TOUSSAINT IN THE TOILET (Continued)

Now that the Transport Workers Union is in a shambles and is begging the MTA to give them another chance to vote on the contract agreement, the city, which is under no obligation to do so, should play hardball and extract major concessions from the union.

The MTA should go over the heads of the union leadership, directly to the rank and file, and offer to reinstate the contract, but only on the condition that Toussaint and his whole union executive be forced to resign, and that a whole new slate of officers be empowered as a condition for reinstatement of the contract.

Though I concede the necessity for trade unions as social interlocutors to protect the interests of workers in a complex economic environment, the behavior of TWU Local 100 has been extravagantly destructive to the city. Roger Toussaint has couched the contract negotiations in terms of racial conflict, and he brazenly attempted to strong-arm the city by calling an illegal strike in the middle of the Christmas shopping frenzy.

Toussaint’s bad faith and ineptitude are limitless. After threatening the union members who militated against the contract, he has now delivered on his threats, declaring them to be “members in bad standing,” and imposing a kind of Coventry status on them. Logic dictates that he should have extended a conciliatory hand to them in the interest of industrial peace, but logic is entirely alien to Toussaint.

If the MTA was in the mood to really bust up the union, it could go back on that part of the agreement which concedes a giveback of the union members’ past pension fund contributions, which amounts to several thousand dollars per member, and then declare that the whole thing is Toussaint’s fault. Toussaint, who must surely still be quaking in his shoes over a possible lawsuit by the family of Matthew Long, the firefighter son of Michael Long, the Conservative Party leader, for the grave injuries he received as a consequence of the traffic chaos that ensued during the walkout (the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit for criminal negligence is one year), is in no position to call another walkout for any justification.

All of this calls into question whether is is really in the interest of the MTA or the city to see Toussaint replaced as leader of the TWU. To paraphrase an old motto, “The imbecile you know is better than the imbecile you don’t know.” It’s possible that this moron could be replaced by a labor leader just as destructive, but smarter and more effective.

Where would THAT leave us?

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Posted on 2/7/2006 ( Permanent Link )
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