MARCH TO STOP THE MTA FARE HIKES -

Mon. Feb 2nd

BAIL OUT RIDERS, NOT THE BANKS!

THIS MONDAY FEBRUARY 2ND 2009 @ 5:00pm

125 STREET at ST. NICHOLAS AVENUE on (A/B/C/D ) Train AT 5:30pm

MARCH TO 125 STREET LENOX AVE. ( 2/3) Train for and then Rally and PROTEST Against

MTA SERVICE CUTS from 6:00 to 7:00 PM(on Lenox avenue station)

This Monday, Feb. 2nd Transit Workers will lead a march across Harlem to protest the fare hikes and service cuts. We can not allow the MTA to pit riders against transit workers to try to fix their budget problems. The MTA crisis was created by the MTA. The bank crisis was created by their own bond debt; Why should the people pay? We say bail out the people -- not the banks. Many of those same banks were just bailed out by billions of dollars of the people's money. Bank of America just got 20 billion more.

No, now is not the time to raise fares and cut services. Now is time for the banks to use one of the billions they sucked out of mass transit, the treasury and our labor to pay for mass transit. So please join us this Monday, in Harlem at 125th street, starting at 5:00PM.

Sponsored by :

The Take Back Our Union Movement and The Bail Out the People Movement

Double-Dipping TWU Secretary Treasurer

Interesting Article From the TWU Bus Website:

TWU Secretary Treasurer ED Watt Exposed as Double Agent for MTA!

Ed Watt is the second most frequent user of FREE E-ZPass issued by MTA to
Board Members, as reported by Pete Donohue, NY Daily News on Friday, June 20th, 2008. (Click here for whole story)

Mr. Watt is listed as a non-voting MTA Board Member. I guess that means he gets all the perks too!! Now, lets look at this carefully- A Union spokesman defends Ed Watt by stating "Ed's full-time job is conducting MTA business, and that's what he
uses his E-ZPass for," let's not forget Ed Watt is elected by us, the
membership, to do our bidding not the MTA's. He is on the MTA Board with the #2
highest usage of the free E-ZPass.

His title is still Bus Operator That means he still has a TA issued Employee Metro Card now... The Union Hall is still over on West End Avenue (no new building yet...) and the MTA Headquaters Building is on Madison Avenue and
44th Street. You mean Bloomberg built a toll booth between the Union Hall &
the MTA and we missed it?

Oh wait...got it! He lives out in Belle Harbor, in that really big expensive
Victorian house one door from the Atlantic Ocean that he purchased with his
Union Salary ($125,730 as per 2007 LM2) and commutes over MTA Toll Bridges
daily... for FREE???

As reported by Pete Donohoue of the NY Daily News, MTA Board Vice Chairman David Mack , has publicly stated that the use of mass transit is sort of beneath him... Is this the same sentiment that Ed Watt has? He doesn't use Mass Transit either, a service provided by the very people he is supposed to represent! Another thought... If Ed Watt is on the MTA Board getting this and who knows what other perks, where is the mandate for him to be an advocate for 37,000 members in need of a contract by years' end?

What other perks or deals are our Top "Elected" Officers receiving from the MTA
to soften their views and undermine the membership's voice.

Eddie what have you done?

What Does New Blue Ribbon Panel Mean for our 2009 Contract and the Future of Transit Workers in New York State?

On Thursday, January 17 2007, MTA Chairman Eliot Sander and TWU President Roger Toussaint announced a new blue ribbon panel with the purpose of improving labor relations between the MTA and TWU.

President Toussaint went so far as to say "I think we will resolve the next round of negotiations without a crisis," Toussaint said, calling the day a "milestone.”One has to wonder how Mr. Toussaint came to this conclusion as the stated mission of this panel is to assist MTA leadership in identifying ways to improve efficiency and address the current and future issues that impact the workforce so that the MTA’s mission and vision are achieved.

Nowhere are workers or TWU part of the mission.

The seven person panel, who will have a heavy influence over the lives of transit workers consists of former MTA Chairman Richard Ravitch, and long time labor mediator and arbitrator Hezekiah Brown as co- chairs. The panel also includes state Labor Commissioner Patricia Smith; MTA Chief of Staff Myrna Ramon; MTA board member Susan Metzger, who recently made news with her lack of respect for transit riders; Robert Paaswell, Director of the City College-based University Transportation Research Center, and Sonia Toledo. Also on the panel is Robert B. Catell, Chairman, President and CEO of Key Span Energy Corporation, who is one of Forbes highest paid CEOs (at over 12 million dollars in salary over the past five years.)

Some key items:
1. Workforce Development: There are 16 recommendations in this area of the report - only one of which deals directly with workers - that includes identifying additional training needs, and creating a committee to develop joint programs.
2. Development Succession: There are nine recommendations in this section of the report.
3. Employee Availability: There are 12 recommendations in this section of the report, most of which deal with employees.
4. Labor Management Relations: There are eight recommendations in this section, most of which are already in the contract in one form or the other.
5. Organizational Culture: There are sixteen recommendations in this section, most of which deal with employee recognition. The panel also calls for an MTA-wide culture, as each of the seven MTA agencies has its own unique organizational culture.

More on this topic: Read the report: Workforce Development Report
Opinions & Feedback: Does The Workforce Development Report Work for The Transit Worker?

M.H.
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