Transit Authority. His New Directions comrades-in-arms had contested many earlier elections, less successfully. They had also spent two decades or more trying to strengthen the union, from the bottom up, through workplace agitation and organizing, a story well told in "Hell on Wheels," a Solidarity pamphlet by Steve Downs, the elected chairperson of Local 100's Train Operators Division. (See www.solidarity-us.org for ordering info).

In office, as Downs recounts, it didn't take Toussaint long to create a personal patronage machine, rather than "the democratic, member-run union that New Directions and thousands of the local's members had fought for." Reform of the local became "a top-down, staff-driven process...Officers and members who pushed for a more participatory approach were frozen out."

As a result, Local 100 was in weak organizational shape when it skimped on contract campaigning in 2005 and then plunged into a brave but bungled strike in violation of the draconian Taylor Act. The dispute ended with healthcare give-backs, deep internal discord, costly fines for members and their union, Roger in jail for a few days, and suspension of automatic dues deduction. This last penalty--still in effect--has left Local 100 with a very big and disgruntled "open shop."

Only 18,000 out 38,000 workers are still supporting TWU financially. The local's deeply eroded and demoralized stewards' network--long neglected by Toussaint -- has been unable to collect more voluntary dues or do much else to enforce the contract, except in remaining pockets of workplace self-activity.

By 2006, the increasingly unpopular Local 100 president had to rely on a divided field of challengers to win re-election with only 43% of the vote. As reported accurately by no less an authority than Wikipedia, Toussaint soon came under renewed factional "criticism as he began removing union officers who were elected on opposition slates and working more closely with New York City Transit management."

In Teamsters Local 804, based in Queens, the trajectory from militancy to complacency, demobilization, and de facto company unionism occurred in a better-known national context. 804 is the home local of Ron Carey, who died of lung cancer a year ago. In the 1970s and '80s, under his leadership, 804 was a formidable island of rank-and-file resistance to the largest Teamster employer in the country, United Parcel Service. In those days, Carey and his members were surrounded by a cesspool of Teamster corruption and gangsterism in New York City and New Jersey, plus union collaboration with UPS management just about everywhere else.

In 1989-91, Carey joined forces with Teamsters for a Democratic Union to wage a successful grassroots campaign to oust old guard officials at the national union level. Carey's six tumultuous but productive years as IBT president in Washington reached their peak with the Teamsters' 1997 strike victory over UPS; shortly, thereafter, he was forced to step down from office in a re-election campaign fund-raising scandal, that also led to his indictment. Acquitted of all charges in 2001, he remained painfully banned from having any contact with his former co-workers in 804.

Over time, Carey's successors in the leadership of this 7,000-member UPS local drifted into the camp of current Teamster President James Hoffa. Two years ago, they gladly went along with a Hoffa-engineered UPS contract settlement that was overturned, in 804 at least, by dissatisfied members. The TDU-backed rank-and-file campaign against concessions in the 804 local supplement to the UPS national contract forced management to put a better offer on the table.

The final deal reversed a 30 percent pension cut, stopped a proposed wage cut, and saved the "25 & Out" retirement option that was key legacy of the Carey years. In a fatal pique of annoyance over this political setback for them, Local 804 officials didn't even send flowers to the funeral home or attend the wake when Carey died a year ago. At a memorial service for Ron last February, hundreds of UPSers showed up, angry and determined to avenge this grievous slight -- and, more importantly, take back their union--at the polls this fall.

In Local 100, that's exactly what the anti-Toussaint forces called themselves -- Take Back Our Union (TBOU). Roger himself wasn't on the ballot this time because he now has a high-paid staff job with the TWU's tiny and not very helpful national organization, whose failings he once criticized harshly (during his previous incarnation as a rank-and-file militant and, for a few years, dissident local leader).

Instead, a candidate backed by Toussaint and favored by the national union squared off against John Samuelsen, a Local 100 vice-president from Brooklyn with a long history of activism around track safety issues and the fight against contracting out. On Monday, Dec. 7, Samuelsen's multi-racial TBOU team won all four local-wide officer positions, including the presidency and four out of seven V-P slots. In his own race for the top job, Samuelsen won by nearly 900 votes out of more than 10,000 cast. Just a few days earlier, on Dec. 3, there was a record turn-out (1,000 more voters than before) in the balloting for 804's officers and executive board members. The TDU-assisted "804 Members United Slate" won all 11 seats, turfing out the hapless Hoffa fans in their union hall by an even larger margin of two to one.

In both races, the challengers produced detailed campaign platforms that were strikingly similar. (See www.takebackourunion.org or www.804membersunitedslate.org for details.)TBOU's literature stressed the need for an "open, democratic union," "member-driven, clean of corruption," and "single-minded in its resolve to break the cycle of concessionary bargaining." As UPS worker and 804 president-elect Tim Sylvester explained last week, "We laid out ten changes we'll make to build a stronger Local 804. We're not going to be able to fix all the problems overnight. But we're committed to implementing a reform program and tapping the power of an informed and organized membership."

When they take office like Sylvester in January, Samuelsen and his running-mates--Izzy Rivera, Benita Johnson, and Angel Giboyeaux -- will face an Augean stable full of accumulated organizational and financial problems. High on their "to-do" list will be a systematic membership drive, to get delinquent dues payers back into the TWU fold, and a push to secure long overdue 2005 contract pay increases that are still tied up in a post-arbitration appeal by management. Unusual among U.S. trade unionists at the moment, Samuelsen has a singular focus on "building rank-and-file power and re-establishing union strength in the workplace." At a day-long transition planning discussion, held in Manhattan last month with ninety TBOU supporters, John kept returning to the theme that Local 100 wouldn't become a "powerhouse" in NY labor again until it first re-built "layers of density" on the shop-floor, fought to "control the pace of work," and tackled, rather than ignored, day-to-day problems like the "disgusting condition" of subway employee bathrooms.

At a time when unions like SEIU are downplaying the role of workplace representation and any fight over working conditions--and, in some cases, even replacing stewards with "call centers"--Samuelsen talks non-stop about the centrality of elected shop stewards, who can't easily be replaced with "loyal bums" at the whim of a local president. He believes stewards should be trained and encouraged to deal directly with management as "on-site dispute handlers" and key contract enforcers. In the legislative/political arena, he thinks Local 100 should rely less on high-priced lobbyists and consultants or union check-writing to politicians. He wants more rank-and-file members to run for office themselves and pressure public officials directly, in their own neighborhoods and communities.

The 42-year-old Samuelson is particularly concerned about the challenge of reaching younger, newly hired transit workers. In a pre-election message to them, he warned of a Transit Authority management that has "stepped up its abuse of our members and routinely violates our contract." The Toussaint regime's abandonment of "any real attempt to mobilize the membership to defend our jobs" has produced a union "in full retreat on safety, discipline, job picks, and seniority rights."

Now faced with the challenge of actually stopping that retreat and finding ways for Local 100 to go on the offensive again, Samuelsen and his slate will need all the help they can get from members, new and old, next year, as will those picking up Ron Carey's banner in Teamsters Local 804.

(Steve Early was a CWA organizer, contract negotiator, and strike strategist in the northeast for 27 years. He is a longtime supporter of Teamsters for a Democratic Union and

the author of "Embedded With Organized Labor: Journalistic Reflections on the Class War at Home," Monthly Review Press, 2009, a book that discusses TDU and other union reform efforts.)

TWU-Local 100 leadership cancels scheduled Saturday, December 12th Mass Membership meeting

2009-12-09T21:20:00.002-05:00

This is a clear violation of the by-laws, as an annual mass membership meeting is required by charter.

*Flyers with a rescheduled date are being distributed, however, there is no indication that the new leadership has agreed to hold this rescheduled meeting.

TWU Local 100 Election Results - Its Take Back Our Union (TBOU) in a Landslide

2009-12-08T13:33:00.009-05:00

The Take Back Our Union (TBOU) slate wins in a landslide in the TWU Local 100 election as they sweep the Top offices and take 4 of 7 vice president spots and control of the TWU Local 100 executive board.

The newly elected officers will take office on Jan. 1, 2010.

Results:

President
John Samuelsen (TBOU) 5549
Curtis Tate (UI) 4681

Secretary-Treasurer
Izzy Rivera (TBOU) 5296
Ed Watt (UI) 4855

Recording-Secretary
Benita Johnson (TBOU) 5511
Andreeva Pinder (UI) 4560

Administrative VP
Angel Giboyeaux (TBOU) 5255
Barry Roberts (UI) 4866

Vice-Presidents

RTO
Kevin Harrington (TBOU) 928
William Wyatt (UI) 465

MoW
Tony Utano (TBOU) 1505
Charles Ayala (UI) 782

Stations
Maurice Jenkins (TBOU) 550
Kendra Hill (UI) 434

CED
Richard Rivera (TBOU) 527
Nelson Rivera (UI) 672

TA Surface
Harry Wills (TBOU) 430
Stephan Thomas (UI) 557
JP Patafio (Independent) 479

MTA Bus
John Day (TBOU)746
Enzo Sinonna (UI) 661

MaBSTOA
Brian Clarke of the UI slate ran unopposed.

Take Back Our Union thanks all of the members of TWU Local 100 for taking the time to vote in the election and supporting us.

To stay updated and for breaking TWU Local 100 election news visit our website : www.takebackourunion.org.

CELEBRATE THE VICTORY:

Don't forget the 1st ever Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Movement Holiday Extravaganza is taking place this Saturday, December 12th at the Blarney Stone Bar and Grill located at 121 Fulton Street New York NY 10038.

Buy your tickets now online:

Or to call for tickets visit www.takebackourunion.org.

THE TAKE BACK OUR UNION MOVEMENT INVITES YOU TO ITS FIRST ANNUAL HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA

2009-12-07T15:12:00.010-05:00

DATE:
Saturday, December 12

TIME:
8:00 PM - Until

PLACE:
Blarney Stone
121 Fulton Street
New York, NY 10003

TICKETS:
$40.00

Open Bar for beer, wine, soft drinks and well drinks (8pm to midnight)

Hot Food all night buffet style

Music by Sin City Movement Productions

Buy tickets online:

Purchase tickets (in person)
Derick Echevarria 718-593-5553
Paul Piazza 201-310-6030
Maurice Jenkins 347-768-6741
Christine Williams 718-781-3744
Marvin Holland 347-804-6982
Felicia Fields 696-591-7246

**TICKETS MAY ALSO BE PURCHASED AT THE DOOR**

Travel via train: A/C Train to Broadway Nassau / 2,3,4,5, to Fulton Street

TBOU Education Alert- Friday December 4 2009 "The Great Recession and the Battle for Good Jobs in the Black Community "

2009-11-23T12:56:00.003-05:00

Dear Friends and supporters of TBOU we would like to pass the word to you about the:

The CUNY Murphy Institute for worker education Fall 2009 series of Labor Breakfast Forums, we are pleased to announce a forum entitled “The Great Recession and the Battle for Good Jobs in the Black Community.” The speakers slated for this important discussion are:

Steven C. Pitts, author of Job Quality and Black Workers-A Multi-City Report and labor policy specialist at the Center for Labor Research and Education, University of California, Berkeley; and
David Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Community Service Society of New York (CSS).
The event will be held on Friday, December 4, 2009, from 8:30 to 10:15 AM, at the Joseph S. Murphy Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, 18th Floor.

While some economists have begun to discuss the formal end of the Great Recession, most also recognize that the economy will likely enter a jobless recovery worse than those following the recessions of 1990 and 2001. This situation promises to have particularly damaging impact on the Black community which entered this recession with disproportionately high level of unemployment and low-wage work. Racially stratified labor markets existed prior to the Great Recession; economic growth policies which ignore this reality will simply reinforce these racial hierarchies. What sort of legislative policies could help to remedy these problems? What new forms of organizing within the black community are needed to wield greater power locally and nationally to improve the quality of jobs held by Black workers? What role should organized labor and other allied movements play? Steven Pitts and David Jones will engage these and other crucial questions in what promises to be a timely and important conversation.

Please be sure to RSVP to Eloiza Morales at 212-642-2029 or eloiza.morales@mail.cuny.edu by Monday, November 30, 2009.
We look forward to seeing you.
Sincerely,
Paula Finn - Associate Director Editor, New Labor Forum
Rich Blint - Coordinator of Special Projects Center for
Labor,Community & Policy Studies

To Stay informed on all labor and community news visit www.tbou.org daily

TBOU Education Alert- Thursday November 19 2009 "The New York State Taylor Law goes International "

2009-11-13T06:09:00.004-05:00

TRANSPORT WORKERS CHARGE: NEW YORK'S BAN ON PUBLIC SECTOR STRIKES VIOLATES INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW

What: discussion by distinguished panel of experts on labor law on New York State's Taylor Law pursuant to changes filed with the ILO by TWU Local 100
Where: Columbia Law School, Jerome Greene Hall, Room 102
When: November 19 4:00pm-6:30pm

Transport Workers Union Local 100 today filed a Complaint with the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Geneva. The ILO is a tripartite UN agency that brings together governments, employers and workers of its member states, which include the United States, "in common action to promote decent work throughout the world." The complaint, directed to the ILO's Committee on Freedom of Association, tests the legality and the chilling effects of New York State's Taylor Law in light of ILO standards which protect the freedom of association and collective bargaining as fundamental human rights. The Taylor Law bars all strikes in the public sector, and punishes strikes with extensive fines, imprisonment of union leaders and loss of automatic dues deduction. The complaint alleges that these restrictions on strikes by public sector employees under New York's Taylor Law constitute "a serious infringement on core trade union rights" protected by international law.

To stay informed on all Union and Labor news check www.tbou.org daily

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Action Update- NYfST Meeting Thursday November 12 @ 5:00PM

2009-11-06T14:13:00.005-05:00

TBOU Action Alert-Taking Back Public Transit Thursday November 12, 2009 New Yorkers for Safe Transit (NYfST)is the only coalition of transit riders and transit workers working together to change mass transit policy and to make our mass transit system more safe for everyone so join please us on :

Date: Thursday November 12, 2009
Time: 5:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M.
Place: North Star Fund (Mid-Town Manhattan)
520 8th avenue 22nd floor (Between 36 & 37) street

Why are crimes and assaults going unreported on our subways and buses ?
Why where over 100 Subway booths closed without a public hearing ?
What kinds of violence do you see on NYC’s public transit system?
How can communities intervene? Respond?
What should the MTA do to curb/eliminate sexual harassment, assaults and hate violence?
What should perpetrator accountability look like?
Why are booths being closed in some communities and not others ?
Why are some booths being re-opened ?
Why are some bus lines being cut and not others?

New Yorkers for Safe Transit invites you to join us as we begin to explore ways transit riders and workers can work together to change mass transit policy in NYC:

So please join NYfST this Thursday November 12 from 5:00PM to 7:00PM in Mid-Town Manhattan at the North Star Fund located 520 8th ave 22nd fl.(bet.36st and 37st)
This event is being hosted by the Take Back Our Union (TBOU) movement www.tbou.org

TBOU Action Alert - Protest against Mayor Bloomberg Friday October 30 , 2009

2009-10-25T05:56:00.003-04:00

Billionaire Bloomberg Rots the Apple! PROTEST Take Back Our Union (TBOU)urges all transit workers and our supporters to come out and protest on:

Date: Friday, October 30, 2009
Time: 5:00pm - 6:30pm
Location: Bloomberg for Mayor Campaign Office
813 Broadway (between 11 & 12 sts.)

Mayor Bloomberg made billions from banking and vulture capitalism. He has used his mayoral powers to enrich the banks, corporations and real estate developers who are devouring our jobs, housing and education. A quarter of NYC's $50 billion budget -- $12.5 billion -- goes to tax-free debt service to banks. Join us to say that money needs to go to the people of NYC.

* Bloomberg says he's created jobs. Is this a joke? Unemployment is at record levels in NYC. The cost of living is up; wages are down. Homelessness is epidemic.

* Youth unemployment is over 50 percent. Youth need jobs and education, not repression and jails.

* Bloomberg did nothing to stop the closing of Stella D'oro, despite the company having received tax abatements. His planning board voted for the Bronx Armory developer, against community demands for decent jobs.

* Billionarie Bloomberg is running campaign ads promoting racism. He is in cahoots with former Mayor Giuliani, whose racist policies targeting Black and Latino/a communities are well-documented.

* Bloomberg rules over the public schools by fiat, preventing community control of schools that serve mostly people of color. He also forces educators to "teach to the test" for biased standardized tests.

* Bloomberg opposes a raise for Transit Workers. He's attacking the public service unions.

* Bloomberg has ignored the AIDS crisis completely. Health care in our communities has deteriorated.

JOBS AT LIVING WAGES YES!
RACISM NO!
UNION BUSTING'S GOT TO GO!

Initiated by the Bail Out the People Movement. We urge unions, community groups and organizations to mobilize and work together for this important demonstration.

Call 212-633-6646 or 646-353-2708
Email march4jobs@gmail.com for all your community and labor news visit www.tbou.org

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Action Alert- TBOU Supports NYC Paid Sick Leave Campaign by Christine Williams

2009-10-24T00:13:00.005-04:00

We all know how important it is to stay home from work when we're sick or to be able to stay at home and take care of a sick child. Many people take this for granted that you will get paid by your employer when you call out sick. Yet there are over a million workers in New York City who have no paid sick time. When workers can't afford to take off from work to recover from illnesses, this could become a health risk to co workers and the public.

The Take Back Our Union(TBOU) womens initiative committee has joined with the NYC paid sick leave coalition to get the NYC Paid Sick Time Act passed this year. Join TBOU and add your voice to the movement gaining momentum throughout the city and tell mayor Bloomberg that workers deserve paid sick days.

Important Upcoming dates
*october 26 2009* Launch of the paid sick days subway ad campaign Also public out reach and leaflet at the following subway station locations along the 4 5 and 6 line.
Time: 7:30-9 AM East at Lexington avenue 125th street
East 86th st and Lexington NW and SW corners on the downtown side
Union Square south end near 2 subway kiosks along East 14th street
Also at 10 am at Union Square there will be a demonstration and mass leafletting to the public.

*November 16 2009 *Press conference and rally on the steps of city hall! The city council will hold a hearing on the paid sick time bill.More details on this action at a later date.

*November 18 2009 *NYC paid sick time coalition. will sponsor a Forum
" Mobilizing women to speak out on paid sick days" Time: 9:00AM-11:00AM
NYU School of Law 245 Sullivan street, Furman hall-student lounge Featuring:
Gloria Steinem For more info on future actions go to :www.timetocare.ny.org/nyc for all your labor news always visit www.tbou.org

TBOU Education Alert-Monday October 26,2009 " AT THE POINT OF PRODUCTION"

2009-10-23T21:26:00.003-04:00

Author's Forum : 5:30 P.M., October 26th, 2009 at Brooklyn College Graduate Center for Worker Education,25 Broadway , 7 floor to RSVP call 212 -966-4014

At the Point of Production The Social Analysis of Occupational and Environmental Health A Collection of Essays Edited by Charles Levenstein.

This book locates workers' health and safety problems in the board political economy, arguing that without a deep understanding of the social/political/economic context of particular industrial hazards.The chapters report a series of case studies, all of which use the " point of production " as framework to investigate particular problems or industries.

The first section of the book focuses on globalization - the impact of privatization on health and safety of workers and communities in Brazil and Mexico. The Next section addresses environmental issues : the unintended effects of environmental regulation on workers, the situation of hazardous waste workers and emergency responders, the implementation of toxic use reduction and the role of workers in pollution prevention. The third section explores the intersection of labor relations with gender relations at the point of production.The last chapters addresses practical issues involved in conducting occupational health research in the contested terrain of the workplace.These chapters were previously published in New solutions Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health Policy.

Sponsors : CUNY/Brooklyn College Graduate Center for Worker Education
Worker USA : Journal of Labor & Society
New Solutions Journal Occupational and Environmental Health Policy

TBOU Education Alert-Monday October 26,2009 " WOMEN ON THE LINE"

2009-10-23T20:24:00.003-04:00

On Monday October 26 Join Miriam Glucksmann for talk on her book and experiences:
Thirty Year Reflections on Women on the Line - Changes and Continuities in Women's Work with comments by Linda Gordon of New York University.October 26th From 5:00PM - 7:00PM at The Tamiment Library located at 70 Washington Square South NYU Bobst Library, 10th floor between La Guardia and Greene Street in lower Manhattan for more info contact Michael Nash by email Michael.Nash@nyu.edu to stay updated on all labor education news always visit www.tbou.org

Things Are Falling Apart Inside TWU Local 100 from TA Surface

2009-10-23T20:13:00.003-04:00

What is happening to TA Surface? The President, i.e., Roger Toussaint, talks about “accountability” but right here in TA Surface the Vice President, Stephan Thomas, continues to make a mockery of our Division.

We have elected Division Officers barred from dealing with the membership. The Division Chair is back on the bus, and the VP has told management not to deal with him (backed by an email from Toussaint to management). Yes, the Union Hall is using management to go against an elected officer of the union. What a travesty!

We have two Divisional officers, Willie Rivera and Armando Serrano,driving buses while there are two Depot vice-chairs, Keith Arrington and Carlos Clarke doing their work. We have the 1st Division Vice Chair, Lloyd Archer not doing any hearings while the ENY Depot Chair, Ron Carter, does disciplinary hearings in other depots and arbitration. Stephan Thomas and Toussaint give the discredited Grand Ave(appointed) Chair, Gale Lee, a job at the Union Hall and in the same week they fire John Farrington, a former officer and long time staffer who was the Coordinator at 2 Broadway. Competence gives way to cronyism.

Things are indeed falling apart. For Toussaint and Thomas“accountability” means one thing, listen to their orders or face retaliation. How can there be any “accountability” when the top officers see no reason to be accountable to the membership? Change is coming on December 8th, but we don't have to wait till then.We need to demand that the Union’s by-laws and the member’s rights be respected. Let the Division officers run the Division (as it always has been).
TAKE BACK OUR UNION (TBOU) movement www.tbou.org

TBOU Election Update - Ed Watt bails out on TWU Local 100 by Israel Rivera Jr

2009-10-21T05:57:00.008-04:00

Local 100 Secretary Treasurer Ed Watt bails out on United Invincible and the members of TWU Local 100. As the most bizarre and controversial election in the history of TWU Local 100 heads into the home stretch .

Ed Watt goes and takes a full time paid position at TWU international of America just as president Toussaint did in November 2008. Seems his new position was to be brought up before an upcoming International Executive Board meeting. Details of the $160,000 a year position may have been leaked out by Mr. Watt himself. This is a major blow to the United Invincible slate. Sure sign of a fracture as Mr. Watt is Curtis Tates number two man. A sign that United Invincible's top people believe the current Local 100 election is unwinable? Local 100 President Roger Toussaint has already secured himself a position at TWU of America.Many Local 100 officers and UI candidates are already at the TWU of America, leaving most of their supporters to wonder about their own fate as the ballot count approaches later this year.

"Watt's departure from Local 100 is a sure sign that his Toussaint-supported United Invincible slate has lost the election,"

"There will be new leadership at [the] local come January 1." ... John Samuelsen,

Smack in the middle of a contract fight, United Invincible shows their true colors. They turn tail and run to the safety of TWU of America!
Begging Internationl Pres. James Little for protection from the on slaught of Take Back Our Union (TBOU). Israel Rivera Jr, for news story click on link below

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/10/12/2009-10-12_roger_toussaintbacked_twu_slate_takes_a_whack_as_candidate_leaves_for_internatio.html#ixzz0TlaTHdR6 and for all your TWU Election news always visit www.tbou.org

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TBOU Supports The NYC Paid Sick Days Campaign

2009-10-21T05:39:00.004-04:00

Message from :New York State Paid Family Leave Coalition

Dear Paid Sick Days Advocates:

There is so much happening on the campaign and so many significant dates approaching that the steering committee thought it was important to have an in-person meeting:

Friday, October 23 at 8:30 AM @ CWA~ 80 Pine St., 37 floor

We need you to join us as we:

Organize activities for the public release of our subway ads on Monday, October 26th
Plan for the bill's City Council hearing on Monday, November 16th
Expand on plans for a women's event on Wednesday, November 18th at NYU Law School
Report of the Coalition's October 19th meeting with Speaker Quinn

Please RSVP by responding to this e-mail or by calling 212-558-2276. Thanks!

We look forward to hearing from you ASAP.

The Take Back Our Union (TBOU) movement supports the efforts of The NYC Paid Sick Days Campaign to stay informed about this campaign and all workers issues visit www.tbou.org

TBOU Education Alert-Friday October 23 " Is Conventional Trade Union Obsolete"

2009-10-20T17:35:00.006-04:00

As part of our fall 2009 series of Labor Breakfast Forums, we are pleased to announce a forum entitled “Is Conventional Trade Unionism Obsolete?” The speakers slated for this important discussion have considered these issues from crucial and distinct vantage points: Amy Dean, former Chief Executive Officer, South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council, and author of A New New Deal: How Regional Activism Will Reshape the American Labor Movement; Janice Fine, Assistant Professor of Labor Studies and Employment Relations, Rutgers University, and author of Worker Centers: Organizing Communities at the Edge of the Dream; Gerry Hudson, Executive Vice President of the Service Employees International Union and co-founder of the Emerald Cities Project, committed to greening urban economies in equitable and democratically accountable ways; and Aijen Poo, Co-founder and Director, Domestic Workers United, an organization of nannies, housekeepers, and elderly caregivers fighting for power, respect, fair labor standards.

The event will be held on Friday, October 23, 2009, 8:30 – 10:15 AM, at the Murphy Institute, 25 West 43rd Street, 18th Floor.

Despite over a decade of renewed national commitment to organizing, the US labor movement has remained unable to significantly increase union membership. A legal framework that makes union recognition an uphill battle and huge job losses in heavily-unionized manufacturing sectors partly accounts for labor’s diminished size. Yet the fact that only a few unions have committed the resources necessary to support large-scale organizing also contributes to the fact that overall union density now hovers at 12.4%, and is a sobering 7.6% in the private sector. On the political front, organized labor helped to elect Barak Obama, but may be unable to secure the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), its top legislative priority.

These conditions require the labor movement to grapple with some tough questions: How can labor adapt its organizing template of long-term stability in a single workplace to meet the contemporary realities of contingent and globalized labor? Can the structures and objectives of industrial unions meet the challenges workers face in a post-industrial economy? How might American labor make common cause with a diverse, international labor force increasingly vulnerable within a corporate-dominated global economy? Did it make sense for organized labor to have set EFCA its top legislative priority, rather than focusing on universal health care or financial reregulation, for example? Should organized labor refashion itself as a social movement, standing in for what has become an eviscerated Left? Or does that role unfairly burden unions and distract them from fighting the workplace battles of its members? Our speakers will engage these and other difficult questions in what promises to be a timely and important conversation.

Please be sure to RSVP to Eloiza Morales at 212-642-2029 or eloiza.morales@mail.cuny.edu by Monday, October 19, 2009. We look forward to seeing you.To stay informed on all labor and worker news always visit www.tbou.org

TBOU WOMEN'S CONFERENCE & TBOU FUNDRAISER OCTOBER 29

2009-10-19T06:53:00.001-04:00

On October 29th 2009 the Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Movement hosts two big events in Mid-Town Manhattan a Woman's Conference and a Fundraiser

TBOU would like to invite you to a woman's conference from 4:30PM until 7:00PM as we ask the question what role will women play in 2010 and beyond inside of TWU Local 100
This most important meeting will take place at the North Star Fund located at:

520 8th avenue 22nd floor between 36 and 37 street

And on the same day Thursday October 29 starting at 6:00PM Join the Take Back Our Union slate for a THE FINAL PUSH Fundraiser/Gathering at McQuaid's Pub on the corner of 11th avenue and 44 street
** Hot Food ** Cash Bar ** $20 donation **

So Please Join us for two great events on one day October 29 www.tbou.org

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Action Update- Keep Post Officies Open

2009-10-15T06:37:00.000-04:00

The Take Back Our Union (TBOU) movement is calling on transit workers and all of our supporters to come out and help our sisters and brothers as :

THE NEW YORK METRO AREA POSTAL UNION TAKES FIGHT

AGAINST POST OFFICE CLOSINGS TO THE CITY COUNCIL

President Clarice Torrence to give testimony against New York City Station closings

WHERE: CITY HALL CHAMBERS

WHEN: TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20TH 10:00 AM

WHO: THE ENTIRE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE NEW YORK METRO AREA POSTAL UNION.

WHAT: WILL ATTEND THE GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS COMMITTEE OF THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL HEARING ON NYC POST OFFICE CLOSINGS

WHY: ALL POST OFFICE CLOSINGS IN NEW YORK

THE POST OFFICE CLOSINGS ARE UNNECESSARY AND ILL ADVISED. THE CLOSINGS 14 STATIONS IN MANHATTAN, QUEENS AND THE BRONX WILL BE DEVASTATING TO THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS

New York City Stations Possible Station Closures -As of October 9, 2009 these are the New York City Stations “under review for closure by the U.S. Postal Service:

Bronx

Botanical 2963 Webster Avenue 10458-9998

Clason Point 829 Soundview Avenue 10473-9998

Crotona Park 1682 Boston Road 10460-9998

Hillside 3292 Boston Road 10469-9998

Melcourt 754 Melrose Ave 10451-9998

Oak Point 849 East 149 Street 10455-9998

Van Nest 715 Morris Park Ave. 10462-9998

Manhattan
Cherokee 1483 York Ave. 10021-8840

College 217 West 140th Street 10030-9998

Pitt 185 Clinton Street 10002-9991

Port Authority 76 Ninth Avenue 10011-9992

Port Authority

Convenience Center 625 8th Avenue 10129-9991

Tudor City 5 Tudor City Plaza 10017-9991

West Village 527 Hudson Street 10014-9992

QueensLaGuardia Airport 1 Main Terminal 11371-9998

LIC Parcel Post Annex 4310 10th Street 11101-9997

Chuck Zlatkin
Legislative and Political Director
New York Metro Area Postal Union
350 West 31st Street, 3rd floor
New York, NY 10001
212-563-7553, ext 113; Fax 212-643-9051
Cell: 917-693-9427 for all your union and labor news always go to www.tbou.org

TBOU Action Alert - KEEP STELLA D'ORA IN BRONX PROTEST TODAY

2009-10-14T06:27:00.000-04:00
EMERGENCY - ALERT - PROTEST - TODAY

KEEP STELLA IN THE BRONX - PROTEST REMOVAL OF MACHINERY FROM THE PLANT

EMERGENCY PROTEST TOMORROW MORNING, WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 14 – 8:30 AM

AT THE STELLA D’ORO PLANT, 184 WEST 237TH STREET, BRONX, NY,

(TAKE THE NUMBER #1 TRAIN ON THE 7TH AVE. LINE TO THE 238 ST. STOP)

Tomorrow morning, Brynwood Partners, the Union busting company that brought Stella D’Oro, is sending trucks to the plant in the Bronx to remove machinery. The workers are asking supporters to join them in an emergency protest against the removal of the machinery.

Come to the plant at 8:30 am, or when ever you can tomorrow morning.

For more information call The Bail Out the People Movement at 212 – 633-6646

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Election Update- Message from Presidential Candidate John Samuelsen

2009-10-13T23:05:00.004-04:00
A Campaign Message from TBOU Presidential Candidate John Samuelsen

Victory is within sight. The ballots will be counted in less than two months, and we are still gaining momentum. In a matter of weeks, the destructive era of Toussaint and Watt will come to an end. Now is the time to remain completely focused on our goal. "The future of TWU Local 100 is at stake. The membership is relying on us to ‘Take Back the Union’ from those who have nearly destroyed it.

Our Take Back Our Union slate has achieved great success in this campaign to rebuild TWU Local 100 by running a positive campaign based on our platform to restore the strength of our union. We have kept away from the negative, hate filled personal attacks which have characterized the campaign of our opponents –Toussaint’s and Watt’s United Invincible slate. As we come down to the wire, Watt and paid agitator Jim Mahoney are spending their final weeks at Local 100 attempting to cement into place an atmosphere of permanent in-fighting. Their goal is to pit member against member so that we are forever fighting each other rather than the bosses the MTA.

Now is the time to stay on message, not stray from it. We don’t need to get into counter-productive debates with Watt, Mahoney and others like them. Watt and Mahoney should be ignored. Leave them to their own devices.Every time they engage in their customarily idiotic behavior, their standing among the members is lowered even further. So leave these poisonous fools to their own internet folly. Time spent responding to their filth, is time we can spend winning more support for TBOU Let’s bring home this victory for the membership. The future of TWU Local 100 is at stake. The membership is relying on us to Take Back the Union from those who have nearly destroyed it. We are very close to achieving that goal. Let’s not get side tracked now. Take Ownership of Your Job, Your Future, Your Union Vote TBOU Support a Change in Local 100

TBOU Action Alert-Taking Back Public Transit Thursday October 15, 2009

2009-10-09T05:38:00.002-04:00
ATTENTION :IF ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT THE RECENT SUBWAY BOOTH CLOSINGS?
NEW YORKERS FOR SAFE TRANSIT(NYfST) Invites you to a Policy Discussion on:
Date: Thursday October 15, 2009
Time: 5:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M.
Place: North Star Fund (Mid-Town Manhattan)
520 8th avenue 22nd floor (Between 36 & 37) street

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) is working with other organizations to keep Mass Transit Safe for all New Yorkers. One such organization that is raising the correct questions on behalf of the million of riders of our mass transit system is NYfST:

Why where over 100 Subway booths closed without a public hearing ?
What kinds of violence do you see on NYC’s public transit system?
How can communities intervene? Respond?
What should the MTA do to curb/eliminate sexual harassment, assaults and hate violence?
What should perpetrator accountability look like?
Why are booths being closed in some communities and not others ?
Why are some booths being re-opened ?

New Yorkers for Safe Transit invites you to join us as we begin to explore ways transit riders and workers can work together to change mass transit policy in NYC:

So please join NYfST this Thursday October 15 from 5:00PM to 7:00PM in Mid-Town Manhattan at the North Star Fund located 520 8th ave 22nd fl.(bet.36st and 37st)

This event is being hosted by the Take Back Our Union (TBOU) movement www.tbou.org

TBOU Action Alert - KEEP STELLA D'ORA IN BRONX RALLY

2009-10-08T07:03:00.002-04:00
Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Fights To Keep Stella Dora In Bronx

Today, Thursday October 8 at 1pm.

Dear Comrade,

It's a story we've heard too many times before. Wall Street firm buys a family owned business, sells its assets and throws the employees onto the street.

Workers at the Stella D'oro cookie company have been fighting for months to keep their Bronx bakery open and save 136 jobs. After an 11 month strike and a court victory, work at the bakery was supposed to resume. Instead, the owners - private equity firm Brynwood Partners - announced their intention to sell the bakery and move the jobs to Ohio.

We're fighting back. Join Take Back Our Union and Stella D'oro workers in a rally at City Hall demanding that the bakery stay in New York.

WHAT:
Rally in support of Stella D'oro workers &demand that the bakery stay in the Bronx.
WHEN: Thursday, Oct. 8, 1pm
WHERE: City Hall
Subways: A, C, M, R, W, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Stella D'oro received more than $400,000 in tax breaks since 2006, meant to modernize the factory and keep jobs in the city. Goldman Sachs owns a significant chunk of Brynwood Partners, and it too has received millions of dollars from the city. It should be obvious: Companies that receive taxpayer dollars meant to sustain good jobs should not be allowed to destroy them while keeping the money.

Join the Stella D'oro workers and supporters from across the city in a rally at City Hall this Thursday at 1pm.

visit: http://www.tbou.org for all your labor news

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TBOU Contract update from John Samuelsen in a letter to Chief-Leader Civil Service Newspaper

2009-10-04T22:30:00.007-04:00
To the Editor:

Since the arbitration decision on the TWU Local 100 contract was issued, the incumbent Local 100 administration led by Roger Toussaint,Curtis Tate and Ed Watt has carried on a propaganda campaign toconvince transit workers that their arbitration “strategy” was abrilliant bargaining tactic. They also aggressively attack anyone who points out that the wage package in the arbitrated agreement is less than the citywide wage pattern established by District Council 37 and hurts transit workers in other substantial ways. No amount of Toussaint/ Tate/Watt spin can change those facts.

The current arbitration situation, with the MTA refusing to abide bythe award, demonstrates the dangerous variables involved with choosingto voluntarily submit to this process. Binding arbitration eliminatesthe membership from the process. There is no vote (Toussaint was theonly Local 100 member who voted), and no way to demonstrate how the strength of an informed, organized membership can deliver a good contract. Most significantly, the choice to go to binding arbitrationdoes not help build the union in any way, or prepare Local 100 membersto win future battles against these MTA bosses.

The decision to arbitrate by Toussaint/Tate/Watt was a cynical,coward’s way out of doing the job the membership needed them to do. Onwages, the DC 37-established Citywide wage pattern called for a 4-percent wage increase on the first day of each year of its agreement,with full retroactive pay. Those raises are compounded, which in the end yields an actual raise of 8.16 percent for city workers over a two-year period. For transit workers, the arbitrator eliminated full retroactive pay. Then, our increases do not take effect until three months after the old contract expired. Then, the arbitrator staggered our wage increases by granting transit workers 2-percent increases at six-month intervals. It doesn’t take a math teacher to see that whilethe numbers appear equal in the long run, the reality is that transit workers are losing millions of dollars in wages over the life of the contract.

Tragically, we lost something incredibly important in the arbitrator’s award—transit worker jobs. The award creates a new title—Station Maintainer Helper—which allows management to save money by combining responsibilities and eliminating positions. The potential loss is at least 100 jobs. But it could have been much worse. According to the written decision, the arbitrator was informed that Toussaint/Tate/Watt and the MTA had agreed to expand the One Person Train Operation program (OPTO) on the “L” and “7” lines prior to arbitration in exchange for a minor easing of our 1.5-percent health-care contribution. In other words, the Toussaint/Tate leadership team did their best to give away our Conductor jobs, but the MTA wouldn’t take them! The only thing that prevented this staggering loss of Conductors’ jobs was a tactical error by the Authority in withdrawingits OPTO proposal, believing that the arbitrator would not cap the health-care contribution without the cost savings of expanded OPTO.The arbitrator capped the health-care contribution anyway, but it was done in exchange for broadbanding our Maintenance of Way skilled trade titles instead of OPTO. The health care-cap is an improvement, but certainly not a“tremendous victory” as hailed by Toussaint/Tate/ Watt. Transitworkers still must pay for health insurance while thousands of MTA employees at LIRR pay nothing, as it should be. The fact is that if Toussaint didn’t fold during our 2005 strike, we still wouldn’t bepaying anything for health-care.

Yet the farce continues. The MTA, no doubt annoyed that it will not be reaping even greater health-care contributions from transit workers,is trying to overturn the award in court. Certainly, if the union tried to reverse the award in court, the MTA would be screaming bloodymurder. The latest Toussaint/Tate/Watt tactic of asking transitworkers to “Get Ready to Rock “N? Roll” to “fight back BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY” smacks of a leadership that relies on after-the-fact phony militancy, rather than entering into the contract fight backed up by an organized, informed membership ready to defend their interests. Where were these strategies months ago in advance of negotiations and prior to arbitration, instead of today when the damage has already been done? An effective union prepares for contract negotiations by uniting themembership and organizing the ranks to achieve a good contract. What is achieved at the table affects all aspects of our jobs, our ability to support our families, and our future security. A fully informed and involved membership is essential to the progress and success of negotiations. As far as this contract and this arbitration are concerned, we need to move on. The last thing transit workers can afford now is the bargaining process to be thrown back into the inept hands of the Toussaint/Tate/Watt administration. They have already done far too much damage to our union to risk giving them any more chances. Certainly, Roger Toussaint and Ed Watt have assumed a docile position in their labor/management dealings far too many times already. It is time for TWU Local 100members to join come together and collectively fight these bosses to release our wage increases. Historically, the MTA has only ceded ground when angry rankand-file transit workers take the fight to them direcetly. Come Jan. 1, 2010 that is exactly what is going to happen. TWU Local 100’s new leadership is determined to lead that fight. We are determined to rebalance the scales.

JOHN SAMUELSEN Presient canidate for Take Back Our Union (TBOU)

TBOU Action Update:Labor Notes School Saturday October 3rd

2009-10-01T22:03:00.004-04:00
Still Time to Sign Up! Labor Notes Troublemakers Workshops, Saturday October 3, 1-5pm‏

This Saturday, October 3rd: More Troublemaking!Join us Saturday afternoon, October 3 for an afternoon of education and solidarity. There is still time to sign up so spread the word!

Download the flyer and spread the word!

Labor Notes is sponsoring several in-depth workshops for union activists in the New York area, including:

Defending our Jobs: Employers are on the warpath. Find out how to protect you and your co-workers from harassment, layoffs, and attacks on our standards. This workshop will cover everything from strategies for bargaining in tough times to conducting strikes and other job actions. You will also learn how to build community and political allies in order to fight back and win.
Internal Organizing - Key to a Strong Union: Powerful unions depend on active members. Whether you're an elected leader or thinking about running for office, taking over is just the first step. Learn proven strategies to beat apathy and get your co-workers moving. We'll also discuss why building a democratic union is more important than ever.

Secrets of a Successful Organizer Where ever you work there are secrets to organizing a strong, effective, collective voice on the job. These "secrets" of successful organizing can be learned and practiced in almost any situation. This workshop will help turn you into a better organizer. Using real life examples you'll learn how to map a workplace, pick good issues, build momentum, and turn campaign victories into durable power on the job.
Workshops will run between 1 and 5 p.m. at Murry Bergtraum High School, located at 411 Pearl St.

The school is located beside a tall white building with vertical black windows and a Verizon logo, at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Take the 2/3 to Park Place, the 4/5/6 or R/W to Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall. Following city streets from the 2/3 and R/W you turn exit on Broadway. Walk north to Chambers and turn right. Then turn left on Centre St and right on Pearl St. From the 4/5/6 you exit on Centre St., go north and turn right on Pearl St.

Alternatively you can walk through the breezeway underneath the municipal building on Centre St. at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. Turn left towards a large red sculpture. Turn right at the red sculpture and continue until the plaza dead ends. Go down the stairs and continue left onto Avenue of the Finest. Turn left on Madison and right onto Pearl St.

Please call the Labor Notes New York office to register, 718-284-4144 or email mark@labornotes.org. Childcare available, please contact Labor Notes for more details.

Suggested Donation $5/$10/$15 sliding scale.

Like what you see? Join the Labor Notes email update list.

Labor Notes - 7435 Michigan Ave., Detroit, MI 48210

TBOU Action Alert - KEEP STELLA D'ORA IN BRONX RALLY

2009-09-28T20:26:00.001-04:00
Keep Stella D'oro in the Bronx! Rally with Workers and Supporters at the Stella D'oro Plant Friday, October 2, 3PM-7PM 237th Street & Broadway

It is crunch time at Stella D'oro! Brynwood Partners, the company's private equity owners, intend to shut down the Bronx facility as early as the first days of October. They have a deal in principle with North Carolina-based manufacturing and marketing firm Lance, Inc. to buy the brand and relocate production to a non-union plant in Ashland, Ohio. But the deal still hasn't closed -- and we can stop it!

Please join the courageous women and men of Stella D'oro -- who have stood up for themselves and for the entire labor movement in New York -- as they rally to keep their plant open -- and their jobs -- this Friday, October 2nd, outside the plant gates at 237th Street and Broadway. Take the 1 train to 238th Street and walk one block south.

WHO: Stella D'oro Workers and Supporters
WHAT: Rally to Keep Stella D'oro in the Bronx
WHEN: Friday, October 2nd @ 3PM TO 7PM

TBOU Action Wednesday September 9, @ 4:00PM Informational Picket Justice For Joe Sexton College Point Depot

2009-09-03T06:47:00.012-04:00
At 4:00 pm on Wednesday, September 9th, the Take Back Our Union(TBOU) movement is going to the College Point Depot in Queens(12815 28th Ave, Flushing, NY 11345).We Will Sit Up An informational Picket Out Side the College Point Depot starting at 4:00PM Please Pass and Post Widely.

TBOU comes to Queens in support of Joe Sexton, an officer not being supported by the current union leadership. Mr Sexton is currently suspended and facing dismissal charges as MTA Management accuses him of posting "an unauthorized notice" regarding a change in pick procedures. Even if he did post a notice that was unauthorized, it would be an internal union matter and should have been handled as such. The Local 100leadership should have been firm and told the management at MTA Bus that they would not tolerate suspending a union officer acting in that capacity, and to return Mr. Sexton back to work immediately. If the MTA still refused to put Sexton back to work, he should have been put on the union payroll until his case was resolved with MTA Bus. Every officer in this union should be outraged that the union is not coming out in full support of Mr. Sexton -- Mr. Sexton is the Division Chair(Queens division)of MTA Bus and has been out of work for several weeks with no end in sight. The College Point Depot is part of MTA Bus which, in the spring 2008, became part of the MTA Regional Bus Operations.

MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the surface transit division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), and was created in 2008 to consolidate all bus operations operated by the MTA. The MTA then moved to streamline its operations through consolidation of management's functions. To that effect, RBO was officially created in May 2008. The president of what was then New York City Transit's Department of Buses, Joseph A. Smith, was named to lead the consolidated Regional Bus Operations which includes:

** MTA Bus (previously seven Private Bus Lines)(PBL)**
**** New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA)****
**Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority**
** MTA Long Island Bus the Metropolitan Suburban Bus Authority**

Around the same time, the MTA began to move towards RBO, a small band of members in the Stations Department began to build a rank and file movement called Take Back Our Union(TBOU). Since its formation in May 2008, TBOU has grown into a union-wide movement with networks of activists in every department of TWU Local 100 (the largest transportation union in the country). After winning a substantial number of slots in the TWU 2009 International Delegates election, TBOU is poised to take over the leadership of TWU Local 100 in 2010. Highly controversial for its outspokenness and complete rejection of the current partnership between the TWU and the MTA, TBOU is often at odds with the current TWU leadership. TBOU wants to break apart the cozy relationship between the TWU and the MTA, a relationship created by former MTA boss Elliot Sander(who was recently fired by Governor Patterson) and outgoing TWU President Roger Toussaint(who has deserted Local 100 for a job with the TWU international). Rather than fostering a partnership with the MTA, TBOU instead prefers to educate and organize the members to stand up and fight the MTA. TBOU also calls for solidarity among all titles of workers in Local 100 -- partnership with each other, not management. TBOU sets out to end infighting in our union once and for all and to stand behind all union officers regardless of their political affiliations, before, during, and after union elections.

That's why this Wednesday September 9 is such an important date for all officers and members to come out to College Point Depot to help get Justice For Joe Sexton !
Already confirmed to appear from TBOU's Surface and Subway Departments:

#Israel Rivera Jr.#(MABSOTA)#Candidate Secretary Treasurer#
*Benita Johnson **(RTO) **Candidate Recording Secretary**
*Angel Giboyeaux ** (PBL) **Candidate Administrative VP **
*Christine Williams **(STATIONS)Candidate Executive Board**
*Derrick Echevarria **(STATIONS)Candidate Executive Board **
*Charles Jenkins VP CBTU **(MOW)Candidate Vice Chair L/ES **
**Denotes Delegate for 23rd TWU International Constitutional Convention **
For more information call the TBOU Hot line (646)321-5213, send an email to tboustations@yahoo.com or visit our blog at www.tbou.org *

TBOU Action Alert-Wednesday September 2,2009 at MTA Headquarters

2009-08-27T06:48:00.003-04:00
On Wednesday September 2 ,2009 at 4:30PM the MTA will be holding its Capital Budget Hearing at its Headquarters located at 347 Madison avenue (between 44 & 45 street) in Manhattan.The Take Back Our Union(TBOU)Movement is organizing scores of rank and file transit workers to appear and speak out about the subway booth closings.

Over 100 subway booths will be closings on Sunday September 20 making our mass transit system less safe and secure.The Capital Budget Hearing offers our last and best chance to keep our subway system safe. We are calling on anyone and everyone who rides the NY transit system to not only come out to the MTA HQ Wednesday September 2 but to speak out on keeping subway booths open registration to speak closes at 6:00PM and everyone is allow to sign up and speak. So join TBOU and community activists on Wednesday September 2 as we Take Back the New York Transit System.For more info contact Marvin Holland at 347-804-6982.Please pass the word and post widely.Thank for your support from Take Back Our Union(TBOU).

SUPPORT STELLA D'ORO STRUGGLE TODAY AT NOON

2009-08-15T08:52:00.001-04:00
KEEP STELLA D'ORO OPEN!

Celebrate One Year of Struggle at Stella D'oro! Rally with Workers and Supporters at the Stella D'oro Plant Saturday, August 15, 12PM-2PM 237th Street & Broadway
(#1 Train to 238 St)
IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE RALLY !Live Music, Poetry, Food, Drink & Conversation
Kingsbridge Heights Community Center
3101 Kingsbridge Terrace
(#3 Bus to Heath Ave & Ft. Independence OR a short walk from the factory--cars also available for transport)

It's one year since Stella D'Oro workers walked off the job against unfair concessions and launched a now internationally famous struggle for the labor movement.

Let's celebrate the victories achieved so far, but also send a message to Brynwood Partners that we are united behind the workers at Stella D'oro and will not rest until their jobs -- good union jobs -- have been secured.

Community & Labor support
helped sustain the workers during the bitter strike
successfully fought off a bid by Lance, Inc. to buy the company and relocate production
is critical for the battles ahead to:
KEEP STELLA D'ORO in the BRONX: NO LAYOFFS, CONCESSIONS or CLOSURE!

TBOU Action Wednesday-Help Keep Subway Booths Open August 12 at Franklin Avenue on the C train

2009-08-10T06:13:00.005-04:00
On Wednesday August 12 from 4:15 PM to 5:45 PM at the Franklin Avenue stop on the C train the Take Back Our Union (TBOU) movement continues the struggle to keep subway booths open.This Wednesday August 12 we come to Brooklyn to leaflet the public and educate them on the dangers to their safety and security if the MTA gets its way and closes subway booths. So please join the only organize fight of transit riders and workers to stop the MTA service cuts 'the MTA is going the wrong way charging you more money but giving you less service.Next Wednesday August 19 2009 TBOU will be in Queens at the 74 Street Station on 7 line at 5:00PM.

After the leafleting on Wednesday August 12 many members of the TBOU movement will be going to 16 East 34 street in Manhattan for the Cornell open house see information below.

You are invited to an OPEN HOUSE for the Cornell ILR/CUNY Undergraduate Joint Certificate in Labor Relations on Wednesday, August 12th, 6pm, at the Cornell Conference Center,
16 East 34th Street, 6th floor, Room A.

This 16-credit Undergraduate Certificate Program is offered through an educational partnership between two of the nation's leading institutions for the study of labor: Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations and CUNY's Joseph S. Murphy Institute for Workers Education and Labor Studies. The program is designed to provide students with an understanding of employment relations, labor law, and unions.

The weekday evening classes begin the first week in September and include Collective Bargaining (4 credits), Labor and Employment Law (4 credits), Unions and Labor Relations (4 credits), Work, Culture and Politics in New York City (4 credits) and Labor History (4 credits).
To find out more about the program, please call 212-340-2847 or visit our website: http://cts.vresp.com/c/?CornellILRLaborProgr/3e047a7584/2c146a81cb/4e2a650dc9.
I hope you can join us!
In solidarity,
Pam Whitefield Cornell ILR/CUNY Murphy Institute Joint Certificate in Labor Relations

TWU Contract Update :Where is Our Contract by Christine Willimas

2009-08-09T21:35:00.003-04:00
As most of us know TWU has a stations message board on Yahoo called station-to-station: this message board is supposed to be about stations members discussing issues and asking questions.

Here is a recent exchange between some members and either Div. Chair Chisolm or VP Andreeva Pinder. All the members want to know is where is our contract? A good frigging question if you ask me.

This is directly from the Station-to-Station message board:
The member asks this question: WHERE IS OUR NEW CONTRACT?
It's now Friday, July 31, 2009. I would like to know why we still haven't seen or heard anything about the arbitrator's decision on our contract, someone please tell me what are they waiting for? Are they holding this announcement until December when they open up the ballots to see who the new president will be? I hope not, I just read in the Chief that a group is trying to have the ballots opened and counted in September rather than in December. This is a great idea and I hope it's done. A question from a concerned station agent. And this is the response from our union elected officials,- Why are you asking ? If it had been up to you and the rest of the dead beats there would have been no union to negotiate a contract. (A.G. PINDER)

This is word for word. And it has Pinder's name on it, but it was posted by Jamel..
Nice right? This is what we have come to expect from this group in the Union Hall now.
Thank God they will be leaving in December.
Ask a simple question, A question you as a member have every right to ask and get shouted down...and called names....This is not Unionism.

The discussion goes into high gear:

Re: WHERE IS OUR NEW CONTRACT? From:( hhay637694 3b. )
Re: WHERE IS OUR NEW CONTRACT? From: (JW 3c).
Re: WHERE IS OUR NEW CONTRACT? From:(sauceyrose2000)

Here are 3 replies from our members: -
How about answering the question. Not everybody is a dead beat.

(The member opens the second round with a stinging jab) Who is writing this? Is this AG Pinder or Chisholm. Every member has a right to ask this question, May I remind you that you are on the union payroll, which the members pay into which pays your salary so stop the name calling which is disrespectful and try to answer the question. I can only imagine how you were in the booth towards customers if you treat your union brothers and sisters this way you should not hold a position in the union.

(the member bangs to the body with powerful, devastating blows) This revenue collecting agent spent two cold day/nights on the picket line in 2005, she paid her dues on time each and every month when she was asked to by her union and when election time came around, she made sure she marked her two ballots in complete support of TAKE BACK OUR UNION. Now Andreeva Pinder you're referring to me and others as deadbeats? I know my obligations to the union are and were fulfilled, what about YOURS? It sounds like you're upset at your defeat, maybe we can sum it up by saying it looks like you're just a sore loser !

(left hook to the head, right hand to the jaw, it's over ladies and gentlemen...... a knockout.)

All joking aside, this group on the Union Hall now still must work for the members, they still must respect the members, they still have to remember to do their jobs.
These people do not realize that the reason they lost the delegate election (and most likely the general election) is they no longer have the confidence & respect of the membership.

If you have the time contact station to station I think it's at Yahoogroups.com and ask to join: then ask them a simple question: WHERE IS OUR CONTRACT?
Also why did TWU spend all kinds of money on a TV & radio ad and NOT mention 1 thing about booth closings?
Why is Kendra Hill (united invisible VP candidate) on the TV ad and NOT talking about the 100 booths that will be closing in a few weeks and the over 200 jobs we lost ?

Stations is now on rise again....and we'll remember who helped us and who didn't the time is now for change inside of TWU Local 100 join the movement and take back our union.

"TBOU ANNOUNCES ACTION WEDNESDAYS "KEEP THE SUBWAY BOOTHS OPEN EVENING LEAFLETING

2009-07-26T20:55:00.027-04:00

Starting from Wednesday August 5 2009 and every Wednesday there after until Wednesday September 16 2009 the Take Back Our Union (TBOU) movement will be leafleting the pubic on the dangers of subway booth closings. This Wednesday August 5 from 5:00PM to 6:30PM the TBOU movement will be in the Bronx at the 161 street Yankee Stadium station on the 4 and D lines.Please refer to Schedule below for times and locations of Actions Wednesdays leafleting that will be sponsored by the TBOU movement to educate the riders on the serious crimes that occur in subway stations almost every day. This plan from the MTA calls for the closings of over 100 subway booths on september 20, even after they got money from our state officals to stop there doomsday budget and service cuts. The mayor and MTA board countiue to cry broke but give sweet heart deals to rich and bonus and raises to MTA mangers yet will make taking the subway almost impoosible for the elderly and the disabled with these subway booth closings.TBOU is calling on all TWU Local 100 members to help keep booths open for more information call (646) 321-5213 or email us at tboustations@yahoo.com .Visit our blog at tbou.org. daily for your up to the minute transit news.

TBOU Information Picket For Wednesday July 22nd At TWU Headquarters Canceled

2009-07-21T18:47:00.004-04:00
TWU Local 100 has finally certified the delegates for the 2009 convention so Take Back Our Union (TBOU) is calling off the information picket for tomorrow July 22 , 2009 at the TWU Local 100 headquarters located at 80 West End Avenue.TBOU can now focus 100% of its energy on the MTA and keeping subway booths open.But we could not allow the Local 100 leadership to disrespect the over 10,000 members who voted in the election so TBOU forced the issue and got the union to certify the delegates and give up on these fake protests and re-counts of the convention election.Therefore TBOU has canceled our picket for tomorrow and would once again like to thank all of the members who voted for TBOU. To stay informed always visit http://www.tbou.org/

TBOU Action Alert -Post The Election Results Already! Information Picket this Wednesday July 22 at TWU Local 100 Headquarters

2009-07-19T19:14:00.012-04:00
Take Back Our Union (TBOU) is calling all members, supporters, and anyone who believes in democracy to join us Wednesday, July 22nd, starting 5:30PM at the TWU Local 100 Headquarters at 80 West End Avenue (At 64th Street. By subway, take the 1 to the 66th Street stop). TBOU demands Election Results be posted now! Over 10,000 TWU Local 100 members voted for convention delegates a month ago, but TWU Local 100 still hasn't posted the results.

United Invincible, however, has a leaflet claiming victory and has posted on the TWU Local 100 website, claiming that the only reason they haven't posted the results is that they are awaiting a AAA re-count of some divisions by hand. This is an outright lie, as AAA has no knowledge of a recount, and the TWU election committee hasn't asked for one. Enough with this circus! Post the results now.

What TBOU demands is simple:

· TBOU demands the election results be made known and the delegates be certified.

· TBOU demands that the Executive Board rescind the bylaw that states General Election votes won't be counted until December 2009. Count all the votes now -- the members have a right to know whom they voted for.

· TBOU demands all Information about Current Contract be available to the members. Put an end to secrecy in TWU Local 100

· TBOU calls for an end to politics and for TWU to join the fight to keep Subway booths open.

TBOU Information Picket: 80 West End Avenue TWU Headquarters
Wednesday July 22th 2009, 5:30PM
With TBOU presidential candidate John Samuelsen and the TBOU Convention Delegates

Call the election committee (212)873-6000 ext.2089 or (212) 873-6000 ext.2059,or send an email to elections2009@twulocal100.org or districtleader@msn.com and demand to have your Vote Counted Now !

Don’t let them hold your Union & your vote hostage! For more information, go to http://www.tbou.org/

TBOU Election Update -TBOU Convention Delegates Invites all TWU Members to Labor Round Table Thursday July 16 ,2009

2009-07-13T06:19:00.005-04:00
Are you concerned about the future of our union ? Do you feel the leadership of Local 100 and our national union TWU are doing enough to address your issues ? Now is the time for all TWU Local 100 members to stand together in solidarity and make the changes we need.Take Back Our Union (TBOU) invites you to our Labor Round Table:

Date: Thursday July 16, 2009
Time: 4:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M.
Place: North Star Fund (Mid-Town Manhattan)
520 8th avenue 22nd floor (Between 36 & 37) street

This round table will be sponsored by TBOU Stations, to show our appreciation for those who have supported and help TBOU grow into a true rank and file movement. With the elections over (at least until the end of the year) we can put politics aside and work this summer with the current officers to fight to keep the booths open and staffed. On Thursday, July 16, TBOU Stations will bring together TWU 2009 Convention delegates to meet with TWU Local 100 rank and file members to discuss the State of our union and what demands the members of Stations want to make on the TWU National leadership. Join us! TBOU Stations is looking for your input on how to rebuild our union. The only way the Stations Department will ever change its status in our union is to come together in solidarity and work on behalf of its members to end second class citizenship inside local 100 once and for all.

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Elecetion Update- Post the Election Results

2009-07-12T10:38:00.006-04:00
Post the Election Results!

It's been more than two weeks since the ballots were counted in the election for convention delegates and Local 100 still hasn't posted the results. But United Invincible has a leaflet out claiming victory. They're working hard to spin the outcome - without showing the numbers. This is just one more example of their disrespect for the members.

When the numbers are finally posted, you'll see that:
• Take Back Our Union won in 40 of 67 head to head contests. United Invincible won mostly races where no one ran against them.

• Incumbent VPs Andreeva Pinder , Stephan Thomas, and Enzo Sinnona ,running on the United Invincible slate, were all defeated in the delegate election.

• Acting VP William Wyatt, also running on the United Invincible slate, was almost eliminated, winning his seat by only 2 votes.You'll also see that:

• Take Back Our Union won a clear majority of votes in Stations ,Track, Line Equipment/Signals, Power, , Train Operators, Conductor/Tower Operators, MTA Bus, and Private Line Operations.• Most of the members in TA Surface voted for either Take Back Our Union or United for Change. United Invincible won a majority of the delegates,but a minority of the votes

• United for Change candidates soundly defeated United Invincible in TA Surface Maintenance.

• The only divisions United Invincible won were MaBSTOA, MaBSTOA Maintenance, Structure, School Bus and Paratransit, and Car Equipment.United Invincible won seats to the convention, but they've lost the confidence of the members.They won a majority of the delegates only because they did everything they could to deny members a choice, by disqualifying members in good standing from running.

If the Toussaint Team had respected the membership's right to a real election , Take Back Our Union would have 62 delegates to 51 for United Invincible.

It’s Time to TAKE BACK OUR UNION ! come JOIN THE MOVEMENT this Thursday JULY, 16TH from 4PM to 7 PM @ the North Star Fund located in Mid- town Manhattan 520 8th avenue 22nd floor (between 36 and 37 street) any train to 34 Street Penn Station

Action Alert-TBOU and NYfST Join Forces to Keep Subway Booths Open Wednesday July 8,2009 4:30PM to 6:00PM at the 14 Street Union Square Station

2009-07-06T17:56:00.013-04:00
TAKE BACK OUR UNION (TBOU) JOINS NEW YORKERS FOR SAFE TRANSIT
Transit Workers and Riders Come Together To Keep Subway Booths Open
On Wednesady July 8, 2009 At The 14 street Union Square Station 4:30PM to 6:00PM

In an effort to prevent the MTA from shutting down over 150 subway booths in this fall, Take Back Our Union (TBOU), a rank and file movement within the Transportation Workers Union (TWU) local 100, has become a member of New Yorkers for Safe Transit (NYfST) – the only NYC Coalition dedicated to eliminating harassment and assaults, particularly gender or discrimination based, on New York City's public transit system.

On Wednesday, July 8th, NYfST will kick off their Keep Booths Open campaign by leafleting and educating transit riders, at the Union Square Station, about the MTA's plan to shut down subway booths in the fall.

On March 25th, 2009, the MTA Board voted 12-1 to adopt a budget which increased fares, reduces service and lays off workers. .Part of the plan to reduce service includes laying off over 800 Station Agent in July, and closing down subway booths in September. Despite receiving bailout money from state officials to stem service cuts and fare increases, the MTA still plans to close down over 150 subway booth beginning this fall. Closures are expected to happen at the West Village, East Harlem, and numerous other subway stations city-wide. “Studies show that 10% of riders have been assaulted in the subways. Women, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people already experience violence on a daily basis. If these booths are closed who will step in when a rider is being attacked,” says Doyin Ola, coordinator of NYfST. “This will severely limit access for people living with disabilities and the elderly,” says Christine Williams, a station agent, “every day I provide assistance so that these folks are able get into the station. When there's no one in the booth, how will people who need assistance be able to access the subway?”

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) was founded in 2008 by small group of Station workers inside of TWU Local 100 and has grown into a union wide rank and file movement. In addition to building networks of activists in every division inside of the largest transportation union in the country – TWU Local 100, TBOU also led the fight against the MTA to stop fare hikes and service cuts. After winning a substantial number of slots in the recent delegates’ election, TBOU appears poised to take over the leadership role of Local 100 in 2010.

NYfST was founded in 2007 by several New York City groups working on and organizing around transportation safety issues, after working with Manhattan Borough President, Scott Stringer, to publish a report that indicated alarmingly high number of riders had been harassed or assaulted on the New York subways. The Coalition collaborated with the Manhattan Borough President office and got the MTA to put up 2,000 safety awareness posters in some 300 subway cars. In 2009, this program was replicated and now includes safety public service announcements throughout the subway system.

The Coalition, which consists of Girls for Gender Equity, Hollaback NYC, National Organization of Women – NYC, RightRides for Women's Safety, and Take Back Our Union, is calling for the MTA to re-open all previously closed token booth, and maintain current staffing especially on the off hours. They will be leafleting to educate riders at the Union Square station from 4:30pm to 6:30pm, on Wednesday, July 8th please come and join us as we build a coalition to keep subway booths. For this and all your labor news visit our website http://www.takebackourunion.org/ and our blog at http://www.tbou.org/

TBOU Election Update - UI wins convention seats, but they've lost the Local by Steve Downs

2009-07-01T23:23:00.000-04:00

It's been more than a week since the ballots were counted in the election for convention delegates and the Local still hasn't posted the results. But United Invincible has a leaflet out claiming victory. They're working hard to spin the outcome without showing the numbers. Just one more example of their disrespect for the membership.

UI did win a majority of the delegates. They did so because they disqualified members in good standing from running. To win seats to the convention, they did everything they could to deny Local 100 members a choice. If the Toussaint Team had respected the membership's right to a real election, Take Back Our Union would have 62 delegates to 51 for UI. The United for Change slate in TA Surface Operators and Surface Maintenance won 5.When the numbers are finally posted you'll see that incumbent VPs Stephan Thomas, Enzo Sinnona and Andreeva Pinder were all defeated in the delegate election. Acting VP William Wyatt was almost eliminated, winning his seat by only 2 votes.

You'll also see that TBOU won a clear majority of votes in Track, Line Equipment/Signals, Power, Stations, Train Operators, Conductor/Tower Operators, MTA Bus, and Private Line Operations. UI won a majority of the delegates in TA Surface, but only a minority of the votes. United for Change candidates soundly defeated UI in TA Surface Maintenance. The only divisions UI won were MaBSTOA, MaBSTOA Maintenance, Structure, School Bus and Paratransit, and Car Equipment.

UI won seats to the convention, but they've lost the local.--

Steve DownsChair, T/O Division of TWU 100

TBOU Action Alert-DOMESTIC WORKERS APPRECIATION DAY

2009-06-30T19:26:00.005-04:00
Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Action Alert :DOMESTIC WORKERS APPRECIATION DAY this Thursday July 2nd , Please make some time and show support for our sisters struggle and help get the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights passed !

Recognizing the Work that Makes All Other Work Possible With
Gloria Steinem and Barbara Ehrenreich

Thursday, July 2, 2009 11:00 am - 11:00 pm -
Governor Paterson's Office Third Avenue and 41st Street

Twelve Hour Appreciation Vigil Press Conference Launch
- 11:00 AM -12:00 NOON- With programs from :
1:00 PM - 3:00PM ** 5:00 PM-8:00 PM * * & 10:00 PM -11:00 PM
Certificates to be presented throughout the vigil

From 11:00 am to 11:00 pm on Thursday, July 2, domestic workers will converge at the Governor's Office to receive Certificates of Appreciation, for their many contributions to the economy, families and homes in New York State. Joined by prominent leaders and writers Barbara Ehrenreich and Gloria Steinem, as well as labor leaders such as Stuart Appelbaum, domestic workers will call upon the Governor and the legislature to pass the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, providing a set of basic rights and benefits, bringing respect to the work, and breaking the isolation of this vulnerable workforce. Solidarity vigils will occur across the country, as supporters of the National Domestic Workers Alliance come together to appreciate and celebrate domestic work.

For more information please call :
Domestic Workers United
1201 Broadway Suite 907-908 New York, NY 10001
http://www.domesticworkersunited.org/
phone (212) 481-5747

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Election Update- TBOU Stuns Toussanit and company in Delegates Election

2009-06-30T05:38:00.004-04:00
Take Back Our Union Stuns Toussaint in Delegates Election
Transit union leader Roger Toussaint & Co. suffer a series of defeats
BY Pete Donohue DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Thursday, June 25th 2009,

Transit union leader Roger Toussaint, who led the 2005 Christmastime strike that crippled the bus and subway system has lost his ironclad grip on Transport Workers Union Local 100. A faction of Toussaint loyalists suffered a series of stunning defeats Monday when ballots for delegates to the international's convention were counted.

The loyalist "United Invincible" faction won dozens of uncontested races - but lost about 40 of 67 of the
Head-to-head contests against the anti-Toussaint "Take Back Our Union" camp, sources said Tuesday.

That doesn't bode well for Toussaint and his handpicked successor, acting Local 100 President Curtis Tate, who heads the United Invincible slate. Toussaint stepped down after taking a promotion to the international organization.Ballots for president, secretary-treasurer and other Local 100 leadership posts were mailed out this month ,but haven't been counted.

"If I was a betting man, I'd say John (Samuelsen) is going to win," J.P. Patafio, a high-ranking union official, said of the Take Back Our Union presidential candidate.Samuelsen's campaign has claimed Toussaint, Tate and the current union administration have been too
accommodating to Metropolitan Transportation Authority management since the strike. Toussaint and Tate have said they've won safety and other improvements through cooperation after the walkout. A Tate spokesman declined to comment.The union hasn't officially released the results of the delegates' races.Ballots for delegate seats and local leadership posts were mailed out this month to transit workers.The American Arbitration Association will not count the presidential race ballots until December under an unusual schedule adopted by the union's executive board, which said combining some aspects of two elections would save money.
pdonohue@nydailynews.com

Thank you; From the Entire TBOU Slate we appreciate your support,You had the Courage to Vote for Change and, that change starts now: TBOU Stations is seeking membership input this summer before the TWU Convention so we can create the members agenda as part of the platform at the TWU Convention in Las Vegas this fall on:

Thursday July 16th from 4:00 PM to 7:00PM
North Star Fund in Mid-town Manhattan
520 8th avenue 22nd floor bet (36 &37) street
Take A , C or E Train to 34 street

Visit our website at http://www.tbou.org/ daily for all your TWU convention news, events and receive live reports via web during the 2009 TWU Convention this fall from TBOU. Be part of the Rebuilding of TWU Local Join the Movement ,Take Back Our Union the Change is here now !

TBOU Coalition Building-New Yorkers for a Safe Transit meeting Wednesday July 1

2009-06-24T06:56:00.004-04:00
Take Back Our Union (TBOU) is working with other organizations to keep Mass Transit Safe New Yorkers for Safe Transit is such an organization and raising the correct questions riders:

What kinds of violence do you see on NYC’s public transit system?
How can communities intervene? Respond?
What should the MTA do to curb/eliminate sexual harassment, assaults and hate violence?
What should perpetrator accountability look like?

New Yorkers for Safe Transit invites you to our next general meeting to:

· Learn about and evaluate how communities outside NYC address violence in public transit.
· Share your insights on how to pressure the MTA on this very issue.

Wednesday, July 1st @ 5:30 – 7p.
Location: Brecht Forum, 451 West St. (b/w Bank & Bethune streets), Manhattan.
For more info or to RSVP, email newyorkersforsafetransit@gmail.com
or call (718) 522.0822

New Yorkers for Safe Transit (NYfST) is a collection of organizations and advocates dedicated to eliminating harassment and assaults—particularly gender or discrimination based—on public transportation in New York City. The coalition focuses on raising public awareness, community building, and facilitating changes that ensure New Yorkers can get from one location to another safely and securely. For more information please call (718) 522-0822 or email newyorkersforsafetransit@gmail.com.
Check us out at http://nyersforsafetransit.wordpress.com/.

TBOU Media Alert-Take Back Our Union Members to be live on WBAI Tonight 99.5 FM 7-8PM

2009-06-21T13:12:00.001-04:00
Tonight Monday June 22, from 7-8PM: Building Bridges Three (3)Topics:
1) Peoples’ Voices on the International Economic Crisis--
2) Bloomberg Gotta Go: Workers Protest 2600 School Layoffs at City Hall Rally
3) Oh No! They’re Not Thinking Of Closing Subway Booths Again?

Oh No! They’re Not Thinking Of Closing Subway Booths Again? with:
Marvin Holland, Founder, Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Movement
Christine Williams, Chair Woman’s Initiative Committee,TBOU
Maurice Jenkins, Vice Presidential Candidate Stations, TBOU

The MTA has received bailout money from Albany but still plans to close over 150 subway booths even as subway crime is on the rise. There was an attempted murder and robbery of transit employees on May 9, 2009, and just two weeks later, on May 24, a woman was trapped and robbed in the Hi-exit wheel at the Halsey Street station. Despite these serious incidents, the MTA has already begun to stop staffing many subway booths around the city.Join us on WBAI tonight as we build a coalition of Transit workers,riders and activists to keep mass transit safe and then at our Labor Round Table this Wednesday June 24 at the North Star Fund 520 8th avenue on the 22nd floor in (mid-town Manhattan) from 5PM to 7PM.

Peoples’ Voices on the International Economic Crisis. Jana Silverman, Coordinator of Campaigns of Social Watch, an NGO network monitoring poverty eradication & gender equality, headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay .
Gemma Adaba, Representative,UN, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), NY
Milena Kadieva, Legal Advisor& Project Coordinator, Bulgarian Gender Research Foundation, Plavdiv, Bulgaria
Beverly Keene, Latin American Coordinator, Jubilee South Network, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Responses to the current global economic crisis have been inadequate and fail to fully address the myriad of related global crises, such as food security and climate change. An international coalition of ‘working’ people directly impacted by these crises, and civil society organizations, met in a public forum Saturday to deliver this message to world leaders in advance of this week’s UN Conference on the economic crisis being organized by Miguel D’Escoto Brockmann, the current President of the UN General Assembly (and a Sandinista liberation theology priest)

Bloomberg Gotta Go: Workers Protest 2600 School Layoffs at City Hall Rally More than a thousand members of Board of Education Employees, Local 372, DC37 representing 26,000 NYC school workers, rallied at City Hall to stop the proposed layoffs of 2,600 school employees, including drug counselors, school aides, family counselors and hall monitors. They cheered union speakers and elected officials from the City government including Comptroller Bill Thompson, while jeering the Mayor, calling on him and the City Council to "Cut waste, not jobs!" by eliminating costly private contracts.

Produced & Hosted by Mimi Rosenberg & Ken Nash
Building Bridges is regularly broadcast live over WBAI, 99.5 FM in the N.Y.C Metropolitan area on Mondays from 7-8pm EST and is streamed, archived and pod cast at http://www.wbai.org/ Our website is http://www.buildingbridgesradio.org/

TBOU Action Update-Wednesday June 24 ,2009 Labor Round Table Topic "Keeping Mass Transit Safe"

2009-06-19T22:26:00.006-04:00
This Wednesday, June 24th, the Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Movement will bring together transit riders, workers, advocates and activists to build a coalition to keep mass transit safe.The MTA has received bailout money from the legislation in Albany to stop the service cuts but still plans to close over 100 subway booths this summer, despite lingering safety concerns. On May 9, 2009, there was an attempted murder and robbery of two transit employees at the Winthrop street station on the 2 line. Just two weeks later a woman was trapped inside of an exit wheel and robbed at the Hasley street station on the L line. Despite these highly serious incidents (as well the many crimes that go unreported), and the fact that 2/3 of transit riders want the subway booths open, the MTA is already begun the process of closing them. Help us keep Mass Transit safe for all New Yorkers by joining us :

Date: Wednesday, June 24
Time: 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.
Location: North Star Fund (Midtown Manhattan)
520 8th avenue 22nd floor(bet 36 and 37) street
Directions: A, C, or E train to 34 street

This round table will be sponsored by the TBOU Women's Initiative Committee and TBOU Stations Division. To find out more about TBOU visit our website at www.takebackourunion.org

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Elecetion Update-Send Your Ballots Back Now

2009-06-16T05:47:00.002-04:00
Brothers and Sisters, If you haven't sent your ballots in yet (remember, there are 2 ballots, one for convention delegates and the other for Local officers, Executive Board, and Division officers), don't wait any longer. The ballots have to be received by 8:30 AM on Monday, 6/22. Pick them up off the table where you left them, mark your choices for the Take Back Our Union Slate, and send them back now.

If you haven't received your ballots yet, and your back dues were all paid up on June 1, call the American Arbitration Association at 1-800-529-5218 and ask them to send you ballots. Tell them you need both of the ballots. Don't wait any longer. Call now for more information on the TWU Local 100 Election go to www.tbou2009.org

TBOU ACTION UPDATE :Meet the Author of "Embedded with Organized Labor" Steve Early this Thursday June 18 2009

2009-06-14T23:12:00.004-04:00
Meet the author of: Embedded with Organized Labor:Journalistic Reflections on the Class War at Home A new book by Steve Early, Labor journalist, lawyer, and former CWA organizer

Speaking at: Brooklyn College Graduate Center For Worker Education,
CUNY 25 Broadway (7th Floor Auditorium), Manhattan (across from Bowling Green)

Thursday, June 18 6:00 to 8:00 P.M.

Find Out More About:· Workers and the economic crisis· The fight for health care reform· The fate of “Employee Free Choice”· Current struggles for union democracy and rank-and-file control· The future of national labor federations like Change to Win and AFL-CIO

Sponsored by: Monthly Review Press, Working USA, Labor Notes, New Labor Forum, N.Y. Taxi Workers Alliance, the Brecht Forum, ROC-United, and CWA Local 1180

Refreshments will be served. For more information, call: 617-930-7327
To order the book online, visit: http://www.monthlyreview.org=for/ all the latest news in Labor and unions always visit http://www.takebackourunion.org/

TBOU Action Alert-Take Back WBAI Demonstration Wednesday June 17, 2009

2009-06-13T10:47:00.002-04:00
DEMONSTRATION: Come OUT... YOU need to join us!... STAND UP AGAINST THE PURGE!
Take Back WBAI ! Undo the Coup !
Wednesday June 17, 2009 from 5PM - 8 PM
In front of WBAI, 120 Wall St. (corner of South St. ), Trains: 2, 3, 4, 5 to Wall St .
Download demonstration flyer: Front. and Back

Next Meeting: Coalition to Take Back WBAI
Tuesday, June 16, 6:30-10:00 PM
District Council 1707 75 Varick St. (north of Canal St. ), 14th floor, Manhattan (A or 1 train to Canal St .).

IT IS URGENT THAT YOU JOIN THE STATION BY JUNE 30
(by donating $25 or more or 3 hours of volunteer work) so that you have the right to vote in this summer's board election and for the recall of destructive board members.
Pledge online at http://www.wbai.org.

What do we do about this? Join our discussion or Interested in more details about the struggle?

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Elecetion Update-Message from John Samuelsen

2009-06-10T20:31:00.005-04:00
A Message from John Samuelsen

Thank you for your support. With it we will change Local 100 and make it a strong union again. In this campaign I have met and talked with thousands of Local 100 members and it is clear – they want change. They are tired of the old union politics. They want a new, revitalized Local 100. The membership needs and deserves it.

If you have not yet voted, please do so today. Put an “X” three times in the slate boxes for Take Back Our Union. Put the ballots in the mail so you don’t forget to send them back in time to be counted.

If you have not received a ballot by now but paid your dues and came into good standing on or before June 1, 2009, call (800) 529-5218 and ask the American Arbitration Association to send you a ballot.

We have gotten a few reports that United Invincible supporters are asking people to give them their ballots. If true, that’s cheating. It violates the election rules and federal law. Don’t do it. It’s your vote in a secret ballot election. No one will know how you voted unless you tell them.
United Invincible’s campaign of lies has fallen apart. People see through it. Their campaign of personal attacks against me and trying to divide one group of members against another has not worked and couldn’t. Local 100 members know that only by working together in one union can we all do better.

The Truth about the Sale of the Building

One of the questions I have been asked many times has to do with finding out the facts about the sale of our Union’s building. The truth is the current leadership of this union attempted to sell the union hall two weeks before the expiration of our contract in 2005. Prior to selling it, Roger Toussaint and Ed Watt were strongly advised by the Local 100 Executive Board committee established to look at the building sale issue, that the deal didn’t make sense.

Toussaint Fires me for Opposing the Sale

On December 3, 2006, several elected Maintenance of Way officers, including myself issued a public statement to Toussaint urging him to delay the sale of the building until after the contract fight - and subsequent strike - was over. I and another elected Track Division officer were then fired from the Union for taking that position.

Why the Sale was Wrong

In the summer of 2008, I used the rights I had under federal law and demanded to review documents related to the sale and resale of our Union Hall. Contrary to the current leadership's assertions that there was nothing wrong with the building sale, the deal was riddled with problems.

*Three dummy corporations were established for the purposes of purchasing our Union Hall. Still to this day, the names of the owners of those corporations have not been fully revealed.

*The whereabouts of the cash assets resulting from the sale was never fully explained to the union’s executive board or to the members of this union. As a result of my review of the records I found out that much of the money was invested in a mysterious corporation called Land of America. It was not, as Tate and Toussaint have said, initially invested solely in Treasury Bonds.

*The investment in Land of America Corp. was done to avoid Local 100 having to pay the capital gains tax on the profit made from the sale.

*Due to complete incompetence on the part of Watt, (Toussaint’s right hand man and Tate’s advisor) the Land of America scheme failed and we had to pay $8,000,000 in capital gains tax to the federal government.

*Toussaint claims he got top dollar for the building when he sold it for $60 million. It was sold at nearly the height of the Manhattan real estate market.

*A little more then a year later, the secret owners of the building "flipped " it for $90 million, making a quick $30,000,000 profit on our Union Hall. The second $90 million sale was accomplished, in my opinion, in a weaker real estate market.
Today we are paying rent on a building which we once owned. We went from earning millions of dollars in rent to paying millions of dollars in rent. Yet, Tate, Watt and the rest of the current leadership insists that the sale of the building was great for Local 100.

The Real Difference

In many ways, what happened to the building shows the real difference between me and Tate and the people running on our respective slates. I stood up to Toussaint when he was doing something wrong. I supported him when he was doing something right, but when the interests of the membership were at stake, I demonstrated I am willing to pay the personal price of doing what I know is right.

By contrast, a vote for Tate is a vote for Toussaint. Tate and the rest of his slate never stood up to Toussaint about selling the building or anything else. If United Invincible never could stand up for the members inside our union, how can they be expected to stand up for the members to management and others outside our union? The truth is most of the members know they can’t be trusted.

I have the proven experience of organizing workers to successfully stand-up to management. Please stand with me and thousands of your Union Sisters and Brothers and cast your vote for the entire Take Back Our Union slate. Vote today before it is too late.

Vote for Change

During the campaign, President Barrack Obama said: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” President Obama is right. And your time is now.

Again, on behalf of every member running for 175 spots in this election on the Take Back Our Union slate, I thank you for putting your trust in change. You will not be disappointed.
John Samuelsen -To visit our campaign web site: http://www.tbou2009.org.

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Action Update-Tomorrow June 7 ,2009 Protest the Foreclosed Home Auction

2009-06-06T19:53:00.004-04:00
The Bail Out the People Movement and the Take Back Our Union Movement :

Protest the Foreclosed Home Auction!

Sunday, 11:00 am
In front of the Grand Hyatt Hotel
109 E 42 Street
Between Park and Lexington in Manhattan

* No more foreclosed home auctions!
* No more foreclosures and evictions!
* Demand a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions!

The Real Estate Disposition Corporation (REDC) is at it again – with another foreclosure auction called to help real estate players profit off of people who have lost their homes.

Just 2 weeks ago, a Detroit homeowner died while resisting a foreclosure eviction after a five-hour shootout with the police. The banks, the recipients collectively of over $12 trillion in government handouts, are literally getting away with murder. They and mortgage firms are foreclosing homes at the rate of 15,000 a day – and with the help of firms like REDC, turning around and selling those homes to someone else.

Foreclosure auctions are advertised in the media as a chance for aspiring homeowners to get good deals. “Putting people in homes they otherwise couldn’t afford” – that was the same mantra behind the subprime mortgages cooked up by predatory lenders.

In reality, foreclosure auctions are bonanzas for these very lenders – the same home mortgage industries and real estate players that are kicking families into the street. Even individuals who manage to scrape together enough savings to bid on a home at one of these auctions can be outbid in a heartbeat by a real estate investor with millions in capital.

These foreclosure auctions are in direct violation of the laws signed by President Barack Obama – the Helping Families Save Their Home Act and the Making Home Affordable Program – which require Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bank of America, Chase Home Finance, CitiMortgage and Countrywide, among others, to modify mortgages.

The mortgage of the Detroit homeowner who died resisting eviction was owned by Chase Bank, which had a duty under federal law to work out a solution that should have prevented the bailiff from attempting to evict him in the first place.

The Bail Out the People Movement calls for an immediate moratorium on foreclosures and evictions. Not one more person or family should be kicked out of their home or lose their life because of the out-of-control greed of the banks and real estate companies. And on Sunday, we will be in front of the Grand Hyatt to let the REDC know it is not welcome here.

The New York houses that will be sold to the highest bidder on Sunday are the homes of poor and working people who lived in places like Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx, Newark, Long Island, upstate New York, and Pennsylvania, who were forced out of their homes by Citibank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan-Chase and other banks.

In the biggest economic crisis since the depression of the 30s, these auctions should not be taking place; they are a symptom of the cruel and criminal mass eviction campaign that will continue to grow until people unite and say ‘No More!’

The only force that will stop foreclosures is mass grassroots mobilization. Join us on June 7 to demand an end to the auction!

* We call upon the City of New York to stop the June 7 auction and we demand an immediate stop to call foreclosures and evictions.

* We call upon the Grand Hyatt and the Real Estate Disposition Corporation (REDC) to cancel the auction, set up to allow financial predators to profit from throwing people out on the street.
for more information go to http://www.bailoutpeople.org/

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) in Solidarity with National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) Fighting for Union Democracy

2009-06-06T11:24:00.007-04:00
As we in Take Back Our Union (TBOU) struggle to win this bitter election lets not forget that battles for union democracy and membership control of unions are taking place all over the country.One of the most important and courageous struggles for internal union democracy we've witnessed in a long time is being waged by the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW).

At this moment the first major vote, involving 10,000 home care workers in Fresno is underway.SEIU has imported hundreds of paid staff from all over the country, encouraging a thuggish attitude to beat NUWH.Trustee Dave Regan showed an ugly face exhorting these hired ground troops to "put a stake through the heart of NUHW.This type of behavior should sound familiar to TBOU members as we have encountered these tactics from Toussaint/Tate and UI . So next week please come out and support :
NUHW Fundraising Parties with Sal Rosselli

---- Saturday, June 13 - 7:00 PM - 275 19th St., Brooklyn, NY----
and

---- Sunday, June 14 - 2:00 PM - 8 Aubrey Rd., Montclair, NJ----

Please feel free to call (802-522-6227) if you have any questions. I hope many of you can make one these most important fund raising parties next week.
Send donations for NUHW to
http://nuhw.org/victoryfund
Please forward this email widely to fellow transit workers,trade unionists and social justice activists for more information on union democracy struggles all over the world always visit www.takebackourunion.org .

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Election Campaign Message -They said " Save Our Union "

2009-06-05T07:25:00.001-04:00
Dear Friends

By now you should have received your election ballots.

Your ability to impact the direction YOUR UNION will take, the direction and terms of your employment is a privilege that you may express now! Your choice, your vote will help determine your work life.

Over the past 8 1/2 years Local 100 has been under the iron fist of Roger Toussaint. Unfortunately he seemed to have been more concerned with utter domination of the Union Hall, the membership, and verbal assaults of Mayor Bloomberg, TWU International past President Sonny Hall and various other officials. These antics have resulted in the poorest showing of 2 1/2 % annual contracts within the NYC Municipal Unions which averaged close to 4% annually during the same period.

Toussaint basically told you 3 years ago that you don't know how to vote. He insisted that you revote on the most disastrously conceived contract with a 1 1/2 % gross wage contribution to our health plan. And if any of you have read the papers you know that this virus was spread to how many Municipal Unions in the past week.

Toussaint shamelessly hires and fires your elected officers. He manipulates the Executive Board in the same fashion: Ex B Members have become his puppets controlled by their paychecks.

Many will remember that not 8 months into his first term Toussaint challenged Sonny Hall for International President. He was ready to leave us then. He wanted to leave Local 100. He claims he has left the Local now. But by his own words ACCEPTED A POSITION WITH DIRECT RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOCAL 100 AFFAIRS. And Mr Tate says he is not Toussaint's puppet.

My friends, I am deeply and truly troubled. I served you on the Executive Board in the prior term and I saw and heard the most preposterous interpretations and claims that Toussaint regularly made. Shamelessly!

But what troubles me more is at no time did I ever get the sense that Toussaint, Watt or any of their "team" were the least bit concerned about the state of the membership.Working conditions, wages and benefits were all weighed against the political impact, weighed on whether they could be "sold" to the membership. Just when I had thought it couldn't get any more disgusting Toussaint or Watt came up with yet another plot, another way to blindside us, another way to self-aggrandisement. These two have been nothing if not a testament to the old adage "Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely!"

Enough.

The John Samuelsen-headed Take Back Our Union slate not only promises a meaningful change but proposes to do so with the deepest commitment to transparent democracy and accountability to the membership by exercising Executive Board Member Candidates committed to stay off release time. That is the foundation of a member driven Local. A local whose administration's power is balanced by the members' representatives at all times. The rest is easy because there is true communication.

Carefully review the ballots you've received. You will find a lot of familiar but also new names on both slates.
Now ask yourself this:
Why did Curtis Tate's shopgates include so many current officers?
Do you recall last election when these same -then new names - officers were accompanied by the then current officers WHO HAVE ALL REMAINED ON STAFF in the current term?
Where were these officers for the last 2 1/2 years since they were elected. Why are they campaigning on Release Time - your dues money?The TBOU team wants a meaningful change at Local 100. Roger Toussaint must go out with yesterday's news. "Son-Of-Roger" Tate cannot be permitted to carry on Toussaint's legacy of corruption, givebacks and mediocrity. That is why we have taken our own time to bring these messages to you.
Exercise your privilege! Vote! Vote the TBOU slate! Mark ONLY the TBOU slate box at the top of the ballot.
There is no need whatsoever to add in any of Roger's puppets. Any votes for any of Roger's candidates could result in knocking out a dedicated TBOU candidate.
STOP Roger's power grab at the upcoming International Convention.

VOTE STRONG! VOTE TAKE BACK OUR UNION!!
-- I hope you remember me and my slate TAKE BACK OUR UNION favorably.Fraternally,RCI George PerlsteinCar Maintenance Candidate for: Executive Board Vice Chair Road Car Inspectors International Convention Delegate

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Update-TWU Local 100 Ballots mail out June 2

2009-06-03T09:04:00.001-04:00
Ballots for the TWU Local 100 union election were scheduled to be mailed our yesterday, June 2,2009. They must be received back at the American Arbitration Assoc. no later than June 22.

All members in good-standing as of June 1, 2009 are entitled to a ballot. If you do not receive a ballot by Friday, June 5, call the American Arbitration Assoc. at 1-800-529-5218 to have one sent to you. For more information about the TWU Local 100 election please visit : www.tbou2009.org

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Action Alert-Ballots mail out today TBOU Labor Round Table Tomorrow

2009-06-02T07:18:00.004-04:00
ATTENTION MEMBERS OF TWU ARE YOU CONCERENED ABOUT OUR HEALTH CARE?
Take Back Our Union (TBOU) invites you to our Labor Round Table on:
Date: Wednesday June 3, 2009
Time: 4:00 P.M. - 7:00 P.M.
Place: North Star Fund (Mid-Town Manhattan)
520 8th avenue 22nd floor (Between 36 & 37) street

The round table will be sponsored by the Take Back Our Union (TBOU) movement as we take a close look at the merger of HIP/GHI into the new company Emblem Health, and their plan to privatize our health care. The privatization of Emblem Health will not only increase the 1.7% transit workers are already paying for health care but will also cause more claims to be denied. Find out who stands to gain and who stands to lose if Emblem Health is allowed to become a for profit company. Find out why President Toussaint and acting President Curtis Tate are so silent on this issue that will impact transit workers health care like never before. Don’t listen to lies and rumors about TBOU come out and see for yourself what the Take Back Our Union movement is all about. Over a thousand TWU members have attended our workshops and seminars in the last year and they all agree TBOU should be running our union. Here is your chance to find out why.
TWU Local 100 members Don't forget to mail back your ballots and Vote the entire Take Back Our Union Slate Today!

Scheduled Guest speakers for the June 3, 2009 Labor Round Table include:

Judy S. Gonzalez Single Payer NY
Ajamu K. Sankofa PHIMG Coalition
Billy Wharton Health Care Activist
Marvin Holland Take Back Our Union

To RSVP call our 24 hour TBOU automated Hotline @ (212) 631-5857 or email: to Events@TakeBackOurUnion.org and please visit our website at http://www.takebackourunion.org/

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Elecetion Update-Don't Forget About the Convention Delegates‏ by Steve Downs

2009-06-01T08:32:00.003-04:00
On June 2, two ballots will be mailed to members in good standing. One ballot contains the candidates for President and other Local officers, Executive Board, and Division officers. The second ballot has the candidates for delegates to the TWU convention.
The first ballot has been getting the most attention, but the one for convention delegates is important too. The convention is held once every four years.The officers of the national union are elected and the delegates vote on resolutions to guide the work of the officers for the next four years.

Here are a few reasons why you should vote for the Take Back Our Union slate for convention delegates:

* The election of International officers. Roger Toussaint expects to be elected a Vice-President of the national TWU. And he expects a job on the TWU payroll. He’s making this move so the members of Local 100 cannot hold him accountable for the damage he’s done to our Local. The only way you’ll have a say is through the delegates you send to the convention. The only way you can vote against Toussaint is to send TBOU’s candidates to the convention. We will vote against Roger Toussaint for any position with the national union.

* Amendments to the TWU Constitution. The convention is the place to make needed changes to the TWU Constitution. For example, Toussaint was able to hold onto his office despite receiving less than 50% of the votes in the 2006 election because the Constitution permits it. Changing the TWU Constitution to empower a Local to hold a run-off election when no candidate receives a majority is one needed change that will help protect members’ rights in the future. Another is prohibiting a Local President from sending a contract to binding arbitration without first getting the approval of the membership.

* Rejecting business-as-usual as a response to the economic crisis. TWU members, our families, and our communities, are confronting the effects of the economic crisis. Some of us will face the loss of our homes. The cost of healthcare remains a major stumbling block to achieving decent contracts. Trillions of our tax dollars are being used to help banks, insurance companies, and automakers survive. The TWU needs to stake out clear positions – once with substance, not platitudes -- regarding these and related challenges.

TBOU has not discussed all of these issues yet. For my part, if elected a delegate, I will advocate for the TWU to come down firmly in support of a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions.

I will urge the TWU to back single-payer, a.k.a. Medicare-for-all, as the key to reform of the healthcare system. Healthcare should be about helping us all lead healthy and satisfying lives, not generating profits for insurance companies.

I will also push for the TWU to join with unions, environmental groups, and other allies in states, cities, and neighborhoods across the country to make sure that the financial and industrial companies that our tax dollars have bought controlling interests in are restructured in ways that preserve workers’ jobs and communities, promote union jobs and contracts, and that support the development of stable and sustainable industries.

Don’t treat the election of convention delegates as an after-thought. The actions taken at the TWU convention will shape our union and our lives for at least the next four years. Vote for the TBOU candidates to the convention.To learn more about all the work Take Back Our Union(TBOU) is doing around HealthCare ,Housing , Social Justice Issues and much much more go to www.takebackourunion.org -- Steve Downs Chair, T/O Division of TWU 100

The Truth About the Sale of TWU Local 100's Union Hall

2009-05-31T23:19:00.004-04:00
What Are The Facts About The Building Sale?

The current leadership of this union attempted to sell the union hall two weeks before the expiration of our contract in 2005. Prior to their attempt to sell, Toussaint and Ed Watt were strongly advised by the Local 100 Executive Board committee established to look at the building sale issue, that the deal didn’t make sense.

On December 3rd, 2006, several elected Maintenance of Way officers, including John Samuelsen (at the time, he was the acting VP), issued a public statement to Toussaint urging him to delay the sale of the building until after the contract fight - and subsequent strike - was over. Samuelsen, and another elected Track Division officer were immediately fired for taking that position.

In the summer of 2008, John Samuelsen, exercising rights under federal law, demanded to review documents related to the sale and resale, of our Union Hall. Contrary to the current leadership's assertions that there was nothing wrong with the building sale, the deal was riddled with problems:

*Three dummy corporations were established for the purposes of purchasing our Union Hall. Still to this day, the names of the owners of those corporations have not been fully revealed. Why such secrecy?

*The whereabouts of the cash assets resulting from the union hall sale were never revealed to the union’s executive board, nor to the members of this union. As a result of the review it was revealed that the money from the sale was invested in a mysterious corporation called Land of America. It was not, as Tate and Toussaint allege, initially invested in Treasury Bonds.

*The investment in Land of America Corp was done in order to avoid Local 100 from having to pay the capital gains tax on the profit made from the building sale.

*Due to complete fiscal incompetence on the part of Ed Watt, (Toussaint’s right hand man and Tate’s Adviser) the Land of America scheme failed and WE had to pay 8 million dollars in capital gains tax to the federal government.*Toussaint claimed that he got top dollar for the building when he sold it for 60 million dollars. It was sold at the height of the Manhattan real estate market.

*A little more then a year later, the secret owners of the building "flipped " it for 90 million dollars, making a quick 30 million dollar profit on our Union Hall. The 90 million dollar sale was accomplished in a much weaker real estate market.

Today, we are paying rent on a building which we once owned. We went from earning millions of dollars in rent to paying millions dollars in rent. Yet,the current leadership insists that the sale of the building was great for Local 100. Vote the Take Back Our Union Slate for more info go to www.tbou2009.org - Steve Downs Chair, T/O Division of TWU 100

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Update -Gains or Losses?‏ By Steve Downs

2009-05-31T23:08:00.003-04:00
In his May 29 “Message”, Roger Toussaint sums up the accomplishments of his presidency and calls on members to support Curtis Tate and his slate to carry on that work. While Toussaint, Tate and UI have tried to deny the contribution that TBOU supporters have made to defending and strengthening our union, TBOU has never denied that our union won some gains during Toussaint’s presidency.There have been gains under every Local 100 president. Even Damaso Seda (winning a 25/55 pension) and Willie James (reducing the pension contribution) made some progress. But, what every transit worker must ask themselves, whether about Seda, James, or Toussaint, is -- which is greater, the gains or the losses?

Toussaint highlights the Childcare and Training and Upgrade Funds. These are gains for the membership. But in the same contract that won those funds, Toussaint gave up the no lay-off clause, increased medical co-pays, and accepted a one-year wage freeze. That is a recurring loss that Local 100 members will feel every hour they work. Which is greater, the gains or the losses?Toussaint claims there has been a rapid fall in the number of disciplinary cases. In 2002, he promised that new contract language would eliminate 70% of disciplinary cases. There were more write-ups in 2004 than there had been in 2002. While there has been a decrease in write-ups in the last two years, Toussaint gave the TA the right to discipline people for “chronic absenteeism” – even when they are covered by doctor’s lines. Which is greater, the gains or the losses?Since 2001, the Local has created a Safety Dept. that conducts regular safety inspections and provides Safety Reps at night. During the same time, Toussaint allowed the stewards’ program to wither, squandering the enthusiasm and commitment of almost 1000 trained stewards. Now, after over three years with no stewards’ classes, the Local is training 25 stewards. Running true to form, critics of Toussaint are excluded. Which is greater, the gains or the losses?

Toussaint’s claim that, “More than 10,000 members a year take part in Union events, at the Hall and elsewhere.” should be taken with a few grains of salt. It includes members at Family Day and a lot of double counting at other events. Members socializing at union-sponsored events is a good thing. But attendance at division meetings is down; thousands of members have been shown that their votes on contracts don’t matter; hundreds of stewards have stopped being active; members in Maintenance of Way and MTA Bus were denied the right to elect their VPs when the positions became vacant; and, close to half the membership is in bad-standing. Which is greater, the gains or the losses?

It’s true that the Local, “prevented the imposition of a new, inferior pension tier.” But a 30/62 pension for new hires was already off the table before Toussaint called the strike in 2005. Then, instead of striking for things the members were ready to fight for (higher wages, improved benefits, better schedules, better treatment, etc.), Toussaint allowed the TA to define the issues in the strike. The strike was poorly prepared and led. Based on comments he made to members at the contract meetings in the Bronx and Brooklyn, it’s clear that Toussaint called the strike primarily to make it easier to sell the givebacks in it to the membership. The result? The 1.5% deduction for basic healthcare; fines against the union and its members; giving up the Dec. 15 contract expiration date; and, the union agreeing not to strike in the future. Toussaint’s refusal to recognize the membership’s rejection of the contract increased the numbers who refused to pay their dues. Which is greater, the gains or the losses?

If you think the gains during Toussaint’s administration are greater than the losses, you’ll probably vote for the Toussaint/Tate/Watt UI slate. If you acknowledge the gains, but recognize that the losses have been greater, cast your vote for the Take Back Our Union slate.--
Steve Downs Chair, T/O Division of TWU 100 to stay informed visited www.tbou.org daily

TOP TEN REASONS TO VOTE THE TAKE BACK OUR UNION (TBOU) SLATE

2009-05-30T09:39:00.004-04:00
TOP 10 Reasons to Vote for Take Back Our Union We believe with the right leadership Local 100 can be rebuilt into a strong, powerful union capable of getting good contracts and protecting our jobs, wages, benefits and condition:

1) Stop the Givebacks
2) Restore No Layoffs clause to the contract
3) Fully protect seniority
4) Members not arbitrators should decide our contracts
5) Full 10 % night shift differential
6) Free Healthcare - eliminate the 1.5 % Toussaint Tax, capping it is not enough
7) Improve the dental plan
8) A universal MTA pass including LIRR and Metro North
9) Get everybody to pay their dues arrears
10)Fully Represent the workers at MTA Bus, Mile Square, Royal Coach, Ardsley, First Transit and at every private company.

The Take Back Our Union slate believes the strength of the union is derived from an organized rank and file membership which stands together to defend their livelihoods, and a union leadership which is determined to lead and protect them.We believe Roger Toussaint and Curtis Tate's policy of being soft on management has failed Local 100.

They brought us the 1.5 % Toussaint Tax, the disappearance of an assertive union presence on our jobs, and attacks against our working conditions in every department.Their abandonment of real trade unionism has landed us in binding arbitration with the very real potential of massive givebacks including the expansion of One Person Train Operation and a seniority busting regional bus agreement.

Take Back Our Union believes in real trade unionism. We are dedicated to taking the steps necessary to rebuilding Local 100. We are determined to break the cycle of givebacks and win real gains at the bargaining table.

Vote for Change - Vote for Take Back Our Union (TBOU)You can visit our campaign website at http://www.tbou2009.org.

TBOU Action Alert-Taking Back Public Transit Monday June 8, 2009

2009-05-28T16:49:00.006-04:00
RightRides for Women's Safety is a founding member of New Yorkers for Safe Transit - the only coalition dedicated to eliminating sexual assault and hate violence, particularly gender- or discrimination-based, within NYC’s public transit system. The coalition is urging the MTA to take greater responsibility to increase riders' safety by implementing better protocols to address violence, by training employees to be appropriate first responders, by installing upgraded or repairing broken emergency equipment, and by pursuing related policy changes.Take Back Our Union (TBOU) is fully aware of the danger and violence that takes place on our mass transit system and looks forward to working with community groups and riders to make mass transit more safe.

Please join us for this important safety forum and help spread the word!

Taking Back Public Transit: Confronting Violence on Board
DATE: Monday, June 8th, 2009
TIME: 7 PM – 9PM LOCATION: Brecht Forum, 451 West St. (btwn. Bank & Bethune)
COST: Free, donations appreciated
View Map

Stella D'Oro March and Rally -Take Back Our Union(TBOU) & Healthcare-Now & Private Health Insurance Must Go! Saturday May 30 Bronx NY

2009-05-28T14:30:00.004-04:00
Day of Action in New York City -May 30 , 2009
TWO EVENTS

Healthcare-NOW! and Private Health Insurance Must Go! are marching in solidarity with the Stella D’Oro Factory Workers. Stella D’Oro workers have been on strike for over 9 months against the Wall St. private equity firm Brynwood Partners, which is now viciously trying to bust the union by slashing wages, pensions, holidays, and sick pay.

Brynwood is operating the plant with strikebreakers. The strikers are represented by Local 50 of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union. They are on the picket line every day in front of the Stella D’Oro plant, W. 237th St. & Broadway in the Bronx.

When: May 30th NOONWhere: MASS RALLY AT STELLA D’ORO FACTORY! 237 ST./BROADWAY12 noon–Assemble across from the Target Mall on West 225 St., east of Broadway (#1 train to 225 St.).1pm (approximately)
March up Broadway to the Factory (about 1/2 mile)2pm (approximately) MASS RALLY at the Stella D’Oro Factory on 237 St. & Broadway.(#1 TRAIN TO 238ST.)

EVENING VIGIL May 30th
Please join the Private Health Insurance Must Go! Coalition, Healthcare-NOW! and ACT-UP: 8pm at the south end of Union Square / 14th Street (”near the steps”)
Bring single payer signs and candles if you can, but most of all please bring yourself and a friend.
Contact: Katie Robbins - info@healthcare-now.org for more details

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Program for RTO

2009-05-28T10:03:00.004-04:00
No lunches and inadequate breaks. Petty write-ups and excessive penalties. These are part of life on the road. And they are connected.

A few years ago, the Toussaint team proclaimed it had “smashed” the TA’s disciplinary machine. They promised a 70% reduction in write-ups. They lied. It didn’t happen.

With so many T/Os, C/Rs and TW/Os getting written up or held out of service, elected reps spend the bulk of their time in hearings or trying to get members back to work. Reps tied down at 2 Broadway or 130 Livingston can’t be at the terminals or on the tracks helping enforce adequate breaks or challenging petty supervisors. It’s a vicious circle. Workers who are pushed back down the road without sufficient breaks or time to eat lunch are more likely to have an incident or to book off rather than deal with the BS. This leads to more write-ups and more work at Labor Relations. This ties the officers down, leaving management a free hand on the road.

The Toussaint team could have addressed this problem by building a strong stewards network on the job. Instead, Toussaint pulled the plug on the Local’s stewards program. So, no matter how hard the reps work or how many hearings they win little changes on the job.

Take Back Our Union includes experienced and effective reps. We know that, no matter how many cases we win, the key to reducing write-ups and improving our working conditions is strong representation on the job. And that requires a commitment to training large numbers of union stewards AND educating the membership about their rights and how to enforce them.
Taking back our union from the Toussaint team is only the first step. We also have to take back the initiative from management. To do that, TBOU will:

• Train all officers and safety reps to aggressively enforce the contract and safety rules.

• Train and deploy stewards throughout the system to challenge supervisors who deny their crews adequate breaks and lunches.

• Develop education programs so that members know their rights and how to enforce them. There won’t always be a rep around when you need one. Improving schedules will require that all members in RTO know how to assert their rights.

• Revive the Flagging and Work Train committees to deal with the unique issues faced in Subdivision C.

For more information and to stay updated on all RTO and transit news read the blog at http://www.takebackourunion.org/ daily.

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Labor Round Table Topic Health Care

2009-05-27T13:13:00.004-04:00
This coming Wednesday June 3, 2009 the Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Movement will hold a Labor Round Table on "Rising Health Care Costs and the Privatization of Emblem Health "

WHEN : Wednesday June 3,2009 from 4:00 P.M. to 7: 00 P.M.
WHERE : North Star Fund 520 8th avenue 22nd floor (between 36 and 37street)
To Register for this or other Take Back Our Union workshops and seminars call (212) 631-5857 (24 hr Automated Reservation System) or send email to :Events@TakeBackOurUnion.org

Confirmed Guest Speakers : Judy S Gonzalez Single Payer NY
Ajamu K. Sankofa PHIMG Coalition
Billy Wharton Health Care Activist
Below is a press release on the work that health care activists led by Billy Wharton have been doing around the attempt to privatize Emblem Health.

NY State Department of Insurance Rejects Emblem Health Claim‏

***For Immediate Release*** NY State Department of Insurance Rejects Emblem Health Claim; Releases Documents to Activists Wednesday April 29, 2009 - On Tuesday April 28, 2009 Michelle Birnbaum, Legal Assistant to the General Counsel of NY State, notified activist Billy Wharton that the NY State Department of Insurance (DOI) would comply with his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Wharton requested that all documents related to the proposed conversion of Emblem Health (formerly GHI & HIP) to a for-profit corporation be made public.

Emblem Health attempted to counter this by claiming that their latest for-profit conversion application should be exempt from Freedom of Information Act laws. Emblem argued that their amended application contained trade secrets and proprietary information. The DOI rejected this claim and has transmitted the revised “draft” application to Mr. Wharton along with a full list of documents relating to the attempted for-profit conversion. “The release of these documents,” said Wharton,”should increase public debate over a healthcare privatization which could negatively impact more than 3 million New Yorkers.” There has been strong outcry from public health advocates about the proposed conversion since the application was filed by Emblem with the DOI in December 2007. Despite this, no impact analysis of the conversion has been conducted and only two public hearings have been organized by the DOI. Emblem claims that the conversion would provide it with the private capital needed to upgrade administration and increase their competitive advantage.

Activists see the for-profit conversation as a privatization attempt which would lead to higher premiums, denial of access to care and the possible elimination of coverage for less–profitable Medicaid recipients. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg also objected to the merger and conversion of the companies by citing violations of anti-trust laws. Faced with widespread opposition from all sectors of the healthcare rights community, Emblem withdrew its application for conversion in early 2008. A new “draft” proposal was filed the DOI on July 24, 2008. Since Emblem did not formally file an application, the document seemed to be exempt from Freedom of Information Laws. Activists expect the “draft” application to contain Emblem’s attempt to respond to public criticisms of the proposed conversion. Emblem has yet to file another official application with the DOI.

For Copies of the documents or interviews contact Billy Wharton, (718) 869-2279 or email
wawharton@yahoo.com you can also visit www.takebackourunion.org for more information and upcoming events.

Take Back Our Union(TBOU) MTA Safety Update- Problem at the Platform Edge

2009-05-27T10:49:00.007-04:00
Take Back Our Union (TBOU) an Education and Advocacy Organization whose mission is to safe guard and improve transit workers quality of life as well as give them tools to plan better for there future.In order to keep TWU Local 100 members as well as the riding public better informed we will post MTA Safety Updates with reports for the members and riders of mass transit to read from time to time , remember brothers and sisters , Knowledge is Power. The Article below is from the http://www.gothamgazette.com/ via transitworkernews :

Problems at the Platform Edge A report by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority inspector general charges that New York City Transit does not adequately inspect and repair the rubbing boards designed to close the gap between subway station platforms and trains. The report found that inspectors at 16 out of 23 subway stations surveyed failed to correctly identify and report platform-edge defects. It also concluded the agency was slow to correct problems it did identify. According to the report, New York City Transit has said it will take steps to remedy the situation.
For the full report, visit here and to stay informed visit http://www.takebackourunion.org/ .

Take Back Our Union(TBOU) Election Campaign Message -They said " Save Our Union "

2009-05-26T18:19:00.005-04:00
Take Back Our Union (TBOU)Election Campaign Message – They said “Save our Union” and laughed all the way to the Bank.‏

We Don’t Need a Puppet
We need a Real President
After handpicking Tate as his “Acting President,” Toussaint says he will be the “International Officer responsible for Local 100.” It’s wrong for Toussaint to try to continue to run Local 100 through Tate from behind the scenes at the International. We don’t need Toussaint’s puppet as an acting president for the next three years.

They said “Save our Union,” & laughed all the way to the Bank
The Union’s by-laws say that officers are supposed to get the same raises as those negotiated for the members. Did you earn 10 % or 12 % more in 2008? A lot of them did.
The Union’s financial records, which are filed with the federal government, show many of them did a lot better than us in 2008 when compared to 2007:
Tate made 7% more
Clark made 11 % more
Thomas made 12 % more
N. Rivera made 10 % more
Ayala made 12 % more
Poor Watt - he only got a 4 % raise in 2008. But don’t feel too sorry for him. Watt’s allowances and disbursements from the Union increased $4,600; giving him $23,471 on top of his salary.
Tate, Watt & the rest of them told us we needed to “Save our Union” and then they went to the bank with our money. And they can’t even get us a contract!

You can see the Union’s last two year’s of financial reports here: http://www.takebackourunion.org/resources.html

Thousands of Signatures of Support for Take Back Our Union- TBOU Candidates Run for 175 Positions

2009-05-26T15:54:00.004-04:00
Because thousands of Local 100 members have signed petitions for Take Back Our Union, TBOU candidates are running for 175 spots in the Officer and Delegate's elections. They deserve your support.

In the last election, Toussaint's slate only won because multiple slates split the vote. This time is different - there is only one choice to make if you want change: Vote Take Back Our Union.
They talk big, but the truth is they don't know how to negotiate a good contract, how to unite the membership and how to even win a strike. We now have a Union with no headquarters building, no money and no contract for most of the members.

In private lines some shops have worked without a contract for years. They are still in arbitration over the 2006 MTA bus contract. They took away our right to vote and put the 2009 TA, OA and MTA bus contract into binding arbitration. They play politics with peoples' lives. Regional bus and the loss of seniority rights are threatened, but they won't tell anyone what is in the new contract until after the election. You know why.

Our jobs are under attack. In stations, booths are being closed. In subways, we face trains without conductors. Our benefits are under attack. First they gave up the union's health fund, and then they agreed we have to pay the 1.5 % for health insurance.
Our wages are under attack. The newspapers say we might not even get a wage increase in the next contract.

Its time we had real leadership at Local 100. We need to bring everyone together. We have to stop the corruption at the Union and start respecting every member for who they are. We must rebuild Local 100 and again make it a strong, powerful Union that can get good contracts.
Vote for Change - Vote Take Back Our Union (TBOU)

For more information, please check out our website at www.tbou2009.org

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Update-Dues deadline is June 1

2009-05-26T15:38:00.003-04:00
Monday, June 1, is the deadline to have your dues paid up if you want to vote in the upcoming TWU Local 100 election.

Any member whose dues were paid up by May 15 is supposed to have their name on the master list being used to mail the ballots. These members should automatically mailed to their address.

Any member who pays their back dues between May 15 and June 1 is entitled to a ballot, but will have to call the Election Committee to make sure it is mailed.

If you're planning on paying your dues by June 1, don't wait until the last minute. Pay as soon as possible to make sure it's credited in time.For more information go to www.tbou2009.org

Take Back Our Union (TA Surface) FundRaising Party Friday May 29 2009

2009-05-26T13:11:00.005-04:00
This Friday night May 29 Take Back Our Union (TBOU) TA Surface Division hosts a fundraiser
At the ST LUCIEN PARADISE located at 1272 Broadway In Brooklyn Between Lexington And Greene Avenue from : 8pm --- Until
Donation -$10 Dollars
Food- Dancing- Raffle- Prizes
Music By DJ BOB
For Info Contact :
William Rhodes -Grand Avenue Depot
Barbara Byrd -ENY Depot
George Sales -Jackie Gleason Depot
Robert Keith -Grand Avenue Depot
Harry Wills -Ulmer Park Depot
Come out and meet the entire Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Slate for more info go to: www.tbou2009.org

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Action Alert-City Wide March and Rally to‏ Support Stella D'oro strike

2009-05-23T13:18:00.012-04:00
Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Supports the Stella D’oro Strikers City-Wide March & Rally Saturday May 30, 2009 and we are calling on all trade unionists and social activists to come out and show solidarity. For more information please check out this article on the strike at Stella D'oro by Stewart Acuff and published in Huffington Post.
Our next strike support rally will be this Saturday at 12PM. We will assemble outside the Target shopping center at 225th Street just east of Broadway and march from there to the factory at 237th Street. With the strikers' unemployment benefits set to expire in August, we need to push hard to win this fight now. I hope to see many of you at the rally on Saturday!
What: Stella Doro Strike Support Rally
When: Saturday, May 30th @ 12PM
Where: Assemble at Target -- 225th Street just east of Broadway (#1 train to 225th)
Why: Because 9 months forced out on strike is 9 months too long! For more information visit www.stelladorostrike2008.com
It's time to win this fight once and for all! For all the latest labor news in NYC go to http://www.tbou.org/

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) ACTION UPDATE - Sunday May 31 2009- Peoples Economic Summit

2009-05-22T17:58:00.006-04:00
Sunday May 31, 2009 - People's Economic Summit‏

The Bail Out the People Movement invites you to a People's Economic Summit New York City Sunday, May 31 In conjunction with the June 1 -3 UN Summit on the World Economic Crisis And organizing for protests at the G20Starting Time 11 a.m.Main Session 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.Dag Hammerskjold Plaza, 47th & 1st Avenue

Proposed Agenda11 a.m. – 1 p.m. 47th St. & 1st Ave.Special focus panels & breakouts, including:
Defending Immigrant/Worker RightsWhy do migrants leave their homelands? What is behind the anit-immigrant climate? How can we build a workers’ rights movement that includes legalization, EFCA, etc?

This and more will be discussed in a panel by members of May 1st Coalition, Bayan-USA, La Pena del Bronx, Pakistan-USA Freedom Forum, Million Worker March and others.
Building a Struggle of Youth & Students Hear youth from member organizations – Anakbayan, FiRE, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, and FIST, along with students from Hunter College, BMCC, and others – join forces to deliver a perspective on combating not only the crisis of the capitalist system, but also the struggles against national, women and LGBT oppression, imperialism, etc. Communities of Faith for Peace with Justice As people of faith and conscience, we will discuss the failed economic system and its impact on our poor and oppressed communities, and how we can change it by denouncing the social sins of male supremacy, hetero-sexism/homophobia, classism, racism, ethnocentrism and xenophobia (to just mention a few).

Participation of San Romero Church and others.Capitalist Crisis, Racism, Political Repression & the Prisons The lack of jobs or a future has resulted in the U.S. having the largest prison population in the world with majority Black, Latino/a and Native prisoners, and growing repression against youth, immigrant workers, and Arab and Muslim peoples. With participation of: NY Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, Millions for Mumia, Lynne Stewart, N.Y. Committee to Free the Cuba Five, N.Y. Friends of MOVE (9).People’s Speakout in Two Parts:

A discussion of strategy and tactics from those who have lost jobs, homes, healthcare, and their future.Workers’ Struggles in the U.S. – The fight for jobs; the EFCA and against layoffs; growing unemployment; foreclosures; evictions – with Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, Million Worker March Movement, NYC Labor Against the War, Picture the Homeless, Take Back Our Union(TBOU) Members.Struggles Against U.S. Corporate Power Around the World –

The impact of the capitalist crisis, militarism, environmental destruction and imperialist policies in Africa, Asia, Middle East, Caribbean and Latin America.Full Plenary Sessions
Starts at 1 p.m.Invited Speakers to Include: UN Delegates, Cynthia McKinney, Ramsey Clark, Howard Zinn, Nawa El Saadawi, Medea Benjamin, Ajamu Sankofa, Vinie Burrows, Nellie Bailey, City Councilperson Charles Barron, Chris Silvera, Brenda Stokely, Larry Hamm, Lynne Stewart, Rev. Lucius Walker, Sonny Africa, Paul Quintos, Dulphing Ogan, Marvin Holland,Curtis Doebbler

First Plenary – 1 to 2:30 p.m.A NEW WORLD IS URGENTLY NEEDED…Panelists examine the roots of the economic meltdown and present the case for alternatives to capitalism and imperialism.

Second Plenary – 2:30 to 4 p.m.But We Must Fight for it!Panelists discuss building the mass movement; formulating programs and strategies to force a struggle for jobs, an end to foreclosures and evictions, and new rights and powers for working and poor people.

Third Plenary – 4 to 6 p.m.RESISTANCE!Special session on preparing for the G20 Summit in September in NYC and plans for the Detroit People’s Summit and Tent City..

Protest the G20 Summit in New York City!Sept. 19 & 20Another world is urgently necessary –BUT WE MUST FIGHT FOR IT! Bail Out People–Not BanksMoney for Social Needs–Not War & Greed Jobs, Housing, Healthcare & Education are a Right Organize-Mobilize-Resist-Unite-Fight Back!

The third G20 summit is going to be in NYC on or around September 20, 2009. The G20 summits are held in response to the greatest worldwide economic crisis since the 1930s. But these high-level meetings of governments and bankers are not held to rescue the people of the world from depression level unemployment, evictions, homelessness, poverty, social and economic inequality and war. These summits are about fixing the economic and financial order that puts profits before people – and fixing that system by creating more poverty, misery and suffering.

The last G20 Summit held in London in early April was met with massive protests both in London and throughout Europe.Now that the G20 is coming to the U.S., it is up to activists and organizations here to take up the challenge of uniting and working together to organize the biggest protests possible. BOPM urges activists and organizations to endorse the call for protest at the G20 Summit in the fall, and to begin organizing for it. The potential for mass mobilization in September is truly infinite.

So let’s begin the work required to realize that powerful potential.
http://www.bailoutpeople.org/ Email: BailoutPeople@safewebmail.com55 W. 17th St, #5C, NY, NY 10011 212-633-6646NYC meetings every Wed at 6:30 Call or email for information, table reservations or to volunteer. To Stay informed on all peoples movements visit http://www.takebackourunion.org/

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Update on - One City/One Future Forum

2009-05-22T17:11:00.005-04:00
Take Back Our Union (TBOU) members attended the One City/One Future Forum on May 14, 2009 below is an email Take Back Our Union (TBOU) founder Marvin Holland received that will bring you up to date on the One City/ One Future Blueprint for New York City.

Dear Marvin,
Thank you to everyone who attended the One City/One Future Forum on New York City's Economic Recovery and Development last week! You helped make this a great event, with more than 300participants representing hundreds of activists and organizations, including community organizations, advocates and policy experts, labor, environmental organizations, and government officials. Your ideas and voices contributed to dynamic and thoughtful discussions throughout the day on ways to make economic development policies work for all New Yorkers.

This forum is just the beginning. In the coming months, One City/One Future partner organizations will lead a series of neighborhood-based events, including an upcoming town hall forum in June promoting good jobs and affordable housing for the Coney Island redevelopment, actions statewide demanding reform of the state?s Industrial Development Agency subsidy program to ensure our public dollars are supporting responsible development, and several local forums promoting the Building Blocks: Good Food,Good Jobs, Strong Communities initiative in neighborhoods across the City later this summer. We hope you'll join us to ensure that our elected officials follow through on the One City/One Future Blueprint's -
http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/x1xVRzn18uCn/ - recommendations to raise the standards, invest for shared growth, and reform the development process. Thanks again to everyone for making the forum a success! We hope this spirit of collaboration continues as we build together toward solutions for our city's economic recovery. Take Back Our Union (TBOU) will continue to lead the way for rank and file activists to get information and be involved in our city's and word's future.To stay informed visit www.takebackourunion.org daily.

Take a look at photographs from the One city/One Future event from May 14!
http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/sdxVRzn18uCU/

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) RTO-How T/Os and C/Rs can protect their jobs

2009-05-22T11:55:00.006-04:00
How Train Operator's ( T/Os) and Conductor's (C/Rs) can protect their jobs :

Toussaint claimed that the 2002 contract “smashed” the TA’s disciplinary machine. It didn’t
happen. Now the Toussaint/Tate/Watt team claims that discipline is way down. If it is, we’re
not feeling it in RTO.

The TA’s new technology means that if you make a mistake while operating, you’re more likely
to get caught. If you get caught, the TA’s going to come down on you.
For years we’ve told you not to rush. The TA wants you to rush to make their schedules work.
But if rushing leads you to hit a signal or close the doors on someone, all those trains you
brought in on time aren’t going to matter.

Based on our experience as officers, here are some ideas to help you hang onto your job:

• T/Os, don’t pass a yellow signal. The surest way to avoid hitting a red signal is to stay
behind the yellow ones.

• If you do hit a signal, don’t even think about backing the train up. That’s a sure way to
lose your handles.

• If you’re on the “L” operating in “Restricted Mode” under CBTC, don’t go above 5 mph.
The computer is putting trains in emergency at 13 mph and the T/Os are being charged
with speeding. Go 5 mph, not 10, in Restricted Mode.

• C/Rs, don’t rush to close your doors. Make your full announcement and don’t close down if
there’s any chance of someone being hit by the doors.

• If you’re delayed, let the RCC know.

• Flaggers, be sure to put the yellows out first and pick them up last.
Want to avoid days in the street? Want to survive as a T/O or C/R? Then don’t rush.

This message is from Take Back Our Union (RTO) Division for more information go to www.takebackourunion.org

Take Back Our Union (TBOU)-Update-In the Transit and Transport unions

2009-05-22T11:30:00.003-04:00
http://www.uniondemocracy.org/UDR/190-In_the_Transit_and_Transport_unions.htm
From the March-April 2009 issue of Union Democracy Review #178
In the Transit and Transport unions :

New York City's Local 100, the big union of subway and bus workers is about to hold elections wrapped in confusion, complex and contrived. Votes are to be cast in July and then sequestered in storage until December when they will be counted. This odd system was concocted by incumbent president Roger Toussaint and confirmed in a local referendum. He had a rationale for proposing this odd system, but this reporter forgets what it was and finds it not worthwhile to research it.

The local lost its dues checkoff rights after an unlawful strike, and so the good standing of potential voters will be subject to challenge. Half of the 38,000 membership is now in bad standing so many will be ineligible to vote. Apart from that, in the years since the strike, Toussaint has removed elected division representatives and declared them ineligible for falling behind in dues. Some claim that union records would show that they had in fact actually paid. But who's looking?

Meanwhile, Toussaint has taken a job with the international and will not run for reelection. His heir apparent and candidate for president is Curtis Tate, who has a more amiable reputation than the heavy-handed Toussaint. The leading opposition candidate for president, John Samuelsen, had once been in the Toussaint camp until he was cast out for mildly criticizing the president. His candidacy got a big boost when it was endorsed by Steve Downs, a founder and leader of the now defunct New Directions caucus. Toussaint was originally elected president as the New Direction reform candidate, but the group fell apart after he turned out to be more authoritarian than his predecessor. For more information on the TWU Local 100 Election visit http://www.tbou2009.org/

Take Back Our Union (RTO) Solving Problems for Members-Causing Problems for Management

2009-05-21T06:52:00.003-04:00
RTO needs officers who can help members if they get written up or when other
problems arise. We've got that. TBOU includes experienced, knowledgeable, and
effective reps.

We also need officers who look beyond individual problems and find ways to
challenge the TA's practices. We've got that, too.

* When the TA told him he couldn't wear his turban on the job, Kevin Harrington
fought back. He forced the TA to back off and won a victory for every T/O and C/R
whose faith calls for them to wear specific head coverings. He has also used Federal
FMLA Law and Americans with Disability Act in new ways to save and protect jobs.

* For years, T/Os and C/Rs who were restricted to the platform by Labor Relations
were treated as if they were on the Extra List. They had to take whatever job the
crew office gave them, at any time, anywhere in the system. No matter what their
picked job paid, they got only 8 hrs/day. Now, as a result of grievances filed and won
by Steve Downs, T/Os and C/Rs restricted on codes 126, 127 or 128 report to their
pick location, work their regular hours, and receive their penalty pay.

* Josh Fraidstern and Brian Burke filed grievances that changed the way the TA
schedules training and refresher courses. If they send you to a class on your picked
RDO, they have to pay you a minimum of 12 hours -- even if they give you a
different day off that week.

* The department recently issued a new notice (39-09) with guidelines for jury duty.
You don't have to take the summons to 130 Livingston on your own time any more.
That's thanks to another grievance filed and won by Josh Fraidstern.
That other slate? From top to bottom, from nominees for VP to convention delegate,
they have not filed a single grievance that challenged the TA and forced it to change
the way it does business or improved the job for all of us.
Vote the Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Slate for more info : www.tbou2009.0rg

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Action Alert-This is it! Let's mobilize for the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights‏

2009-05-21T06:36:00.004-04:00
WE CAN'T STOP NOW! MARCH TO THE END, WE CAN DO IT.With less than 5 weeks left in the legislative session, every moment counts.
Please save the following dates in your calendars for respect and recognition.

Which events can you attend? How many friends can you bring?

Thursday June 4 - HARLEM COMMUNITY DINNER HONORING THE LEGACY OF DOMESTIC WORKERS
Join domestic workers, faith leaders, legislators and the Harlem community for a dinner to recognize and honor the many women in our families who have done domestic work and supported New York communities through the generations. Bring photos, stories and memories of the domestic workers in your family tree.
7:00pm - 9:00 pm
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
St. Philips Episcopal Church, Harlem, NY
204 W. 134th St. @ 7th Ave. - Take the B Train to 135th Street.
RSVP - priscilla@domesticworkersunited.org or (212) 481-5747

Monday, June 8 - DOMESTIC WORKERS TELL THEIR STORIES IN ALBANY
Join domestic workers for a day of culture, testimony, truth-telling, legislative visits, a rally and march at a critical time in the legislative session
Buses Leaving 6:30 am from Union Square Barnes and Nobles - North side of the park
Returning by 8:00 pm the same day
Take the N/R/4/5/6/L to Union Square
RSVP - aijendwu@gmail.com, or (212) 481-5747

Friday-Saturday, June 12 - 13 - 24-HOUR VIGIL FOR THE DOMESTIC WORKERS BILL OF RIGHTS
Many domestic workers, particularly live-in workers, work around the clock without rest. We're asking all New Yorkers who support domestic workers rights, to stand together for 24 hours straight in a symbolic show of support for the passage of the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights - so that domestic workers can receive overtime, job security, basic respect and recognition.
8:00 am - 8:00 am
City Hall - across from 250 Broadway
Take the N/R to City Hall, or the 4/5/6 to Brooklyn Bridge
RSVP, and sign up for a shift, aijendwu@gmail.com, or (212) 481-5747

Sunday, June 14 - NY CHILDREN AND FAMILIES MARCH
Bring your entire family, community and congregations to this Sunday afternoon, after-church, "march for peace and justice in the home" to show how many people of faith support and are connected to domestic workers. With children leading the march, many generations will march together with one common message and theme. Let's send a strong message to the NY State Legislature and the Governor that we won't stop until they honor, respect and protect the work that makes all other work possible in New York.
City Hall - across from 250 Broadway
Take the N/R to City Hall, or the 4/5/6 to Brooklyn Bridge
RSVP, particularly with groups to joycedwu@gmail.com or (212) 481-5747

Take Back Our Union President Candidate Challenges Toussanit Candidate Curtis Tate to Debate

2009-05-20T22:07:00.005-04:00
Take Back Our Union (TBOU) President Candidate John Samuelsen challenges Curtis Tate ,Roger Toussanit's hand pick President candidate to a debate. The members have been asking Who is John Samuelsen ? Who is Curtis Tate ? What better way for members of TWU Local 100 to find out about the only two men running for president of TWU Local 100 ? Well the challenge has been issued by Take Back Our Union (TBOU) candidate John Samuelsen and now the only question is will Curtis Tate accept the challenge. The open letter from Mr. Samuelsen is below :

Open letter to Curtis Tate to Debate
May 19, 2009

Curtis Tate
Acting President
TWU Local 100
80 West End Avenue
New York, New York
Dear Brother Tate:
I have accepted the offer of NY 1 to participate in a debate between us .The debate is take place at NY1's studios in Manhattan. Two dates have been set aside, May 28 or 29 . I am told it will be moderated by NY 1’s Transit Reporter Bobby Cuza and Daily News Transit Reporter Pete Donohue.

I think this would be an exciting opportunity for the two of us to debate our respective vision for TWU Local 100 and the membership. Because it will be aired on TV, I understand many transit workers will get the benefit of hearing us before they vote in the election. Just the two of us ,Curits, face to face, discussing the many issues confronting TWU Local 100.
I urge you to accept.

Fraternally yours,
John Samuelsen
For more information on the debate challenge and the upcoming TWU Local 100 election go to our election website at www.tbou2009.org and vote the Take Back Our Union(TBOU) Slate

Take Back Our Union (PBL) FundRaising Party this Saturday May 23

2009-05-20T06:07:00.005-04:00
TAKE BACK OUR UNION FUNDRAISER HOSTED BY EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER
ANGEL GIBOYEAUX and the PBL/MTA BUS DEPARTMENT-SATURDAY MAY 23,2009

Please Come out and join the Take Back Our Union Slate for a fundraiser gathering.
Meet the Candidates and Support
Angel Giboyeaux as Local Wide Administrative Vice-President of TWU Local 100

Where: Conga Nights Bar
14 Warburton Ave. Yonkers, NY
When: Saturday, May 23rd from 8 P.M. until 3 AM
Donation: $20.00 includes Hot Food and DJ. There will be a Cash bar.For more information on the Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Slate go to http://www.tbou2009.org/

Compare Toussaint and Friends Raises to Yours‏ by Steve Downs

2009-05-20T05:58:00.002-04:00
Toussaint got us a 3% raise for 2006. For the same year, he gave himself a 17% increase. In 2007, when our wages went up 4%, Toussaint gave himself a 7% boost. He went from $91,920 in 2006 to $115,475 ($141,928 after expenses) in 2008. (Don’t take our word for it, go to www.tbou2009.org and click on the link to the Union’s financial report.)

Toussaint was generous to his friends, too. Ed Watt was up 22% from 2006 to 2008. Curtis Tate got an 8.2% boost from 2007 to 2008. And Brian Clarke got an 11% bump for the same year.

All of this happened despite layoffs of clerical staff and Toussaint supposedly imposing a 10% pay cut on the officers and staff in 2007 when the dues check-off was lost. And it happened despite the Local by-laws limiting raises for officers and staff to the same percentage increase negotiated for members at the TA.It's time for them to go ,vote the entire Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Slate.

Steve Downs Chair, T/O Division of TWU Local 100

TBOU ACTION UPDATE : Single Payer Healthcare Rally Wednesday May27 and TBOU Healthcare Roundtable on Wednesday June 3 in NYC

2009-05-18T20:47:00.002-04:00
Single Payer Healthcare Advocates to Rally at State Capitol on May 27th
Politicians Need to Protect the People, Not Health Insurance Companies

Supporters of a single payer Medicare for All universal health care program will rally at the State Capitol on Wednesday May 27th at noon.

Representatives of groups supporting single payer will also meet with individual state legislators throughout the day and have requested a meeting with Governor Paterson.

The groups want New York State to pass legislation to create its own single payer universal health care system. The California state legislature has twice voted to create a single payer system but it has been vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger. Governor Paterson, in contrast, has been a long time supporter of single payer health care. The long-delayed state study by the Urban Institute on what type of universal health system New York should adopt is due out in the next few months.

The single payer groups are also supporting the resolution introduced by Senator Neil Breslin to have the State Senate urge Congress to pass HR 676 (Conyors – D MI), the federal single payer bill. HR 676 is currently co-sponsored by more than 70 Representatives, including many from New York.

Single payer supporters are also upset that the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and the White House have so far refused to consider a single payer health care system while instead insisting that private for-profit health insurance must continue to play a role in any universal health care system. Thirteen single payer advocates have been arrested in recent weeks for protesting the exclusion of single payer supporters at the Senate Finance Committee hearings on universal health care.
It is estimated that as much as 35 cents of every health care dollar goes to pay for the administration of private health insurance that provides nothing of value to the health care system. The practices of insurance companies contribute to the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans annually. Eliminating private health insurance through a single payer system could save $350 to $400 billion annually.

Even though the US spends almost twice as much money per capita on health care compared to other industrial countries, the performance of the American health care system consistently ranks among the worse of the industrial countries (e.g., 37th by the World Health Organization), while leaving as many as 75 million Americans without insurance during part of any year.

Sponsors of the event include Single Payer New York (http://www.singlepayernewyork.org/), Capital District Alliance for Universal Health Care, Capital District Area Labor Federation; Faith and Hunger Network; Hunger Action Network of NYS: New York State Nurses Association; Physicians for a National Health Program; Students for a National Health Program; Tompkins County Health Care Task Force; and Troy Area Labor Council.

On Wednesday June 3, 2009 the Take Back Our Union (TBOU) will sponsor a Labor Round Table on Healthcare in NYC at the North Star Fund located at 52o 8th avenue 22nd floor mid-town Manhattan (between 36 and 37street) from 4-7PM.Topics for Labor Round table-How do we stop the privatization of Emblem Health (formerly GHI/HIP) and how do we get more rank and file labor activist involved in the single payer movement? To stay updated on healthcare and all labor news visit the blog at : http://www.takebackourunion.org/

There Is No Democracy Without Choice‏ by Steve Downs

2009-05-17T17:53:00.001-04:00
Can you believe that Toussaint’s handpicked Elections Committee disqualified a candidate for being 18 cents in arrears on his dues? Or that another candidate was knocked off the ballot after he received a written decision explicitly accepting his evidence and qualifying him for the ballot? Believe it!

The Toussaint/Tate/Watt team is going after members in good-standing -- people who paid their dues throughout the months when there was not dues check-off -- and treating them as if they never paid. These members, who faithfully paid their dues, are being treated worse than those who scabbed during the strike.

This isn’t really about how they’re treating potential candidates, though. It’s about how they’re treating the members. Afraid that they might lose, the Toussaint/Tate/Watt team is doing everything they can to deny the members a choice when it comes time to vote.But what can you expect from the people who ignored your vote on the contract and prevent the officers you choose from representing you?

Steve Downs Chair, T/O Division of TWU 100 for the latest news and updates on the upcoming TWU election go to www.TBOU2009.org

TBOU Contract Update - No Arbitrator's Decision Before We Vote‏ by Steve Downs

2009-05-17T17:22:00.004-04:00
When Toussaint announced in January that he was sending the contract to binding arbitration, some of us warned that this was a sign that he had agreed to concessions in the contract and that he was afraid to present them to the membership. He feared that, even if we approved the contract, the members would vote against him and his slate at election time.

The Local recently issued a leaflet that heightens our concerns. The leaflet makes it clear that there will not be a decision by the arbitrator before the ballots are mailed out. Why not? The Toussaint/Tate/Watt crew has been telling the members for months that the MTA and Toussaint had reached agreement on everything last fall but that Bloomberg blocked the deal. Then what's the hold-up at arbitration? Maybe they've been lying to us about reaching an agreement with last fall. Or maybe they don't want the arbitrator's decision to become public before we vote because it contains major givebacks -- givebacks that Toussaint agreed to last fall.

Toussaint wants you to re-elect the officers who let him negotiate in secret and who raised no objection when he went to binding arbitration -- and took away your right to vote on the contract. If the arbitrator's decision was good, Toussaint, Tate, and Watt would make sure it came out before the election because it would help them win votes. The fact that the arbitrator's decision is not out should tell you something.
Steve Downs Chair, T/O Division of TWU 100

10,000 Signatures in Support of Take Back Our Union

2009-05-15T06:15:00.005-04:00
Almost 10,000 Local 100 petition signatures were submitted for Take Back Our Union(TBOU). That’s a lot of support. Members will have the right to vote for TBOU candidates running for 175 spots in the Officer and Delegate’s elections.

Last time, Toussaint’s slate won with less than a majority because multiple slates split the vote. This time is different. There are only two slates. It’s us or them.There is a clear choice. Keep them in office or vote for positive change. Let’s all work together to rebuild Local 100 and make it a strong, powerful union that can win us good contracts.

Toussaint Admits: No MTA Contract before Election in January, Toussaint said it would only be a few weeks before we got our contract. This week, he said the arbitration was only half done. That means no contract before the election. You also know what that means – Toussaint’s contract will be bad news for the membership.The newspapers say we may get zeros ($0.00s). It could be even worse.Tate, Watt and Roberts just stood there and let Roger Toussaint decide to go to binding arbitration and make Toussaint the Union’s arbitrator. The only Local 100 member with a vote on the contract is now Roger Toussaint. We believe every member should have the right to vote on their contract.Take Back Our UnionTake Back Our Union will win good contracts and protect our job security.

We will rebuild Local 100 by organizing, mobilizing and uniting all the members in a Union that has real power in the subways, busses and in the halls of government to get us good contracts.

Vote : John Samuelsen for President Israel Rivera for Secretary-Treasurer Angel Giboyeaux for Administrative Vice President & Benita Johnson for Recording Secretary
For More Information: http://www.tbou2009.org/

TBOU-Update on the Attempted Murder and Robbery of Transit Employees

2009-05-15T05:40:00.009-04:00
In response to the attempted murder and robbery of two transit workers at the Winthrop street station on the 2 line at around 2:30AM on Saturday May 9,2009.On Tuesday May 12 Pete Foley sent the below E-mail to Howard Roberts the President of the Transit Authority ,Pete Foley is the Vice Chair of Line Equipment Signals and the 1# senior Revenue Equipment Maintainer (REM).

Dear President Roberts, I'm writing you concerning the shooting of Revenue Equipment Maintainer (REM) and the attempt on his Collecting Agent on May 9th at the Winthrop St. subway station. The REM should be given a job in the Central Electronic Shop in compensation for this terrible experience. He has previous experience doing this type of work and this will take him out of the field. Many of the workers at CES were previously REMs.

Now the REMs that are working on the road would like their safety concerns taken seriously by management. Our warnings about an incident like this have been totally ignored indeed laughed at by upper management. There is no reason for so many of our men and women to be working the odd shifts with the weekday RDOs that we currently work. We fix turnstiles, gates and related equipment. Currently we have more Metrocard Vending Machine repair jobs which are paired up with a collecting agent on the 10pm to 6am shift than on the 6am-2pm, the 8am-4pm and the noon-8pm shift combined, at the main 14th St. shop. A lot of those jobs have T/W or W/T RDOs. There is no business reason for so many on this shift. The machines break down during the day when people use them. They should be fixed then. No one in the riding public cares if an MVM is fixed at 2am when it went out of service at 2pm. They want that MVM available when most of the people are traveling especially with so many token booths closed. There is also no reason to do any preventative maintenance at these hours.

The teams have to travel by truck to get around and you have to pay them night differential. We have had 3 maintainers assaulted in the last 3 years. Two on the night shift. All concerns about safety and workers morale problems over the weird shifts and lousy RDOs are ignored. Our department runs to serve the Monday morning availability snapshot that is reported to the MTA board. We have the least amount of maintainers on Wed. and the most equipment out because of the usage of those machines. We think that a F/S, S/S and S/M RdOs would cover our equipment adequately and help our workers have some semblance of family life. There should only be a skeleton emergency crew working late at night. We have to stop work on machines midway and leave it for the next shift or sometimes 2 shifts later if it may go into overtime so It's pretty obvious we don't have many emergencies that can't wait a few hours. As it is a new maintainer or collecting agent could work for 8-10 years before they get a part of the weekend off.

With the new fare of $2.25 there will be twice the number of MVM trouble calls because of the coin chute problems. Currently the biggest problems are bill jams but now coin problems will double the calls and put more machines out of service when people need them. We would like a safety stand down in all shops and tours with REMs and Collecting Agents to go over together all procedures and operating instructions particularly in regards to MVMs. REMs and CAs have different responsibilities and some are conflicting. We also have long standing safety issues with carrying bill boxes on the train and who is responsible for what keys. We would like these discussed and resolved. A rep from the CAs should be at the monthly AFC Maintenance meeting to share their concerns and hear our safety concerns. These are the same concerns I wrote to you about 6 months ago and they are still not resolved. I hope this time after this terrible incident we could make our workers life safer and better for their family life as well as improve our equipment availability for the customer when they need it.Thank You, Pete Foley TWU Local 100 Line Equipment /Signals Division Vice-Chair.
To stay updated on all transit related news visit http://www.tbou.org/ daily.

Take Back Our Union (TBOU)-Update TWU Revenue Equipment Maintainer (REM) Shot At Work

2009-05-13T06:31:00.002-04:00
On Saturday May 9th at around 2:30AM at the Winthrop Street Station ,on the 2 Line brazen robbers put a gun to the head of a TWU Revenue Equipment Maintainer (REM) threatening his life and also the life of his escort the Collecting Agent(CA).The gunmen must have been after the money inside the Metrocard Vending Machine (MVM) the REM was coming to repair or they the gunman mistakenly thought they where going to replace or remove cash from the MVM.

What ever the case one of the gunman opened fire on the CA and the REM who was grazed by a bullet near his neck and spine.The REM also broke his ankle getting out the line of fire.The CA thinking quickly returned fire and this stop the robbery attempt and perhaps saved their lives as the gunman ran off.The REM is home recovering and the CA is out on vacation as we will keep them and there families in our thoughts and prayers.

Hopefully MTA management will see the light and stop routine maintenance and cleaning during early morning hours making transit workers the target for the criminal element.Just last week during the Station Cleaner's pick no concerns where shown for Station Cleaners safety as to increase productivity on the 2 line in the Bronx new Station Cleaner jobs start at 7:00PM and end at 3:00 AM.I hope both the union and management will take a serious look at all sections and titles when it comes to safety and security issues.Once again our hearts go out to the REM, and CA and there families.To stay informed on all transit worker news go to the blog at http://www.tbou.org/ .

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Action Update-Upcoming Forums on Bus Rapid Transit(BRT)

2009-05-13T06:18:00.005-04:00
Take Back Our Union Action Update :

Over the next several weeks, MTA New York City Transit and the New York City Department of Transportation will be holding forums on Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). The first BRT route in the Bronx - with pre-boarding fare payment and a better separated exclusive lane – has been very successful, with faster trips and high levels of customer satisfaction.

The agencies are now looking at ways to dramatically improve transit service through a comprehensive BRT network across New York City -- complete with links to subways, ferries and major destinations.

A total of seven workshops will be held throughout the five boroughs to gather New Yorkers' feedback on where new BRT routes should be established and how they should operate. The dates and locations of the workshops, as well as more information, can be found at: www.nyc.gov/brt to stay informed about all transit news go to www.takebackourunion.org daily .

TWU Local 100 Election has become an all out Circus by Christine Williams

2009-05-12T06:10:00.007-04:00
The new bylaw changes have turned this union election into an all-out circus. In the past, the votes were counted as soon as they were cast. Now, although the votes are cast in June, the results aren't released until December -- six months later. This bylaw change was supposedly needed to save money, but will still cost money, for storing the ballots and protecting them from being tampered with. And if the union is trying so hard to save money, why create a administrative VP position paying $100,000? How does that save money? I know what they''re going to say: the members voted for it. But only 5000 members voted out of 38,000, and it took a whole week just to count that. Do you think this amendment to the bylaws helps build the trust in this union? In all these years this union has never had an administrative VP in the top 4. Why now?

Another obstacle in this circus -- I mean union election -- dues payment. This issue is a weird one, because TBOU candidates are getting DQ letters left and right. If you paid your dues by check, look out; just because you sent your check in before the 15th doesn't mean it was credited to your account on time. And even if you pay every month by check and sent the amounts on the payment schedule set up by the union you might have gotten a letter. In my case I paid a year in advance and have been in good standing since 2007, even receiving a refund for overpayment. And I got a DQ letter. After further review by the" impartial" TWU election committee, which has at least two people on the local 100 payroll, it was determined that my letter was sent as an "oversight." I wonder how many UI candidates were a couple days late on payments, and how many actually received DQ letters? How can the election committee be truly impartial if they don't have a representative of both slates running in this election on the committee? One of many questions that will remain a mystery, but the worst part of this dirty tactic of sending members on the TBOU slate DQ letters is you only have 48 hours to respond so had I not responded to the letter I would have been out as a candidate even after paying my dues in advance.

It's not only TBOU candidates who are getting caught up with the dues issue but also rank and file members who want to get back in good standing. Recently, letters went out to the membership on how much back dues was owed to get back in good standing. Only members in good standing will be able to vote in union elections. That makes sense: pay your dues, get a ballot. But if you pay by check, look out! Now they are holding onto checks for weeks without crediting them to the accounts. In some cases the checks were mailed back. Some members even got letters informing them that they would not get a ballot to vote in the election. It looks like they don't want some members to vote in the upcoming TWU local 100 election.

The next act in their circus is the weird survey. 1st, someone calls your house and asks of you would like to take a quick survey. Then, they ask you lots of questions on how you feel about Take Back Our Union(TBOU.) The next set of questions are about UI and what your opinions are on the UI candidates. I'm not making this up. Actual members are calling me about this wacky survey. What is the purpose of this? If UI really wants to know how the members feel about UI candidates, they should give the members a fair chance to vote for TBOU after all almost 10,000 TWU Local 100 members signed TBOU petitions to get us on the ballot. If you are contacted by the union or have any questions give us a call at (646) 321-5213 or send us an e-mail to TBOUStations@yahoo.com .

Please visit our website daily http://www.tbou.org/ to stay informed on breaking news inside local 100 and all labor news. By Christine Williams Stations Department Candidate for Executive Board on the Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Slate.

Rigged Elections by Israel Rivera Jr

2009-05-10T19:29:00.003-04:00
Rigged Elections? by Israel Rivera Jr

Did you ever think Local 100 elections might be rigged? The thought has occurred to many of us. Lets look at the facts:Local 100 wont release the list of paid dues members. Because many currently elected officers running on the United invisible did not pay their dues themselves! Ask any of them to show you their dues statement. They wont.

Toussaint and his hand picked crew removed many democratically elected officers you the membership elected! Do you think things will be different with his handpicked successor and most of Rogers own staff still in place? Dictators never give up power freely, history has proven this time and time again.

How often did you wonder quietly about what really happened to our contract negotiations? Why did the Toussaint/Watt/Tate team again violate the membership by excluding every officer we elected to represent us? Local 100 officers cower in fear as local 100 continues to hopelessly slide into draconian rule.

For three terms we have hoped and prayed for 20-50 to no avail. Then we were lead on a catastrophic strike that further drained every member of his hard earned money as we were hit with massive penalties and Local 100 was severely crippled financially for years to come.

Our Union Hall is sold for 60 million dollars. Then resold by the buyer to the tune of 90 million! Making some very lucky person a 30 million dollar profit within 18 months during the worst real estate slump in nearly a 100 years. This alone cries out for a criminal investigation. But your officers are fear full of raising any questions and facing the dictators wrath.

Roger Toussaint negotiates himself a very nice cushy job at the TWU of America, our parent Union for a $160,000 a year. Then appoints his successor Curtis Tate to run our Union as he misleads the membership into believing we are finally rid of this parasitic embolism. So why then does non-president Toussaint change the locks to Recording Secretary Darlene Lawson's office and confiscate the section and division meeting records Darlene Lawson is lawfully the guardian of?. Is he now planning on altering the monthly meeting records? Perhaps some one on the United Invincible slate missed a few meetings and didn't qualify for re-election? One thing is for certain, he has violated another elected officers authority.Our union is as corrupt as many other unions were under organized crime decades ago. Yet, we the membership do absolutely nothing about it. The list goes on and on. I can sit here for a day or two and go on endlessly. We know the stories, we live them every day. The enemy might have started out being the MTA, but Toussaint/Watt/Tate have changed the map. They are definitely not our saviors.

What options short of armed revolution do we have? Well, a powerful weapon is at your fingertips. Your Vote! Soon as the ballots start arriving at your homes the United Invincible team may ask if you have received your ballot in the mail. Innocent enough right? No, not at all. That's just a pitch to the followup question when they now ask you to bring your ballot in should you have any questions. They will ask you to turn it over to them. They will tell you something along the lines of " relax I'll send it in for you just leave it blank" Dont do it! Do not give away your voice or your vote.Stand tall, vote them out. Lets clean out 80 West End. Send them packing once and for all.

TBOU ACTION UPDATE : UNDO THE COUP AT WBAI

2009-05-09T16:32:00.005-04:00
**** Please circulate widely ****UNDO THE COUP AT WBAI!**** Whose Station? Our Station!Pacifica National Removes General Manager - Program Director Next? Gag Rule Imposed on Programmers Who Dissent from National Takeover :

Attend a Public Forum on the WBAI Crisis - Tues., May 12, 7:00 PM at Dist. 1707, 75 Varick St. (n. of Canal St.), 14th Fl., Manhattan (A or 1 train to Canal St.) Sponsor: Ad Hoc Community Activist Coalition on WBAI - for info on this event & those below, call 212-561-7231.

Attend CEMOTAP's Great Debate: Is the Bloomberg Administration Good for Black People? - Sun., May 17, 6 - 9 PM- Bernard White speaks re WBAI, 7:30 PM - Salem United Methodist Church, 129th & Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd., Harlem
Speak out at the WBAI Local Station Board mtg., Wed., May 20, 7 PM - place TBA.*******
Fight Back! VOICE YOUR PROTEST * BECOME A WBAI VOTING MEMBER!
Send an email to the Pacifica National Board at pnb@pacifica.org - which reaches each board member individually, including Grace Aaron. Please send a cc to info@justiceunity.org. Demand Hands Off WBAI Management! Maintain local control of programming!

Also call Grace Aaron at (310) 286-1011 or (310) 402-4087 with the same message.
Sign a petition to RECALL Local Station Board members Steve Brown, Mitch Cohen, James Ross, and Carolyn Birden, leaders of the attack on WBAI management.

At this point, IT IS URGENT THAT YOU JOIN THE STATION (by donating $25 or more or 3 hours of volunteer work) so that you have the right to vote for Justice & Unity board candidates and to recall destructive board members.

Call the station's pledge line at (212) 209-2950 - ask them to note on the card that you oppose removal of local management. Or pledge at http://www.wbai.org/.
Copy and distribute the "Undo the Coup" flyer to get the word out.
Stay updated with: THE WBAI JUSTICE & UNITY CAMPAIGN(212) 591-2111

* http://www.justiceunity.org/ (join our email list there) info@justiceunity.org *For More TBOU ACTION UPDATES visit our website at : http://www.takebackourunion.org/

Take Back Our Union (RTO) FundRaising Party Saturday,May 16,2009

2009-05-09T08:11:00.009-04:00
Please join us one week from today Saturday May 16, 2009 from 10:30P.M. until 4:00AM for a
Take Back Our Union (TBOU) Fundraising Party hosted by the TBOU (RTO) Division ,at the Sugar Hill Night Club Located at 615 DeKalb Avenue (corner of Nostrand Ave), Brooklyn, NY. By Subway take G Train to Bedford Nostrand Avenue station if coming from Manhattan make sure to ride the front of the train.

Contribution only $20 which includes a Free Buffet for advance tickets holders.There will also be Door Prizes and a cash bar .Music will be provided by D.J. Madd Marv playing everything from Old School, to Today's R&B, as well as Latin & Reggae music.

Also there will be a Live Performance by Songstress Extraordinaire Benita Johnson starting at 10:45 P.M.For tickets, or more info please contact Lee Ireland at 718-415 9283 and

for more information on other Take Back Our Union (TBOU): Fundraisers, Events , Workshops and Seminars please visit our website :www.TakeBackOurUnion.org

Take Back Our Union (TBOU) calls on all Trade Unionists to support the Stella D'Oro Strike

2009-05-08T17:28:00.002-04:00
To All Trade Unionists and Stella D'Oro Strike Supporters:
Get on the Bus!

After nine months on strike against vicious concessions, BCTGM Local 50 and the 136 strikers at Stella D'Oro have had enough -- and on Monday are taking the fight directly to Stella D'Oro's owners, the private equity firm Brynwood Partners, in Greenwich, Connecticut!

We'll be leaving on buses from the picket line at 237th Street and Broadway promptly at 10AM. This is a full day excursion to leaflet, demonstrate, and otherwise make a scene and pressure Brynwood Partners to settle the strike now. We will be returning in the afternoon. All are welcome; please join us!

In order to determine how many buses we'll need, we are collecting names and phone numbers of those supporters who think they might want to come with us.
If you are interested in joining us on Monday, May 11, to bring the fight to the boss in Greenwich, please e-mail your name and number to micah.landau@gmail.com as soon as possible.
You can also reserve seats for friends or for your organization -- but please try your best to fill them.

Depending on costs, the union may ask supporters to make a donation to defray the costs of the trip -- but bus seats are free, courtesy of Local 50, for the time being.
We hope to see many of you there. Please feel free to call Micah Landau at 917 572 8684 with any questions you may have -- and remember to forward this e-mail widely!

See you on the bus!

For those who have not heard about the strike:

The 136 workers at biscuit- and cookie-producer Stella D'Oro have been on strike since August 13, 2008. Now, almost nine months later, they are still going strong -- to this day not a single striker has crossed the union's picket line.

Strikers walked off the job in August in response to draconian concessions demanded by the company's owner, Connecticut-based private equity firm Brynwood Partners. Brynwood has refused to negotiate in good faith and is demanding enormous concessions from the workers in an attempt to break their union. Concessions demanded by the company include:

- a 25 percent reduction in wages from $18 to $13 per hour;
- elimination of Saturday overtime;
- a new 20 percent employee contribution to health care; and
- elimination of four holidays, one week of vacation, and all 12 paid sick days workers currently receive.

We are fighting back, but we need your help! Tell your friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, and union brothers and sisters: Get on the bus! Support the Stella D'Oro strikers!You can read more about the strike here.

MTA gets Bailout but not Stations Department

2009-05-07T05:35:00.004-04:00
The State Legislature passed a series of new fees and taxes yesterday to stop service cuts, avert layoffs and to keep NY Transit base fare from rising above $2.25 this year. But according to officials from both the MTA and TWU Local 100 this new bail out plan for the MTA will not stop the booth closings.The MTA appears to still plan to close over 150 booths in July even after getting this bail out money from Albany.The closing of so many subway booths also means that members of Station's Department should still be concerned with the possibility of layoffs.

Therefore Take Back Our Union (TBOU) will continue to lead the fight to stop booth closings and to avert layoffs and we are asking for all members to get involved.TBOU will be sitting up a series of protests and rallies at various Stations all over the city to inform the public that the MTA is still planning on closing booths.In addition we will be visiting various elected officials at there offices in there communities.TBOU also has many allies in the community prepared and willing to fight this issue with us. So check http://www.tbou.org/ daily to stay updated on breaking news and further developments on this and all transit worker related issues.

Thursday May 7th forum on National Health Care Reform

2009-05-06T06:26:00.006-04:00
Take Back Our Union (TBOU) supports and endorses tomorrow's health care forum as

LEO GERARD SPEAKS ON NATIONAL HEALTH CARE REFORM – Thursday, May 7, 2009, 5:30-8pm at SEIU Local 32BJ Auditorium, 101 Avenue of the Americas.

Leo Gerard, International President, United Steel Workers of America and Co-Chair of the AFL-CIO Health Care Policy Committee, will be in NYC on Thursday, May 7, 2009 to speak on labor’s stake in the current fight for health care reform. The event will take place from 5:30-8pm at SEIU Local 32 BJ Auditorium (101 Avenue of the Americas, one block north of Canal). Subway: A, C, E, 1, 2, or 3 to Canal. for more information and to stay informed visit www.tbou.org

We Can't Wait Until After the Election-by Steve Downs

2009-05-04T23:32:00.003-04:00
We Can’t Wait Until After the Election bySteve Downs Division Chair, T/O Division

Hundreds of transit workers are under the threat of lay-offs. Local 100 is still without contracts at the TA, MaBSTOA, and MTA Bus. Service cuts and a fare hike are on the horizon. And the best Local 100’s leadership can do in response is to call for hearings in Albany and threaten to hold some anemic demonstrations outside the MTA offices. But Albany is part of the problem and the demonstration on April 24 was a show of weakness, not strength.

It’s clear that the current Local 100 leadership does not have a viable strategy for protecting our jobs or achieving a good contract. But we cannot wait until after the elections to address the problems our union faces. As a member of the Local and the elected chair of the T/O division, I propose the following immediate steps toward securing our jobs, a good contract, and a stronger union:

1. Convene a Joint Executive Board meeting Bring the Local officers, Executive Board members, division officers and section chairs together to discuss how best to stop lay-offs and service cuts and how to win a good contract. Forget the speeches from politicians and the posturing by Local officers. Let’s have an honest and open discussion about where we are and then take steps to get what we need. Better yet, hold a summit meeting of the current Local officers, Board members and Division officers along with all the candidates for those positions. Put all of our heads together for the benefit of the union and the membership.

2. Enforce all safety and operating rulesThe MTA wants to get more work out of fewer people. The truth is that we need more workers to have a safe, clean, and efficient bus and subway system. We need to strictly enforce all safety and operating rules. The Local needs to lead this effort and provide staff and resources to help make it happen. But the union reps can’t do this on their own. Every member needs to step up, coordinate with their co-workers, and work in strict accordance with all safety and operating rules.

3. Fight to suspend the payments on MTA bondsFor over 20 years, whether Democrats or Republicans were in office, the city, state and federal governments cut operating subsidies for mass transit. Under Pataki Albany refused to provide funds for the capital spending needed to maintain and improve the system. The MTA had to borrow money to buy subway cars and buses and rebuild tracks and stations. The bonds the MTA issued provided fat commissions to bankers, safe returns to investors – and drain off money from the farebox. Now, although the MTA is threatening layoffs, service cuts, a fare increase, and a wage freeze, the interest payments that are at the root of the MTA’s budget crisis are not being questioned. Local 100 should lead the coalition of MTA union’s in demanding that the interest payments on the MTA’s debt be suspended as a first step toward resolving the MTA’s budget crisis.--

Steve DownsChair, T/O Division of TWU 100 for more information and updates go to www.tbou.org

Big Healthcare win for workers, but Toussaint still silent

2009-05-04T22:02:00.008-04:00
***For Immediate Release*** NY State Department of Insurance Rejects Emblem Health Claim; Releases Documents to Activists Wednesday April 29, 2009 -

On Tuesday April 28, 2009 Michelle Birnbaum, Legal Assistant to the General Counsel of NY State, notified activist Billy Wharton that the NY State Department of Insurance (DOI) would comply with his Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. Wharton requested that all documents related to the proposed conversion of Emblem Health (formerly GHI & HIP) to a for-profit corporation be made public.

Emblem Health attempted to counter this by claiming that their latest for-profit conversion application should be exempt from Freedom of Information Act laws. Emblem argued that their amended application contained trade secrets and proprietary information. The DOI rejected this claim and has transmitted the revised “draft” application to Mr. Wharton along with a full list of documents relating to the attempted for-profit conversion. “The release of these documents,” said Wharton,”should increase public debate over a health care privatization which could negatively impact more than 3 million New Yorkers.” There has been strong outcry from public health advocates about the proposed conversion since the application was filed by Emblem with the DOI in December 2007. Despite this, no impact analysis of the conversion has been conducted and only two public hearings have been organized by the DOI.

Emblem claims that the conversion would provide it with the private capital needed to upgrade administration and increase their competitive advantage. Activists see the for-profit conversation as a privatization attempt which would lead to higher premiums, denial of access to care and the possible elimination of coverage for less–profitable Medicaid recipients. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg also objected to the merger and conversion of the companies by citing violations of anti-trust laws. Faced with widespread opposition from all sectors of the health care rights community, Emblem withdrew its application for conversion in early 2008. A new “draft” proposal was filed the DOI on July 24, 2008. Since Emblem did not formally file an application, the document seemed to be exempt from Freedom of Information Laws. Activists expect the “draft” application to contain Emblem’s attempt to respond to public criticisms of the proposed conversion. Emblem has yet to file another official application with the DOI.

TWU Local 100 president Roger Toussaint who sits on GHI Corporate Board of Directors yet still remains silent on the subject of the merger and, the conversion of transit workers health care benefits. Mr. Toussaint has been silent on the privatization of our health care just as the slate he endorses has been invisible on fighting for our health care to stay non profit.Take Back Our Union (TBOU) will continue to work with other activists and organizations to fight back these attacks on our health care benefits . Take Back Our Union(TBOU)looks to focus on real issues that impact the lives of Transit Workers and not politics .For more information visit www.tbou.org.

Tate/Toussaint fears of Take Back Our Union(TBOU) causing election fraud

2009-05-03T06:49:00.003-04:00
Toussaint’s United Invinsible Unjustly Removes MaBSTOA Candidates
Jimmy Colon – Sandra Santiago – Fernando ChilloThe Union is afraid of a fair fight.

They trumped-up false charges against several MaBSTOA candidates running with the Take Back Our Union slate.What happened to Colon?Vice Presidential candidate Jimmy Colon was disqualified by Toussaint over an absolutely false claim that he paid his dues late. The fact is Colon paid his dues every time the Union sent him an invoice. And he paid these amounts in full.What happened is last year the Union sent Colon two incorrect invoices. Colon paid what the invoices said he owed. Now, the Union says he can’t run because he only paid what the Union said he owed at the time.What happened to Santiago and Chillo?Santiago, who was nominated for Executive Board at OA Division 1 also paid every cent she owed and on time and she has the receipts to prove it.

The Union won’t even tell her what months they claim she didn’t pay her dues. Fernando Chillo, who was nominated for Division 1 Chair, is also in the dark about why the Union claims he didn’t pay on time. It’s not right to bounce people without even telling them why.Vote: Take Back Our UnionWhen a Union targets people like Colon, Santiago and Chillo and prevents them from running for office, there is only one answer: we all must vote for the slate supported by Colon, Santiago and Chillo: Take Back Our Union.If elected, Take Back Our Union will respect our differences and treat every member the same. We will win good contracts and protect our livelihoods.

We will rebuild Local 100 by uniting, organizing and mobilizing the membership into a Union that has real power in the subways, on the buses and in the halls of government to get us good contracts. We believe in having a Union that management must respect.

John Samuelsen for President, Israel Rivera for Secretary-Treasurer ,
Benita Johnson for Recording Secretary,Angel Giboyeaux for Administrative Vice President
For More Information: http://www.tbou2009.org/