Many TWU Members Ineligible To Vote
Back in February, I touched on how TWU Local 100 President Roger Toussaint was not running for re-election due to being appointed director of strategic planning for the international union which is the parent company of Local 100. In the meantime, the race to be his successor has been hotly contested. However the outcome will be highly affected by the loss of 44% of workers who are ineligible to vote due to owing union dues. Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News has more:
Transit workers will soon vote for a president to replace strike-leader Roger Toussaint, but roughly 44% of them aren’t eligible to cast ballots, union officials said.
About 16,200 bus and subway workers violated long-standing union rules by failing to pay monthly dues covering an entire 18-month period when automatic payroll deductions were suspended, union officials said.
A judge suspended the deductions to punish Transport Workers Union Local 100 for the December 2005 strike that crippled the transit system for three days.
The TWU represents about 37,000 MTA employees.
“It’s up to an individual to do their duty and pay their dues,” Acting Local 100 President Curtis Tate said. “It’s to ensure the union survives when in dire straits.”
Toussaint, promoted to a high-ranking post with the international union, backs Tate in the race against John Samuelsen, a track worker and union activist.
Click here for the complete report.
Years after the transit strike of 2005, the repercussions of it are still being felt in some way. This is a major election for union members & to have 44% of members ineligible to cast a vote is not good. The people who were detractors of Roger Toussiant will be sure to add this to his list of failures as President. However if you ask me, I don’t think that would be a good argument as the strike was the right thing to do at the time.
xoxo Transit Blogger
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