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

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)

TWU Contract Update :Where is Our Contract by Christine Willimas

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

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