TWU Facing the Music

As The Man caught, Roger Toussaint, the head of the Transit Workers Union Local 100, which illegally struck at the height of the Christmas season, is facing the music. Well, sort of.

In Roger's case, it's 10 days in jail plus a fine of $1,000, but the judge gave Toussaint a 30 days out of jail free to appeal card. Two of his deputies were fined $500. That's a mere pittance compared to the damage the union bosses imposed - hundreds of millions in lost revenues and that doesn't count the FDNY officer who was badly injured biking to work when he was clipped by a bus and severely injured.

The union has been whining that the union is out of money and that any fines against the union directly would cause it to close up shop. And they could be told that they will be unable to automatically deduct union dues from worker paychecks. That would be the deathknell for the union as it is currently construed.

All together now: "AWWWWWW"

Further, the union and MTA still have not reached a deal on a new contract. The union has been trying to avoid binding arbitration like the plague, and the MTA is hoping that binding arbitration will save it from the mess that the original deal would have imposed on the city and state. The union, meanwhile, was hoping for a second bite from the apple to get another crack at signing off on the deal. The MTA took that deal off the table.

Union workers are caught in the middle - between the inept leadership who have fed them nothing but bad advice from the get go - and the MTA, which has repeatedly screwed over the workers and the city and state with Enron style accounting. I feel sorry for the workers because Toussaint led them down this path, and they followed. But, they need to face the music for their actions - starting with Roger himself.

UPDATE 4/11/2006:
Suitably Flip also notices that Toussaint has essentially turned what could have been a favorable contract situation into one that has both him, his cohorts, and the union at large roasting over an open fire.

Prior coverage: If A First You Don't Succeed, Vote Again. And Again, That's Rich, Some Free Advice For the MTA and TWU, Drawing the Line, The MTA/TWU Mess Drags On, The Train Wreck Continues, Hold Onto Your Hats: NYC Transit Workers Rejected Contract, The Cowardly Lion, Dissecting the Transit Deal, Awaiting a Deal, A Deal In Sight?, Tallying the Toll, Winners and Losers, Strike Over?, Seeing The Humor in Striking, Three Strikes and You're Out?, Rogering New York, A Pox On Both Their Houses, The Pension Gap, The TWU to NYC: We're Gonna Strike, Taking Sides in the Transit Strike.

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