Transport Workers Retirees

STATEMENT ISSUED BY LOCAL 100

2012-03-03T10:25:00.000-05:00

Please read the following statement issued by TWU Local 100 pertaining to retirees then join the discussion on Facebook.

Our Contract,

Retiree Benefits,

and the MTA Budget

The MTA is sitting on $500 million it can, but won't, tap to restore service cuts and settle a contract with Local 100. That money is in an obscure fund (a GASB 45 fund) that the MTA is NOT required to have.

GASB 45 is an accounting standard for future liabilities for retiree medical benefits. It only requires the MTA to calculate how much it may owe over future decades for retiree benefits for the present workforce. Several members have voiced concern that if the MTA uses the GASB 45 fund to pay for raises, it will jeopardize medical benefits for retirees.

This is simply not true. Here's why:

✔ Not one penny of that fund has ever been used to pay for retirees' benefits. The TA and OA have always paid retiree medical benefits as they arise, directly from the operating budget. No special fund has been used or needed. Currently, those benefits account for 3% of the budget. Management can easily cover them, and always has.

✔ Beginning in 2007, the TA and OA began collecting the 1.5% from each active member to pay for an improvement to retiree benefits. That contribution more than paid for the increased cost and the TA/OA has held onto the surplus.

✔ The MTA claims they are being "prudent" and budgeting for $13 billion in future liabilities for retirees' medical coverage. That figure is based on flawed assumptions about when people will retire and how long they'll need coverage from the MTA. Looking at this from another angle, at the rate the MTA is building up the fund, it would take 203 years to be fully funded! Clearly, the fund is just being used to stash some money away until the MTA Board decides what to use it for. Right now, this money should be used to fund our contract.

TWU 100 is pursuing all possible funds - whether it's the GASB fund, the excessive interest being paid to Wall St. banks, charges imposed by NY State when the MTA issues debt, or the waste in the MTA's real estate holdings -- to pay for a fair contract and restore bus and subway service.

Use of the GASB fund to pay for wage increases will absolutely not jeopardize our retiree medical coverage. We will never put our retirees' benefits at risk.

LET US NOT FORGET

2012-02-29T14:25:00.000-05:00

We have been reading on several blogs how retirees don't matter and that retirees never did anything for active members. We are also reading new members should have lesser benefits than those already on the job. In fact John Samuelsen with the help of the Wall St. protesters are demanding the fund used by retirees for their medical be used to fund raises and prevent service cuts. As a reminder of what a union is supposed to do we offer the following report published during the 2005 strike. Please read on and remember join us on FACEBOOK.

Published on Thursday, December 22, 2005 by the New York Daily News

NY Transit Strike: MTA's Violating Taylor Law

by Juan Gonzalez

Gov. Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg have vowed drastic penalties for the striking members of the Transport Workers Union for violating the Taylor Law.
Yet the mayor and the governor have been completely silent about violations of the same Taylor Law by their own appointed officials at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The most well-known portion of the law, Section 210, states that "no public employee or employee organization shall engage in a strike."
That is not, however, the only provision of the law. Other sections also provide protections to public employees.
City union leaders and state lawmakers keep trying to point that out. They say the MTA itself trampled a key provision of the Taylor Law by demanding that TWU President Roger Toussaint accept an inferior pension plan for future members of his union as a condition of a new labor contract.
Section 201 of the law clearly states that "no such retirement benefits shall be negotiated pursuant to this article, and any benefits so negotiated shall be void."
Only the Legislature has the legal authority to approve changes in public employee pension systems.
Not the MTA. Not the mayor. And not the governor all by himself.
That's the way it always has been.
MTA officials have claimed for several days that reforming the union's pension plan became themain unresolved issue to a settlement.
"That's what's known as an impermissible subject of bargaining," said Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester), who is chairman of the Assembly committee that oversees the MTA.
Sure, unions and public agencies sometimes agree, as part of an overall labor settlement, to jointly petition the Legislature for pension changes, but management can't simply force a union to accept a worse retirement plan.
"If the governor is going to be a tough guy about the Taylor Law with the union, he should be tough as well on the law when it comes to the MTA," Brodsky said yesterday.
This crippling strike could be over in hours if Pataki ordered the MTA to adhere to the same Taylor Law he wants the union to respect.
Toussaint said as much to a group of 40 city labor leaders in a telephone conference around noon yesterday. He repeated it a few hours later in a meeting with several dozen black political and religious leaders and in a press conference later in the afternoon.
His plea is now being taken up by many leaders eager to bring labor peace back to the city.
Municipal union leaders, headed by teachers union chief Randi Weingarten, urged the mayor and the governor to set aside the pension issue for now. Meanwhile, several state legislators made the same pitch in Albany.
If there are reforms needed in public employee pensions, they say, they should be negotiated with all the unions involved in the city's retirement system, not by singling out the transit workers union as a test case.
But even before Toussaint spoke, Pataki delivered yet another blistering criticism of the strikers. Worse, he tried to escalate the conflict by urging no further contract talks until theunion returns to work.
In two previous illegal transit strikes during the past 50 years, union leaders and public officials always kept negotiating until they reached a settlement.
Thankfully, MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow moved forward yesterday with serious mediation efforts that continued late last night. Kalikow appears to be the only top MTA official eager to reach a deal.
His boss Pataki, on the other hand, is eager to prove to the nation what a tough-guy President he would make. In Toussaint and his 33,000 union members, he sees his ticket to fame.
So what if the public has to endure a few more days of a transit strike that never should have happened in the first place? Who will listen to a bunch of union members engaged in an illegal strike, the governor and the mayor seem to think.
We'll soon find out if they're right.

This Is Why There Is No Progress On The Con-tract

2012-02-23T20:35:00.000-05:00

Samuelsen miscalculated. He based his strategy, not on securing a position of maximum strength and membership mobilization, but on his personal relationship with Lhota. This amounts to having NO plan.

Firstly, for the first time in over a decade, he failed to call or blocked a membership vote for strike 'authorization'. Then he began "Main Table" negotiations just one week before the contract, on Jan 9th and missed that session.

Now he is saying that delaying a settlement was the plan all along. Why? He is now saying that he was trying to block the MTA from moving to an impasse!

But read below and see what he said just before the contract expired.

He got played. The MTA knew who and what they were dealing with. After all, this is the guy that tried to undermine the 2005 strike; advocated against paying dues - saying it would be all wasted; couldn't figure out what to do about layoffs threats except to go hide in other cities and then come up with the 'Solidarity Fund' and then had to rig that vote; did nothing while over 4,500 people were kicked off medical coverage, until membership outrage boiled over etc.

So for the contract, it was not surprising that he would miscalculate and rely on his schemes and charms. Everyone knew that no real mobilization was taking place. The turnouts were pathetic and embarrassing. He didn't and didn't do anything about it. Instead he allowed Lhota to stroke his ego, by telling him the MTA would work with him to make him look better than other Union leaders in the state, if only he identified savings. Samuelsen spent the last couple months bargaining against himself, identifying givebacks and historic changes to the local wide contract and in the divisions.

Then, once the deadline passed Cuomo came out and made clear that all that was on the table was a 5 year contract with 3 zeros up front, and with more givebacks to follow up.

Then he went sick, blaming his hip this time. But, not to worry ... it was the plan all along.

Check out where his head was at a few weeks ago.

TO: Local 100 Officers & Staff
FROM: John Samuelsen; President
DATE: January 11, 2012

First, I’d like to thank everyone for their well wishes and prayers for my wife and I over the last few days.
Second, I want to let you know what to expect this upcoming weekend.

As you know, we will be engaged in intensive contract negotiations over the weekend. We have agreed with the MTA that, on Saturday, main table talks will be held at 2 Broadway. Any departmental or issues table that is making progress is encouraged to schedule talks for Saturday, as well. On Sunday, the talks will move to the Sheraton. We intend to make every effort to reach an agreement with the MTA on a new contract by the end of the weekend.

Since it is impossible to establish a firm schedule of what topics will be discussed when, I ask that the chair of each bargaining committee (or someone he or she designates) be available to confer with me or other members of the main table bargaining committee throughout the weekend. Other officers should consult with your VP as to whether he wants you to be present on Sat or Sun. Please note if progress is being made we will work thru the holiday

Again, thank you for the support you’ve shown me and my family and for your continuing support to win a good contract and rebuild TWU Local 100.

SAMUELSEN SEEKS TO RAID RETIREES BENEFITS!

2012-02-12T18:51:00.000-05:00

New York

Union says MTA's sitting on a fortune, can afford raises & restore service

TWU sees unused $474M in health care fund

By Pete Donohue / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Saturday, February 11, 2012, 7:25 PM

Bryan Smith for New York Daily News

TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen, seen at a January protest of proposed cuts to members' health care services, says the MTA has enough money in a health care fund to pay for union raises and restore service cuts.

The MTA can pay transit workers raises — and restore cut service — by tapping an obscure health care fund, Transport Workers Union Local 100 says.

The fund, established in 2006 to cover the future health care benefits of retired transit workers, has grown to nearly $474 million in six years.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority plans to deposit another $59 million into the Other than Pension Benefits (OPEB) fund this year and an additional $129 million by 2014.

“It clearly demonstrates they have the ability to grant raises,” Local 100 president John Samuelsen said. “We’re not asking for the world. We’re asking for cost of living increases.”

The MTA also could use some OPEB money to bring back bus and subway services that were cut in 2010 to close a budget gap, he said. The cuts included the elimination of dozens of bus routes.

But the MTA says dipping into the fund would be terribly short-sighted and bad for workers.

Using a series of calculations involving escalating health care costs, the life expectancy of the work force and benefits granted in past contract, the MTA calculates retiree health care will total about $13.2 billion.

“Raiding the fund is grossly irresponsible and completely ignores the serious unfunded liability of $13 billion that the MTA must grapple with,” Chairman Joseph Lhota said.

Public agencies have to report how much of their future financial obligations to retirees are unfunded. They are not legally mandated, however, to set aside any money for the purpose. Nor are they prohibited from using some money that is set aside for other purposes like raises and service.

The contract between the MTA and 34,000 bus and subway workers expired Jan. 15. The MTA has said it can only afford raises if the union agrees to work-rule changes or other measures to cover the cost.

Each 1% raise in wages would increase MTA expenses in its $12.6 billion operating budget by $25 million.

The MTA and Local 100 have had a few negotiating sessions since the contract expired but remain far apart on a deal.

pdonohue@nydailynews.com

From NYDailyNews.com

WHAT THE HECK IS SAMUELSEN DOING?

2012-02-11T15:14:00.000-05:00

Another Screw Up

2012-02-07T15:54:00.001-05:00

A dispute has arisen recently over the implementation of part of the 2009 Arbitration Award pertaining to Station Maintainer Helper. Samuelsen sought to get a ruling from the Arbitration Panel which was set up to resolve just this type of dispute. The Arbitration Panel turned down Samuelsens request. Why? Because prior to asking for the Arbitration Panel to rule on the issue, Samuelsen brought the matter to Arbitrator Richard Adelman precluding the Arbitration Panels jurisdiction.

Our question is. Why on heavens earth would Samuelsen do that? There is more to this and the members of Local 100 need to question why this is happening. And they need to question it now.

THE SCAB LIST?

2012-01-30T11:45:00.000-05:00

The following information was received from former President of Local 100 Roger Toussaint. While this information will no doubt be controversial and raise more questions about who paid their dues it may also help clear the names of those individuals on the list and will help put this mess behind us and enable Local 100 to begin the healing process and re-build.

Sent to you FYI and Reps and members info.

In March of 2010, almost two years ago, John Samuelsen sent reports to the US Department of Labor (DOL) alleging that the individuals listed below were in "bad standing" when they ran as delegates to the 2009 TWU Convention or were elected as officers at that Convention.

To this day, almost two years later, virtually all of these officers and officers who have given their lives work to Local 100, have not even been informed that they were reported as such by John Samuelsen.

They were not notified that their records and reputations were on the line and were not provided any opportunity to dispute or challenge Samuelsen's report.

This list is wrong and the report is faulty.

But Samuelsen needed to make the prior administration look bad and he didn't care who was in his way.

Adams, Terry
Archer, Jerry
Ascona, Daniel
Austin, Frank
Ayala, Charles
Bachoo, Kenneth
Carasco, Jeneroso
Chisolm, Jame
Cruz, Paul
Donaldson, Daniel
Echecvarria, Derrick
Fields, Richard
Figueroa, Ricardo
Foley, Peter
Fraidstern, Josh
Francis, Cyril
Giambalvo, John
Goodman, Alice
Hallihan, Anne
Hill, Kendra
Holley, David
Hom, Michael
Isabelle, William
King, Eric
Lall, Lokenauth
Lanier, Rita
Lenane, Thomas
Leviev, Dave
Magwood, Christopher
Obrien, Daniel
Piazza, Paul
Rehn, Michael
Roberts, Barry
Robinson, Fernando
Spagnolo, Dominick
Taaffe, Billy
Thrower, David
Torres, Geraldo
Utano, Anthony
VonWalfolk, Victor
Whalen, James

Retirees referred too as DEAD

2012-01-29T22:25:00.001-05:00

Below is a statement made by an active member who blindly supports Samuelsen. The comment was made on Facebook in response to several issues brought up by yours truly. This is the type of rhetoric that should turn every retiree off because the term "dead" is in the context of "retired". Remember retirees weren't "dead" when they took your $95,000 dollars for the "Solidarity Fund" money that still has not been returned to you.

James Koster; of course management are the bad guys which makes me wonder why Toussaint and Mahoney are stirring up the pot here. Mahoney says blah blah blah but you should be concerned with the contract. So STFU and let the LIVING members worry about the contract. Not the unborn and certainly not the dead.

CON-TRACT TALKS cont.

2012-01-28T17:15:00.000-05:00

THE FOLLOWING WAS POSTED ON FACEBOOK WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO READ IT AND OUR RESPONSE WHICH WE WILL POST SHORTLY.

Week In Review
Brothers and Sisters; this was the week in review
Our local Leaders went to Albany to put pressure on the legislatures who claim to support our efforts in the contract fight. These efforts are designed to put pressure on the Governor who seem to be taking a strong stance due to future aspirations for President of the United States. This Governor has put State and City pensions in his cross hairs to prove his worthiness as a Presidential candidate.
Campaign literature for President of the TWU Local 100 has already been circulated amongst the membership to try to discredit the current leadership and to advise folks to vote differently next time around. It has been the general consensus around the local membership, that this isn't the time nor the place with contract bargaining hanging in the balance! As a footnote, People will do what they have to do to poison the water that we all drink from in order to get their way! (Politics) Management is well aware of our division, let's be bigger and better, let's be together even if it hurts!
Department of Buses - there have been several things in the DOB that Management has been doing and getting away with. In certain locations of the MaBstoa properties Management has been running short on equipment, and radios the Operator via bus radio to pull serviceable buses right to the pullout lines. Our normal standard operating procedures require us to pull our buses in at the fuel line using certain pull in procedures. This should not be deviated from due to any savings measures management tries to put in place. We as a membership must do all we can to protect our shifting, that's why we must follow all SOP's!
Reporting and making reliefs on the road- When Bus Operators report on time, and get to relief locations late due to connecting buses arriving late simply get the route and run of the connecting bus and bring the info to the chairs of the depot, also as a follow up measure Operators can Email me at dyates@twulocal100.org If the above is happening to you, do not pay for a cab, and do not report earlier in order to make that relief on time.(Scheduling Problem)

On Thursday January 27th 2012 the MaBstoa Surface Reps met with the President on the contractual issues of part-timers. We were assured that there would be no settlement of any agreement that would come off the backs of Buses. There is however a potential problem that we must keep our eyes on, and that's the Queens and Staten Island Divisions. (ATU Local 726 ATU Local 1056) The TA is asking for part-timers from them in order to settle their 2009 contract. They have been without a Contract since our last Arbitration award. Currently the ATU is in Arbitration over the matter where the TA is seeking 10% of the workforce to be part timers!
All in a nut shell, the MTA is trying to bind the TWU to the PEF and CSEA agreements. The MTA right now don't have 5,000 layoffs looming over our heads like the State had on those Unions!

In Solidarity
Donald Yates
MaBstoa TWU-100
Posted by Donald Yates MaBstoa Div1 TWU

And The Oscar Goes To John Samuelsen

2012-01-22T14:09:00.001-05:00

President John Samuelsen pulled the plug on contract negotiations this past week. Apparently the president felt leaks to the press poisoned the atmosphere at the bargaining table (it wasn't the food). We find it more than amusing that just days before Pete Donahue of the Daily News fell all over himself praising the so called champion of the labor movement. And now Samuelsen blames the same media and the MTA for leaks in the press. Come on.

Lets look at that for a moment and see if you think this president of Local 100 is doing right by the members and retirees.
1) He has not enforced crucial elements of our current contract.
2) He unexpectedly and without proper protocol donated $77,000 dollars of the Haiti fund to another union known for its extremism and not recognized as a charity.
3) He continues to allow staff and e-board members who have not paid their dues to vote and conduct matters crucial to the members and retirees of Local 100. The condo in Brooklyn and Izzy Riviera's removal as Financial Secretary are just two that come to mind.
4) The Solidarity Fund has not been refunded as promised nor the $95,000 dollar retirees donations.

Samuelsen picked up his crayons and left the talks only to reschedule them next week. Now just read this quote from the Local 100 website,"We look forward to returning to the bargaining table. Due to changes at the MTA, we are already months behind schedule in working out a new contract. We want to make progress in the negotiations. That is why we halted talks on the 19th, and why we expect to resume talks in an improved atmosphere."

WE WANT TO MAKE PROGRESS IN THE NEGOTIATIONS THAT IS WHY WE HALTED TALKS. OH BROTHER!!

If it is Samuelsen is looking to dodge the bullet and not take responsibility for a contract, for better or worse, and takes the negotiations to arbitration TWU will lose its shirt. Samuelsen should get the best deal he can and keep part time bus operators out of the mix.

Roger Toussaint replies to The Chief

2012-01-18T20:50:00.000-05:00

The following letter from Roger Toussaint is in response to an article appearing in this weeks Chief-Leader:

Roger Toussaint responds to the Chief

Jan 17th, 2012

I am taking a chance that you will not ignore, bury, butcher or assign this response one of your biased headings in your longstanding efforts to promote John Samuelsen. Your article in last week's Chief regarding Local 100 should really remind readers of the refrain: "Reporters are entitled to their own opinion, but not to their own facts".

Contrary to your construction of what occurred, the fact is that Samuelsen was not on our Executive Board before or during the 2005 NYC Transit strike. While on my staff at the time, he crafted a letter addressed to me which he delivered to your newspaper BEFORE delivering it to my office supposedly complaining about the decision to sell 80 West End Av. When your reporter got me on the phone, the first thing I said is that I just received his letter and was now reading it. At the time, Samuelsen knew that that decision had already been voted on twice by the Local 100 Executive Board and pursuant to which, was already committed and in full implementation. The fact is that not once before had he even hinted about any concern about the sale of the building . He sends it to reporter(s) first but he was on my staff and his office was just down the hallway from mine. You have either not checked or ignored your own records and taken his word instead, for your own reasons I imagine. You seem to think that I should have been required to operate stripped of managerial rights. But the actual record supports a conclusion that this was a set up, a political hit and opening move for the 2006 Union elections. Samuelsen placed his political scheming ahead of the members' fight. (Meanwhile as it turned out, at the very same time he and the Sonny Hall / Mike Tutrone crew were also "thick as thieves" in a coordinated effort to undermine my administration including sabotage the strike once it was called.)

Your way of handling such matters is not surprising given the curious and interesting characterization which you employed in an earlier column about how "dumb" my settlement of the 2005 strike was, which belongs to the same vein as Mayor Bloomberg referring to Local 100 officers as "thuggish" during the strike. Contrary to your attempts to portray the 2005 strike as a failure, the record shows that a) the 10.5% wage increase; $131.7 million pension refund to some 22,000 Local 100 members; real medical coverage for our almost 20,000 retirees for the first time; Martin Luther King day off for the first time and blocking the tripling of pension contributions for new hires from 2% to 6% - represented a solid win, far out stripping any losses, for the 2005 strike, and b) the 1.5% medical contribution that was agreed to was a manageable compromise and indeed well on course to being fixed when it was capped in the next round of bargaining in 2009 as we had promised and not as "dumb" as you deemed from your special and particular vantage point.

Finally when it comes to assessing issues in the labor movement you freely employ double standards in the same way it has become acceptable these days in our nation's politics. The record is sufficiently clear that Samuelsen choose the timing go after me, once again putting his scheming ahead of the members' fight. You ignore the record and stand guard over Samuelsen's right to conduct whippings and to call it "just business", but you require me to just go along in silence or, you and he are highly offended!

Sounds familiar?

By the way, I don't know that Rodney Glenn is even running in the next Local 100 elections and I am certainly not organizing his or any other slate. However, in the interest of consistency, don't let facts stand in your way.

CON-TRACT TALKS

2012-01-16T23:30:00.000-05:00

Judging by what we have been seeing and hearing Local 100 is in for the perfect storm during contract talks. A lack of organization ( 800 members showed up at a contract rally last night ) and leadership has placed Local 100 in a very precarious position. Add to this the fact the MTA smells blood, the blood of our members, and we can see why there won't be any settlement soon.

One high note? Is word has come down that the talks have yielded some progress on bathroom facilities.

Meanwhile the MTA is seeking to hire part time bus operators. Our original posting incorrectly stated the MTA was considering retirees for part time positions. Our original source of information is no longer available so we here at Transport Workers Retirees have retracted that statement. Suffice to say part time bus operators are on the table and we all know we can't let that happen. Part time workers in buses would all but eliminate OT and runs over 40 hours not to mention extras or bingos so let all negotiating parties involved, NO PART TIMERS

Why Roger? Why Now?

2012-01-10T11:45:00.000-05:00

The following was written by Roger Toussaint:

The Contract Fight, Local 100's Money and John Samuelsen.

To: Local 100 Executive Board and Representatives

cc: John Samuelsen, President Local 100

From: Roger Toussaint, President TWU Local 100, (2001-2009)

Date: January 7, 2012

The Local 100 contact fight has moved to center stage. The time for all the preparation is past. What shape is the Local in? Is it ready for the fight? That should be the focus of every leader and officer of Local 100.

What has JS been doing other than travelling Europe and the US? Well, he recently notified me, Ed Watt and several others that he was demanding that we explain credit card usage from 2008 and 2009!

WOW! This is when Samuelsen looks to pick a fight. So John Samuelsen cares about our money?

HE choose now to raise the issue, instead of dealing with your contract full time

Now to be sure, everyone should account for and be held responsible for members dues money. And I certainly stand ready to do so, fully. But is that what's going on here? Or something entirely different?

Here's what's actually going on:

As of today, with the contract set to expire in less than two weeks (1/15/12), there has not been a single "main table" meeting to negotiate a new contract. "Main table" is for top officers and is where issues that affect all TA/OA and MTA Bus members are discussed. Not one as of today, unheard of!

Samuelsen's strategy seems to be to delay the resolution of a new contract until hopefully after the next Local 100 elections. Why? Because he KNOWS that he is completely unable to deliver anything but more setbacks. He subordinates a contract for the members and the Local's by laws to his personal political agenda, everyone [else] be damned!

Between a bad political situation, weak leadership to NO leadership which has greatly harmed the Local's standing, and a demonstrated inability to motivate or mobilize the members, the Local's Contract fight is in very serious trouble. And, as with every political challenge since he took office, John Samuelsen does not have a clue as to what to do except stumble from one blunder or fiasco to the next.

As for Our Money - under John Samuelsen, more financial irregularities, investigations and evidence of wrongdoing and of real and potential financial misconduct have occurred, indeed in just his FIRST year in office, that has occurred in the entire history of all Administrations at Local 100 combined! Amazing ... but true!

It is my contention that John Samuelsen has committed and continues to commit colossal violations of the Local 100 bylaws and TWU constitution and of his fiduciary duties to the Local.

Further, Mr Samuelsen's has produced the greatest amount of losses and surrender of gains in the entire history of Local 100 - again, of all administrations at Local 100 combined. I am referring to contractual and other benefits (health, pension, promotional and pick rights , safety, duty to represent the members). Another amazing feat!

What is really going on here is that Mr Sanuelsen is trying to distract attention from his own real record and create a smokescreen for failures to come. Furthermore, he is putting the needs of his election campaign ahead of our members contract and attempting to use the office of the president to silence anyone whom he perceive as potential obstacles to his election.

Why is Samuelsen so Preoccupied that I Might Run for Office at Local 100?

Now, over the past weeks and indeed for the past year, Mr Samuelsen has been pestering many people, at the Local and at the International Union with persistent assertions that he believes I intend to run for office at the Local.

His cronies, including his lawyer Larry Cary (who is entirely confused and conflicted between functioning as one of Samuelsen's campaign managers and the obligation he owes to Local 100) has also been making the same assertions on his behalf.

Samuelsen has also repeatedly asserted, despite the many real problems at the Local, that any opposition he encounters is simply invented or due to me.

Initially and for a long time, I chose to not respond to Samuelsen's and leave him to his own demons. Now just yesterday, to distract from his own problems and thanks to him, I was contacted by the media to respond.

My intentions?

Since leaving the Local, I have never had any interest, nor have I expressed any interest or intention to anyone whatsoever of seeking office at Local 100. That chapter of my life has been over and will stay that way.

As the Local itself and whatever legacy it has left are at stake, and as HE chose now to pick a fight, I have decided to address myself directly to the officers and activists of Local 100, while continuing to maintain some distance. However, I have been asked to speak at a forum being scheduled in NY this spring, which will be assessing the record of John Samuelsen's administration and of the state of the Local, a request, which I am seriously considering under the circumstances.

So Why Now, John?

Just hours after the Nov 15th kickoff of the Local 100 contract fightback I, along with several others from my administration, were sent letters at the direction of John Samuelsen demanding that we explain credit card charges going back 3 to 4 years to 2009 and January of 2008. He just had us sent lists of thousands of items, demanding that we explain with blindfolds on, or else!

Why Samuelsen chose the start of the Local 100 contract fight is amazing.

What is really going on here?

Let's review the record and what has actually occurred here.

Its You ... John, Not demons!

Back in the fall of 2010, John Samuelsen was officially and publicly accused by the Israel Rivera (whom he had selected and ran as his Secretary Treasurer in his own election campaign) of misusing the Union's credit cards issued to him and other financial misconduct.

Within days of this happening, Samuelsen brought charges against his own Secretary Treasurer alleging financial corruption. Samuelsen had his Sec Treas suspended immediately and the charges he (JS) brought were fast tracked to a hearing before the Ex Bd resulting in his chosen Sec Treas being removed from office.

This decision relies heavily upon the testimony of Samuelsen's personal assistants which includes his personal administrative assistant, Roxanne Rotger.

Because of all the publicity, the International Union (TWU) announces that it will conduct an audit of finances at Local 100.

Almost immediately, in the fall of 2010, Samuelsen's personal assistant, Roxanne Rotger submits check(s) reimbursing Local 100 for thousands of dollars for admitted misuse of a credit card issued under her name.

All this was you .. John ... you!

The International's Audit of Local 100's finances.

The International's audit began in the fall of 2010. Here are the events that followed as I understand them:

John Samuelsen announced as his defense that he was simply following what he had inherited from the previous administration, essentially that there were no procedures to account for spending. That is a lie and John Samuelsen knows it.

The truth is that there were procedures in place to account for spending before he set foot in the Local and John Samuelsen knows it even if he ignored them and was doing "his own thing".

Samuelsen had his own lawyers and accountant before he even took office and they have been at his side ever since. Immediately upon taking office in early 2010, Samuelsen launched an inquest (presumably paid for by your dues) into the credit card expenditures of my administration and came up empty handed.

However, once he got into trouble, the fact that he had campaigned on the grounds that the prior administration was at least financially inept if not corrupt did not deter him, when it suited him, from hiding behind my administration like a coward would.

In the spring of 2011, as the International's audit winds up and becomes more revealing, John Samuelsen announces that he is going to commission another audit of his own. He makes it clear that the purpose of his audit is to support his defense that financial wrongs under his own administration were merely due to him following procedures he had inherited from an administration he himself declared was financially inept and corrupt.

Samuelsen apparently believes that he can use the funds and assets of the Local as instruments for his personal purposes.

The International's audit raises, among other questions, a myriad of questions about charges on Roxanne Rotger's issued credit card including whether it was being used to hide charges owed by others in Samuelsen's administration, by their wives and others!

All of a sudden, in the spring, Roxanne Rotger is declared terminated. She is secreted away but advises close associates that she has been assured that "they" (Samuelsen & C0. ) "will take care of her"!!

Samuelsen goes further. Where the audit by TWU International covered Samuelsen first year in office, 2010, and a review of 2009 would have established what the prior practices were, that would not serve Samuelsen's purposes since the Acting President of Local 100 for 2009 was his new colleague Curtis Tate. Samuelsen commissions an audit to go back further, to 2008. His purpose being to ensnare the prior administration, all to cover for his own problems and for his personal political purposes.

To conduct this "audit"in the Spring of 2011, Samuelsen contracts the services of the very same accounting firm which supported his election bid and which apparently provided him services or value-in-kind, in the hope of reaping rewards later.

This is the firm being described as an "outside" firm.

In the spring of 2011, as the release of the International's audit draws near, Samuelsen and his accounting firm hurriedly release "their audit" of the prior administration for 2008 and 2009.

Samuelsen had his audit posted on the Local 100 website. He had hundreds if not thousands of hard copies of his "audit" distributed and posted on Local 100 properties. And Samuelsen along with his dirty tricks team shop their audit to the media and he, personally gives media interviews targeting myself and Ed Watt.

Understandably, the media just loves anything that makes the Local 100 that conducted the 2005 NYC Transit strike and its leaders look bad. And Samuelsen can always be counted upon to regularly offer them a pound of flesh in this regard.

So concerned was Samuelsen about your dues money that at no time was any attempt made to contact myself or anyone else whom they had targeted and were making accusations against, regarding a single credit card charge.

In the meantime, Samuelsen to this day has not provided the International's audit either to the top officers of the Executive Committee, the Local 100 Executive Board, or Local 100 members. He has complained bitterly about any information about this audit or about an agreement he has signed concerning financial procedures to be followed at Local 100, getting to the officers and representatives.

As his entire motivation was to run interference, Samuelsen then sits on his audit (driven, according to him, by concern for members money) for some six months, from the spring of 2011 through November 17th 2011 when he strangely decides to send it out, just as the contract fight gets kicked off and the 2012 Local 100 elections season is set to begin. He was so concerned about your money, that during all this time not a single attempt was made to contact any of the targets of his "review" to come up with explanations for charges under the credit cards. In fact, so concerned about the members money, all (hundreds) receipts are withheld from his targets even as explanation of business purpose are demanded.

In addition, e mail records for records going back up to four (4) years ago, are withheld, along with calenders required to reconstruct the business purposes behind expenses.

In contrast, long after her admitted misuse of a union's credit card issued to her and months after Roxanne Rotger was terminated, Samuelsen and Larry Cary were insisting that she needed to be allowed to review her e mails just for as recently as 2010.

In fact, based on what has been said publicly, Samuelsen's personal "outside" accounting firm seems to have confirmed that there are NO records available or accessible to them to indicate the business purposes behind hundreds of credit card charges.

Having taken all these steps, Samuelsen now officially moves to shift focus to his "unbiased" audit in pursuit of the "interests of the members".

Get the picture? And What is Samuelsen trying to draw attention away from? Yes there are very Real problems!

Samuelsen's Record on Local 100 Finances.

Here is a quick listing of Samuelsen's problems in the area of members money.

He has withheld the audit conducted regarding his administration use of the Union credit cards for 2010.

He has withheld from the Local 100 Vice Presidents and the Executive Board, an agreement he signed since June 2011 on financial procedures at Local 100.

Performance of fiduciary responsibilities regarding the Health Benefits of the members of Local 100 resulting in thousands of members and their dependents benefits being adversely affected.

Performance of fiduciary responsibilities regarding representing the members of Local 100 on the NYCERS pension Board and the NYCERS Investment Committee resulting in Local 100's standing on being adversely affected.

In 2010, Samuelsen deposited $1 million dollars of Local 100 money, placing it at risk, on a property in Brooklyn without obtaining approval for purchasing a property, as required by the TWU constitution.

Regarding the "Solidarity Fund" a well positioned lawyer said to me that this was the "greatest mess" he had come across in his "35 years of practicing law". What mess?

Samuelsen set up the " Solidarity Fund", after having the AAA extend the count deadline for the members vote because the count (which was being actively monitored on Samuelsen's behalf) was going against him and was registering a "NO" vote.

To get around the legal requirement to obtain members permission to take deductions from their paychecks, Samuelsen knowingly and illegally dubbed the deduction as a "dues increase" to cover the MTA's cooperation in this misdeed, (but under the TWU constitution there is a per capita payment required on dues and other implications apply). So, playing fast and loose, to the International he calls it an "assessment" and to the MTA he calls it a "dues increase".The whole world knew that this was indeed an "assessment" (requiring members prior approval) and not a "dues increase".

In order to swing the results of the vote, Samuelsen insisted on individuals voting (non Transit members located at the International Union but assigned to the Local 100 membership rolls) who were not affected by the layoffs at TA/OA/MTA Bus and therefore had no right voting on the issue just as Private Lines members of Local 100 were not allowed a ballot to vote because they were not affected by the layoffs. Samuelsen and Roxanne Rotger, who worked at the International just before coming to work for Samuelsen, both personally called some 50 individuals at the International lobbying them to vote in favor of the assessment. Interestingly, the margin by which the vote (after the rigged extension) was passed was virtually identical to the number of votes from this source.This was so blatant that, unlike TA/OA/MTA Bus members, these individuals could vote but were never even required to paying the $5 payroll deduction they voted for!!

Despite explicit commitments made at the Local 100 Executive Board since September of 2010, details about how the extension of the deadline at the AAA really came about continue to be withheld from the Board to this date.

Probably most importantly, the "Solidarity Fund" was set up in violation of all federal regulations governing the establishment of funds which provide benefits.

Samuelsen's administration signed off on letters "indemnifying" the MTA or holding them harmless and assuming for Local 100, any financial and other liability in connection with the establishment of the "Solidarity Fund".

Samuelsen then reported on the Local's annual LM2 filings with the Federal Government that Local 100 closed off the year (2010) with NO outstanding potential liability.

Samuelsen used Local 100 members dues money to create a private corporate entity to bid on routes on which to run private "dollar" vans on routes being actively operated by Local 100 members paying dues to the Local.

Samuelsen failed to remit COPE monies to the International Union for some seven months in 2010, using those monies for other purposes without approval. He then hid this fact from and lied to the Local 100 Executive Board about the debt owed to the International.

At considerable legal costs to the Local, Samuelsen filed a (failed) frivolous lawsuit to reverse provisions(s) of a contract (Bus Consolidation) which had been duly and legally ratified by the members of Local 100, but which he had opposed in his personal electoral campaigns.

Peddling Insurance at Local 100: Samuelsen completely defied a Local 100 Executive Board directive against a certain Insurance provider and which required competitive selection of any replacement. He privately and unbeknownst to the Local 100 Execuive Board, Executive Committee or TWU International, signed over "exclusive" rights to our members to Insurance run by the same salesman.

While distracting attention with his "lock box" bill, the NY State legislature passed and the Governor signed the END of a dedicated funding stream for Transit - NY State's 'Payroll Mobility Tax' without a peep from the Samuelsen administration. In fact one of the leaders in this effort, senator Golden, was being promoted by John Samuelsen throughout the lead up to this historic loss.

Once the photo opportunity was passed, Samuelsen sat on the "Haiti Fund" for many months while victims perished then hurriedly issued money in violation of the Local's bylaws.

Engaged numerous vendors to provide assets, equipment and services for Local 100, without performing due diligence in their selection.

These are some of the problems and issues which I will focus more on in the near future.

Samuelsen's Record on your Contract, Your Benefits & Rights

On this subject I will also follow up shortly addressing Samuelsen's record of the setbacks to gains made at the Local which combine to be the most looses in the history of Local 100, including in the following areas:

The 'Step' and Apprenticeship programs.

Closure of Bus Operator swing rooms.

Loss of Pick rights in Stations Department.

Loss of Pick rights in OA/TAS and MTA Bus.

Loss of pick rights in MOW.

Loss of pick rights in RTO.

Surviving spouse benefits of members at MTA Bus.

Safety Coverage Inspections and representation.

Failure to hold required quarterly Safety Task Force meetings

Failure to enforce legal prohibition against management changes in the on Track Safety program. TA Management cut safety training for TA members by some 30% in violation of NY State Law.

No Transit Womens conferences in 2 years.

No Transit Retirees conference in two years.

No 'Next Generation' (for junior Local 100 members) conferences in two years.

Widow & Orphans funds and fundraisers cut.

Most and largest travel junkets of any administartion.

Collaspe of field representation under Samuelsen administartion.

No contractually required monthly presidential and departmental heads meetings in two years.

Placement of individuals on Union payroll and release time and in office who were suspended by the Local 100 Executive Board.

Meanwhile, the record of membership mobilization is at its lowest in over a decade, even as they regularly fudge the numbers, lie and use camera tricks to cover it up.

More on all this later.

A RESPONSE FROM ROGER TOUSSAINT REGARDING JOHN SAMUELSEN

2012-01-08T20:13:00.000-05:00

The following was prepared by and written by Roger Toussaint:

From Roger Toussaint, President TWU Local 100 (2001-2009)

I write in the interest of 'truth in reporting' and in response to Pete Donohue's Transit column of Jan 7th. The article is laden with inaccuracies of which I will address but a few.

John Samuelsen was on my staff at Local 100 for 5 years, from 2001 to 2005. In all elections up to that time, he ran on the same slate with me and on my coat tails and never as an independent.

As for being "an organizer of the 2005 Transit strike", nothing could be further from the truth. In the months before the 2005 strike Samuelsen actively boycotted the mobilizations (called "Days of Action" and actively discouraged participation at the mass membership meeting at Jacob Javits Convention Center) which readied the members for that struggle; in fact he had to be ordered to organize picketing during the "Days of Action"; his closest supporters on the Executive Board voted against the strike; 10 days before the contract deadline and while on my staff, he sent a letter addressed to me to the media first to launch a political split; on the second day of the strike Samuelsen was deeply involved in a backdoor attempt to discourage officers from standing firm and to collapse the strike from within - this came in the form of attempting to go around our by laws and the Executive Board and submit management's last offer for a membership vote ; of the hundreds of officers involved in the strike, Samuelsen was the only one to submit paper work seeking to be paid by the Union for the time we were out on strike. When we lost dues checkoff after the strike, John Samuelsen issued at least seven flyers telling the members that any dues they paid would be wasted on staff! That's the record that I know.

While we were focused on the confontation that was coming and on the life or death struggle to survive the cut off of dues - Samuelsen was focused on his political agenda and career and indeed operating like an agent provocateur.

On the other hand, from a reporting standpoint, Pete Donohue lets Samuelsen off real easy on two critical items 1) What is really Samuelsen's politics? ( I know that Samuelsen refused to lift a finger in the 2008 Obama election, evidently saw no significance for what it represented in the life of this Country and is very close to the Republican party and its key operatives in south Brooklyn) and 2) Why did Samuelsen really leave his job as a guard on Rikers Island and the 20 year pension it came with, to take a 30 yr age 62 pension at NYCT? Strangely, Donohue betrays no reporter's curiosity here.

That type of digging is left to other reporters.

Long Over Due

2012-01-05T21:00:00.001-05:00

TOM LENANE

According to reliable sources (www.transitnetworknews.com) Tom Lenane a MaBSTOA maintenance chairman and Local 100 Executive Board member has been removed from his position as International Executive Board member. The move comes on the revelation that Mr. Lenane withheld his dues and thus is not qualified to hold the office or for that matter any office. Further http://transitnetworknews.com reports John Samuelsen continues to allow Leane to hold office at the Local 100 level. This brings into question the legitimacy of the Local 100 Executive Board and their recent rulings like the purchase of a condo as a new Local 100 headquarters or the removal of the Financial Secretary Izzy Rivera.

Keep in mind there are some 40 non-paying dues deadbeats both holding office and on the Local 100 Executive Board. The good members of Local 100 have every right to know who they are and what positions they hold. Hopefully the removal of Tom Leane is the beginning of a much needed house cleaning.

Samuelsen looking for a fall guy.

2012-01-03T21:15:00.000-05:00

We can all complain and moan about the Toussaint regime. Lord knows I have. My complaints were personal but it would be wrong of me to let that interfere with business. Frankly the raises and benefits in the last contract will not be equaled for years to come neither will Toussaint's leadership. Save for the Keystone Pipeline Project I must agree with Toussaint's contract strategies.

Please take the time to read the following letter and know the best interests of the TWU membership is not Samuelsen's focus. The following has been reported as a letter sent too Samuelsen from Toussaint.

To: John Samuelsen, President TWU Local 100
From: Roger Toussaint, President TWU Local 100 (2001-2009)
Date: Monday, January 2nd 2012
Subject: Station Maintainer & SMH grievance

cc: Local 100 Executive Board & Representatives

On Friday Dec 30th, 2011 I received the attached e-mail message from Arthur Schwartz on behalf of yourself and Tony Utano asking me to appear as a witness at a hearing scheduled for January 6th, 2012.
The hearing apparently concerns a grievance submitted by yourself and
Utano regarding the interpretation and implementation of the provision
in the 2009-2012 Arbitration Award on the Station Maintainer and SMH
titles.

According to this e-mail message, no adjournments of the hearing might
be available. Evidently the hearing has been going on for some time
(for weeks, if not months), is nearing completion and the issuance of a
decision. But this is the first I am hearing of it.

No copy of, prior communication about or any other information
regarding the grievance in question was provided to me. Instead, all
were curiously withheld from me, even considering the paperwork that
must have been generated with the arbitration this far along. Nor, have
I been provided any access at to any of my extensive files,
electronic and otherwise, which are in the possession of the Local
pertaining to the 2008 negotiations and the 2009 Arbitration that led
to the Award which finalized the provision in question.

The Arbitration Award in question, dated August 11th, 2009 clearly
states as follows:

The Panel shall retain jurisdiction to resolve any disagreements as to
the meaning, interpretation or application of this Award. Either party
may invoke that jurisdiction upon written notice to Panel members.

The Award was affirmed, in full, by the Courts. The language is clear
and unambiguous.

As you should know, I was one of the three member Panel which issued
the Award in question. I am designated under this Award as a member of
the Panel "to resolve any disagreements as to the meaning,
interpretation or application" of the Award. As such, it is unclear to
me under what authority you are instead requiring me to forego that
function.

Instead of what this court affirmed Award requires, disagreements about
the award are being directed to the Contract Arbitrator instead of to
the Panel which issued the Award. It is impossible for the MTA to make
that happen unless the MTA has an agreement or understanding with You
to disregard the terms of the Award and the order of the court.

Before I respond any further this problem needs to be addressed and
properly resolved.

In other words President Samuelsen, by submitting a grievance to the
Arbitrator instead of to the Panel, you seem to be admitting that you
have chosen to disregard the jurisdiction of the Panel as set forth
under the court affirmed award. And essentially, by withholding from
me all other information about the grievance itself, you want me to
join you in doing so. and blindly to boot.

As this way of handling business cannot be motivated by the interests
of the members of Local 100, your methods suggest to me that you and
Utano may be trying to set up blame for whatever outcome(s) result from
the private understandings or agreements you may have with the Transit
Authority regarding the implementation of these titles and other
provisions of the Arbitration Award.

I intend to remind the Arbitrator and confer with other members of the
Panel, about what the Award specifies.

I seems to me that having delayed the implementation of the Award for
almost a year and a half, that the Authority cannot be in a position
to demand an abridged process of implementation. And having agreed to
allow the Authority to piecemeal the implementation of the Award and
having allowed the current Arbitration to almost come to a close
without ever contacting me and without providing me any paperwork or
any access to the records of the negotiations and Arbitration award
which finalized the provision in question, You, President Samuelsen are
not engaged in a good faith effort to bring about the best outcome for
the members of Local 100.
I am eager to assist in any way possible.

In order for me to properly respond, please advise me in writing
whether it is your intention to continue to deny me access to the
records of the 2008 negotiations and 2009 Arbitration Panel hearings
which led to the finalized version of the Award. As you know, the final language
evolved over that period, from what was originally proposed by the
Transit Authority.

cc: Local 100 Executive Board and Representatives.

Clear the Air for 2012.

2011-12-30T11:40:00.001-05:00

We call upon TWU Local President John Samuelsen to help end the rumors and suspicions regarding the over $95,000 dollars contributed by the good retirees of local 100 to the Solidarity Fund. The retirees are one of the unions most precious assets, they are always there when called upon to help our union and they deserve the utmost respect.

The monies collected by the Retirees Association has not been used for its intended purpose, The Solidarity Fund. We understand the complexities of refunding the money to the retirees but it can and it must be done to protect the credibility of the union and the Retirees Association. A copy of every check received by the Retirees Association is kept on file thus giving the Association the means to return the money to the donors.

Finally we would ask President John Samuelsen to post a copy of the bank records showing the money donated by the retirees is in fact on deposit and secure. Simply post the bank document on the retirees page or the Solidarity Fund page of TWU.

How Sad is This?

2011-12-26T14:32:00.000-05:00

The leadership of TWU continues to compare the members of our once fine union with the 99% while feeding at the trough like pigs. Can you imagine our members standing in the cold with whats left of the Wall Street protesters while their president lunches and yuks it up with management.

Even more hypocritical is the $150,000 plus (groceries) this president enjoys while proclaiming you and he are in the 99%. Scarier than that is the international supporting the scab leadership in Local 100 and agreeing with thw Wall Street protesters while their officers pull down over $250,000 plus.

We don't begrudge anyone from earning a decent even an outrageous salary but the key word here is "earning". We agree with the Wall Street protesters original issues and that the ill-gotten gains by the Wall Street money brokers need to be reeled in as well as the banks. But we draw the line when our union leadership tries to increase their presence at rallies and contract protests by joining the rag tag group of anarchists who now call themselves Wall Street Protesters.

Finally think about this. Our international is costing American workers thousands of jobs and jeopardizing the very security of our country by standing in the way of the Keystone pipeline project. Keep in mind Iran has begun navel exercises in the Strait of Hormuz which is one of the worlds largest export ares of oil, including America.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T14:07:00.000-05:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

LET THEM EAT CAKE!

2011-12-18T23:25:00.004-05:00

While the Local 100 leadership has members marching in the streets and teaming up with every sort of character you could think of using the Wall Street protesters to bolster the look of some sort of team effort, our president is having steak and yucking it up with management in restaurants. Not a good sign.

FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

For MTA, Union: Go Signs

By ANDREW GROSSMAN

The two men attempting to forge a deal between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and its largest union are separated by vast differences in both bargaining position and personal history.

One, John Samuelsen, is the fiery leader of Transport Workers Union Local 100, one of the city's most militant unions. He has spent most of his career underground, inspecting track in the dark while dodging trains and rats. He wants raises and a guarantee that the MTA won't resort to layoffs.

Across the table is Joseph Lhota, a veteran of the Giuliani administration who until recently was a top Madison Square Garden executive. He wants to keep wages flat and to win other concessions that would cut labor costs.

But away from the TV cameras and raucous labor rallies, the pair is quietly forging a friendly personal relationship that both sides hope will help make it easier to reach a deal. The contract expires next month.

Such a peace between transit chief and union leader is new: Mr. Samuelsen and his union frequently leveled harsh and personal attacks on Mr. Lhota's predecessor, Jay Walder.

Once Mr. Lhota learned in October that Gov. Andrew Cuomo planned to appoint him to the top job at the MTA, one of his first phone calls was to Mr. Samuelsen, according to people familiar with the matter. The two made plans to get together over hamburgers in Hell's Kitchen, near the headquarters of Mr. Samuelsen's union.

Last week, a few officials from the union and the transit authority had a cordial dinner at Nebraska Steakhouse, near the MTA's offices in Lower Manhattan, people familiar with the matter said. (Mr. Samuelsen is quick to point out that he always splits the bill with Mr. Lhota.)

Mr. Lhota is serving as executive director until his expected confirmation as the MTA's chairman and chief executive by the state Senate in early January.

In his first week on the job, Mr. Lhota signed a letter with Mr. Samuelsen asking district attorneys to aggressively prosecute assaults on transit workers, another move that won him praise from labor.

Since October, "I've had three times as many conversations [with Mr. Lhota]...than I did with Jay Walder his whole time here," Mr. Samuelsen said in an interview. "Lhota appears to me to be a reasonable, decent guy that you can have a conversation with and who is fairly easy to communicate with."

Mr. Walder left the MTA in October after two years to take a job running Hong Kong rail and mass transit operator MTR Corp. He did not respond to a request for comment about his dealings with Mr. Samuelsen.

To be sure, Messrs. Samuelsen and Walder, who took office months apart from each other, said at first that they thought they would get along. But that relationship went bad fast.

Mr. Samuelsen won his seat atop the TWU in a contentious election in 2009, beating a candidate backed by his predecessor Roger Toussaint, who led a 2005 strike that crippled New York City and led to court-imposed sanctions that hurt the union's finances. Mr. Samuelsen argued during his campaign that Mr. Toussaint had folded too easily.

Mr. Walder inherited a large budget deficit that he proposed closing in part with service cuts and layoffs. He also went to court to try to reverse raises awarded to the TWU by an arbitrator. Mr. Samuelsen said Mr. Walder "didn't have an ability to communicate differences of opinion without hostility."

All that made him a good foil for a new labor leader looking to prove that he'd be tough on management.

The TWU demonstrated outside Mr. Walder's TriBeCa apartment building. They handed out postcards attacking him for going on vacation at his home in the south of France. Mr. Samuelsen brought a labor leader with whom Mr. Walder had clashed while working on London's transit system to denounce him at a board meeting.

Now, Mr. Samuelsen is more secure in his position at the TWU. And the MTA is led by Mr. Lhota, who was involved in labor negotiations as both budget director and deputy mayor under Rudolph Giuliani. People who dealt with him during that period say he often built personal relationships with opponents.

Such a tactic means there's less chance the talks "will get on the rocks based on ego or misunderstanding," said Ken Margolies, the director of organizing programs at Cornell University's labor relations school.

But personality goes only so far. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has staked his reputation in part on taking a tough stance on pay for state workers. The MTA has budgeted for three years of flat labor costs. It wants to expand the number of trains operated by one person instead of two. And its operating budget faces persistent shortfalls that could require more cuts that fall on labor.

All of those things are anathema to Mr. Samuelsen and his union. He has said he wants to avoid another strike, but has not ruled one out. Even if he agrees to a deal, more extreme factions of his union may balk, said Mr. Margolies, who has helped train TWU leaders in negotiating protocol. Those workers could slow down the transit system by following safety rules to the letter.

"We're pretty wide apart at this point," said one person familiar with the talks.

Write to Andrew Grossman at andrew.grossman@wsj.com

TWU RETIREES ASSOCIATION $$

2011-12-13T16:12:00.001-05:00

The TWU Retirees Association needs to make things clear to it's members and they need to do it now. We have received word that since the association inserted the words Local 100 in its logo that somehow that means the monies collected in dues by the association belongs to local 100. Not so. All membership fees collected by the TWU LOCAL 100 RETIREES ASSOCIATION belongs to those retirees that are members of the association and no one else. Retirees need to be comforted in the knowledge that dues money is safe and who the fiduciary of the association is. Who's signing the checks?

Further, we repeat, the money collected by the association for the "Solidarity Fund" needs to be returned without delay in as much the funds are not being used for its original purpose. That's close to $100,000 dollars sitting in limbo. Give it back!

We urge ALL retirees to keep a watchful eye on where the retirees funds go and who controls it. We are uncomfortable with a union VP spending retirees money and so should you.

The Membership Has The Final Vote

2011-12-10T10:10:00.000-05:00

We like to welcome Tom Creegan to TRANSPORT WORKERS RETIREES as he expresses his opinion on the purchase of a $21 million dollar condo as a new home for TWU. Toms remarks are aimed at a blogger who has apparently crossed over to the dark side.

TOM CREEGAN:
I implore you to maintain your literary credibility by reporting the facts so that your blog does not get labeled as tabloid journalism. You stated that the E- Bd is the supreme authority in authorizing Samuelsen to spend 21 million dollars of the members’ money. ARTICLE XII Sect 2 of the TWU CONSTITUTION states "the supreme authority in the Local Union shall be the membership of the Local Union, acting through duly called regular meetings of the Local Union or through duly called regular meetings of the respective sections or divisions of the Local meeting separately". The MEMBERSHIP can overturn any E-BD decision at a division or Mass Membership Meeting. A motion was made for a membership vote on the 21 MIlLION DOLLAR purchase of 3 CONDO FLOORS @ the POWER DIV. Meeting and duly seconded but the vote was blocked by DIv. Chair Ed DeCamillis which led to the members filing charges. Just as Marty Goodman brought a motion to the floor which was accepted and passed, so can JOHN LANDERS bring a motion to the floor for a MEMBERSHIP VOTE on THEIR MONEY! THAT MY FRIEND IS DEMOCRACY! What is Johnny Pathmark afraid of? If it's such a great deal then let his army of shop stewards put out his spin and let the MEMBERS decide how they want to spend THEIR 21 MILLION DOLLARS! A written correction on your blog would go a long way to maintaining your literary integrity.

DECEMBER MEMBERSHIP MEETING, WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW!

2011-12-07T20:22:00.001-05:00

Some facts you may not have known about the," union men", who addressed the membership during the December 3, 2011 Mass Membership Meeting.

The president of local 100 gave a rousing speech confirming he will not fold like the other unions and except a wage freeze. However a strike authorization vote, which is a tradition at these meetings, was not taken even if just for the tradition. Instead the president of local 100 reported January 15 is not necessarily the deadline for the local 100 contract while indicating the leadership would be willing to go beyond January 15 and be willing to go to binding arbitration. Go figure.

International VP Harry Lombardi representing the TWU International had the members believe militancy was the order of the day blaming, "those bastards on Wall Street" for all our troubles. But no one seem to recall that it was the International that openly scabbed on local 100 during the 2005 strike by going to court and declaring local 100's strike was illegal. Mr. Lombardi went on further to declare himself as part of the 99%. At $267,314.00 a year we don't think so. Do you?

Local 100 also invited a representative from the Communication Workers of America. Aligning himself with "militant" theme he blamed the banks for causing the current mess were in and referred to the $22 billion in profits Verizon made. Yet he didn't explain why his union called off the strike after two weeks and had the members go back to work without a contract.

So there you have it. We have said it elsewhere the union movement today more than ever before needs to know the truth that's what we have given you here its up to you to use it.

LOCAL 100 CONTRACT DEMANDS

2011-12-05T17:09:00.000-05:00

It's odd but with the exception of a wage increase the rest of the demands seem somewhat old hat. Why? Well for one thing the old regime won paternity and maternity leave to some extent. That leaves the present leadership with getting it improved, you know maybe a longer leave of absence. But again this is not a inspirational thought coming from the leadership.

Next we have the demand for toilets, ah yes toilets, not long ago when contract talks began it was the need for toilet paper. I guess if the leadership can get the members to rally around something that we all have to face now and then ( #1 and #2 ) they will win your support.

We also understand rats have become a contract demand. It seems to us rats have been in the system longer than we have but this is in the same category as bathrooms, smoke and mirrrors.

Improved dental. Now that's a novel idea. Dental is the most costly medical piece in any demand. Even when the MTA had money a real dental plan was not in the cards. And don't be fooled by a discount dental program.

Here is what is going to happen. The MTA will sit down with the union and say,"here is a bucket of money, spend it the way you want". If there is enough in the bucket fine we have a contract. If there is not enough in the bucket, then what. Strike? Or stall the whole process until after union elections? We'll see.

SPEAK UP NOW

2011-12-01T12:05:00.000-05:00

This Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, TWU Local 100 will hold it's annual, "General Membership Meeting," a tradition began by Roger Toussaint. Say what you will about Roger, he was by-far a better leader than what we have now.

Speaking of leaders President Jim Little is scheduled to be the guest speaker at the meeting, although that may change since American Airlines filed for bankruptcy were sure he's a busy man. We do wonder though if he will ask the 41 representatives (scabs) to leave the meeting since they are not qualified to hold office. Or maybe he'll announce three of his executive board members also do not qualify to hold office and will be replaced. Don't hold your breath.

Get ready for speeches promoting the Wall St. protesters and class warfare. After all Samuelsen embraces far left bull. Don't believe it? Look where the Haiti money went, too a group of anarchists who have burned the American Flag in the past.

Finally we hope you the membership speaks out on the wrongs these guys are doing to our union. We hope for a successful meeting and in the end a decent contract. But ask yourself, do you think controlling the rat population in the subway or more toilet paper are contract demands? Or issues best dealt with by department by real qualified leaders?

Have a good meeting.

Snakes On A Plane

2011-11-30T16:01:00.001-05:00

It is a sad day indeed to see the third largest airline, American, go bankrupt. One of the reasons given is unstable fuel costs, maybe now the TWU will reconsider the Keystone Pipeline. The following is offered for your information.

American Airlines Parent AMR Files for Bankruptcy as Horton Is Named CEO

By Phil Milford, Mary Schlangenstein and David McLaughlin - Nov 30, 2011

American Airlines parent AMR Corp. (AMR) filed for bankruptcy after failing to secure cost-cutting labor agreements and sitting out a round of mergers that dropped it from the world’s largest airline to No. 3 in the U.S.
With the filing, American became the last of the so-called U.S. legacy airlines to seek court protection from creditors. The Fort Worth, Texas-based company, which traces its roots to 1920s air-mail operations in the Midwest, listed $24.7 billion in assets and $29.6 billion in debt in Chapter 11 papers filed yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.
“It’s painful but probably necessary,” John Strickland, an aviation analyst at JLS Consulting in London, said in a telephone interview. “They will have to go through the whole process that their peers have gone through.”
Job and flight reductions are likely in the future as AMR seeks to trim expenses and leave bankruptcy in less than 15 months, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Tom Horton said yesterday. Normal flight schedules will continue on American and its American Eagle regional unit for now, along with the airline’s frequent-flier program, the company said. A spinoff of American Eagle, which already had been delayed from this year into 2012, is on hold, Horton said.

Court Hearing

American’s cost structure compared with other airlines had become “untenable,” said Harvey Miller, the company’s bankruptcy lawyer, at a court hearing yesterday in Manhattan. The airline “fought ferociously” to avoid filing for bankruptcy, and now planned to use the court process to turn around its business to become a profitable global airline, Miller said.
At the hearing, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane approved American’s requests to pay employees, continue its customer programs, and pay what the company said are vendors that are critical to maintaining its operations.
American said in court papers that it needed permission to pay $50 million in claims from critical vendors. Miller said the company will later request approval to pay an additional $35 million in claims.
“We are talking about an emergency and the survival of this company,” Miller said about the request. “We have to operate this airline and assure customers that when they book on American, that flight is going to be there and that flight is going to depart on time.”

Arpey Retires

Horton, 50, most recently AMR’s president, replaced Gerard Arpey yesterday as chairman and CEO. Arpey, 53, opted to retire after the board asked him to stay, Horton said. Arpey will join Emerald Creek Group LLC, a private-equity firm founded by former Continental Airlines Inc. CEO Larry Kellner, on Dec. 1, the firm said in a statement.
Arpey supported the bankruptcy filing, Horton said. Arpey decided to leave after concluding that AMR would be better served with new leadership “because it was going in a different direction,” Tom Roberts, an attorney at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP who represents AMR, said in a telephone interview. “It was his decision because he had been the one that had been leading the charge for so many years to avoid bankruptcy.”
AMR doesn’t plan to seek so-called debtor-in-possession financing to fund operations during bankruptcy, Horton said at a news conference at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
AMR’s board voted unanimously Monday night to file for bankruptcy after considering options for months, Horton said. AMR was determined to avoid Chapter 11 as air travel fell and losses mounted after the 2001 terrorist attacks, even as peers used bankruptcy to shed costly pension and retiree benefit plans and restructure debt. Rival carriers later combined, giving them larger route networks that were more attractive to lucrative corporate travel customers.

‘Untenable’ Gap

“It became increasingly clear that the cost gap between us and our biggest competitors was untenable,” Horton said on a conference call. “The economic climate has been most uncertain, oil prices remain high and volatile, and all of that taken together led to the conclusion that now is the right time to take this step and put the company back on the path to long-term success.”
AMR plunged 84 percent to 26 cents in New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday. The shares earlier fell as much as 88 percent. Unlike secured creditors, shareholders typically get paid last in a bankruptcy and often receive nothing for their shares.
The stock had declined 79 percent this year on concern that a Chapter 11 filing was inevitable as AMR’s losses drained cash reserves. AMR had $4.1 billion in unrestricted cash and short- term investments as of Nov. 25, Chief Financial Officer Isabella Goren said in an affidavit.

Union Talks

AMR’s bankruptcy filing “resets” the process for union talks, Horton said. American had been engaged in negotiations with unions for all of its major work groups as far back as 2006, seeking to boost employee productivity and erase part of what it said was an $800 million labor-cost disadvantage to other carriers.
The company has the highest operating costs among the four surviving major U.S. network airlines, Goren said in court papers. AMR is set to post its fourth-straight annual loss this year and analysts had forecast a loss for next year as well.
“AMR cannot continue to progress toward a viable and stable future without further, significant remediation of its uncompetitive cost structure,” Goren said.
American fell from its perch as the biggest airline by traffic after Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) bought Northwest Airlines Corp. in 2008, then slid to No. 3 last year when UAL Corp.’s United Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc. merged.

Hub-and-Spoke

All operate traditional hub-and-spoke systems, with their own regional units or partner airlines ferrying passengers to be collected at larger airports. US Airways Group Inc. (LCC) is the other major carrier with that kind of route network. It ranks No. 5 in the U.S. by traffic, behind Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV), the largest discounter.
In late 2005, Delta, Northwest and UAL were all under bankruptcy protection. US Airways left Chapter 11 in September of that year through a merger with America West Holdings Corp.
American and leaders of its pilots’ union were scheduled to meet with federal mediators on Dec. 6 to provide an update on contract talks that stalled two weeks ago. The two sides hadn’t set a date to resume negotiations since Allied Pilots Association leaders declined to send a Nov. 14 contract offer to union members for a vote, saying it “clearly” would be rejected.

‘Leaner, Stronger’

“You would expect a leaner, stronger company to emerge from bankruptcy,” said Chris Logan, an analyst at Echelon Research & Advisory LLP in London. “As they are in Chapter 11, it will be more easy to demand concessions from the labor force.”
American’s pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and baggage handlers wanted to use the contract talks to regain some of the $1.6 billion in annual concessions they gave in 2003 to help the company avoid bankruptcy.
“We agreed to sacrifice based on the expectation that our airline would regain its leadership position,” David Bates, president of the Allied Pilots Association, told members in an e-mail. “What has transpired since has been nothing short of a ‘perfect storm.’”
The Transport Workers Union, which represents aircraft mechanics and baggage handlers, “will fight like hell to make sure that front-line workers don’t pay an unfair price for management’s failings,” James Little, the union’s international president, said in a statement.

‘Loss of Jobs’

“It’s a loss of jobs I worry most about,” Laura Glading, president of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, said in an interview. “That’s a horrible, horrible nightmare in this economy. We’ll do what we can to mitigate that as much as possible.”
AMR had about 80,800 employees at the end of September, including 67,100 at American, with the rest at American Eagle, cargo operations and other units, according to the company’s October earnings release. American has 8,700 active pilots, with another 950 on furlough, and 17,000 flight attendants.
Among the company’s largest unsecured creditors listed in court papers was Wilmington Trust Corp., trustee for holders of $460 million in 6.25 percent convertible senior notes due in 2014. AMR on Sept. 27 sold $725.7 million of 10-year bonds backed by aircraft to refinance maturing debt. The company paid the highest interest rates since 2009 to raise the cash.
The 8.625 percent notes due in October 2021 fell 2.5 cents to 96 cents on the dollar as of 8:20 a.m. in New York, according to Trace, the bond-price reporting system of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Sept. 11
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, carriers saw “a dramatic drop in air travel” for 18 months to two years, FareCompare.com CEO Rick Seaney said in an interview. Airlines in the U.S. lost about $9.7 billion in the year following the attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center’s twin towers in New York and damaged the Pentagon. American, which operated two of the four hijacked planes used in the attacks, posted losses for four straight years afterward.
American responded by negotiating the union concessions that helped to restore profit in 2006 and 2007. The carrier had blamed losses since then partly on its labor costs and slower- than-expected gains from business ventures with partners across the Atlantic and Pacific.
The airline also has a fleet of older, less fuel-efficient planes that put it at a disadvantage when fuel prices rise. AMR spent $1.56 billion more on fuel through the first nine months of this year than a year earlier, according to the company’s third-quarter earnings release.

Flights Shuffled

In September 2009, the carrier shuffled flight schedules to increase operations in Chicago, New York, Dallas-Fort Worth, Los Angeles and Miami to attract more high-fare business travelers.
“Airlines still face that fundamental issues of cost levels versus achievable revenues in the market place,” Strickland, the JLS analyst, said. “Higher fuel prices and the weaker U.S. economy would have given them the final push.”
AMR said in July it would buy 460 single-aisle jets -- 260 from Airbus SAS and 200 from Boeing Co. (BA) -- in the industry’s biggest-ever order. The orders remain “rock solid,” Horton said yesterday.
“When we’re completed with this process, our company will be competitive and poised to grow and prosper and go out and capitalize on these aircraft orders,” he said.

MD-80s Replaced

American’s mainline jet fleet of 619 planes includes 247 twin-engine MD-80s made by McDonnell Douglas Corp., according to the airline’s website. Boeing acquired McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Those planes, which are no longer in production, are being replaced by Boeing 737-800s that are about one-third more fuel efficient.
Placing an order for aircraft “creates a contract,” and in bankruptcy accepting or rejecting the contract will be up to AMR, said Scott Peltz, the national leader of RSM McGladrey’s Financial Advisory Service in Chicago. Boeing and other suppliers will probably have representatives at AMR’s bankruptcy hearings who “will be looking at what their options are,” he said.
Boeing said it has “no reason to doubt” that the jet order remains pivotal to AMR. Boeing and Airbus will provide $13 billion of financing on the first 230 jets, American said in July.

‘Key Part’

“We anticipate as part of American’s reorganization that new, fuel-efficient airplanes will be a key part of their ongoing success,” Mark Hooper, a spokesman for Chicago-based Boeing, said in an e-mailed statement.
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, a U.K.-based joint venture partner with AMR that owns British Airways and Spain’s Iberia, said it has “every confidence in the future of American Airlines” and looks forward to working with Horton.
Weil Gotshal, based in New York, is AMR’s lead bankruptcy counsel. The company’s financial adviser is Rothschild Inc.
American Airlines was formed from companies including Robertson Aircraft Corp. of Missouri, which employed Charles A. Lindbergh as a mail pilot, according to the carrier’s website. The companies began consolidating in 1929 and became American Airlines in 1934.
Company stock began trading in 1939, and during World War II, half of American’s planes flew for the Air Transport Command. American pioneered nonstop transcontinental service in 1953 and 20 years later was the first major airline to hire a woman pilot, according to its website.
The case is In re AMR Corp., 11-15463, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
To contact the reporters on this story: Phil Milford in Wilmington, Delaware at pmilford@bloomberg.net; Mary Schlangenstein in Dallas at maryc.s@bloomberg.net; David McLaughlin in New York at dmclaughlin9@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: John Pickering at jpickering@bloomberg.net; Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net

John Samuelsen Re-calculate!

2011-11-24T10:19:00.001-05:00

Like the commercial says before TWU gets hit with mayhem he better re-calculate his support.

Andrew Blackmore-Dobbyn

A Thanksgiving Message to the Transit Workers of New York City

Posted: 11/23/11 01:44 PM ET

Dear Transit Workers of New York City:
As you sit down to enjoy your Thanksgiving meal, I hope you will take a moment to think about the rest of us here in New York City who depend on public transportation to get to and from work. People like me, for instance. If I can't get to work, I won't get paid. Many of us are in the same situation and a strike by the Transit Workers Union would seriously harm us, your friends and neighbors who cannot afford it. Please understand that we support your right to collective bargaining and we want you to have fair wages and fair benefits for the work that you do. We want your kids to be warm this winter and we want them to have enough food to eat. We even want for you to be able to receive a reasonable pension after a career of serving the people of New York City by providing a vital service to all of us. We really need you to stay on the job, even the three guys who hang around at the track maintenance office at the 59th St. Station on the N and R line in Brooklyn who, incidentally, have never been seen holding a tool in more than ten years. We need all of you to keep getting us to and from work, school and play.
I have just discovered that John Samuelsen, the TWU Local 100 president, believes that a strike may be necessary to achieve the goals of the current contract negotiations. He wants a pay raise for you, among many other things. Okay, fine, if there's enough money left after taking care of all the bills and without another fare hike, then I say yes. By all means have a wage increase. Maternity leave should also be a part of any sane company's benefits plan. So should access to a clean toilet and a workplace as free of rodent infestation as possible. But Mr. Samuelsen seems to not know or perhaps he doesn't care that this all has to be paid for. There is another big thing he seems to believe and I think it will come as a shocker to him to find out that he's wrong.
Mr. Samuelsen apparently believes that we will all support a strike and I have to let you know that this is not the case. I live in working class Brooklyn and while we are all pro-union, we will not support you in this strike. These are tough times and all the rest of us are tightening our belts. We'd like to know that you share in our struggle. I have checked in with my neighbors in an informal straw poll and the early results are not encouraging for the TWU. Not one of my neighbors expressed support for a strike and I am afraid you may be misreading the public mood. I have not had a pay raise in five years. I have no health benefits and no pension to look forward to. My sympathy for you is limited. Most of us are in the same boat here in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. I ask you to think of us as you sit down to your holiday meal and reflect on what a strike would mean to your friends, relatives and neighbors.
The fact that the TWU supports the Occupy Wall Street movement is not going to win you any sympathy where I live. Mr. Samuelsen is miscalculating if he thinks this will get your union broad political support among the 99%. Your wages, benefits and pensions are paid for by us, the working class people of New York City, in the form of ever-increasing fares and taxes. This is not an issue of the 99% so please don't think that you can use that to gain our support. If you strike, you will be taking food out of the mouths of my children. You will be causing harm to your neighbors and their children as well. If you think the working people of New York City are going to support you while their children are going without then you need to re-think your strategy. Far too many of us are only one or two paychecks from the street. I encourage you to stay at the bargaining table and negotiate in good faith and for the good of the whole city. Too many cities in the U.S. and Europe are teetering on the edge of financial ruin because they can't afford to pay for these labor contracts.
All of the unions that represent New York City's essential services such as the NYPD, FDNY, DSNY, healthcare workers, educators and the TWU, need to stand up and say that they care about the future of our city and the future of our country. We don't want you not to be paid. We support your rights. What we want is a city that is solvent and services that work for everyone. What we don't need is a continuation of the principle of selfishness in which each union tries to get as much as it can for its constituents without regard for future consequences. We realize that most of you work very hard and don't earn huge salaries like the useless, fat bastards on Wall Street but we are reaching the limit of how much people can pay for public transportation and how much we can afford in the form of pensions. Waste, fraud and abuse at the MTA must be dealt with to reduce costs. Inflated pensions will also have to be reduced. You need to show us that you are on our side or we will not be on your side.
I wish all of you at the Transit Workers Union Local 100 a happy and safe Thanksgiving and I hope that you will let your union leadership know that you want to stay at the table and negotiate a fair settlement.

Funny Money

2011-11-21T13:06:00.001-05:00

It would be funny except the money is our retirees. Back during the summer the union newspaper congratulated our retirees for donating $100,384.50. But when we last checked the Local 100 website the amount had changed to $98,584.50. A difference of $1800.00. Where did that money go? Who is accountable for safeguarding the retirees donations? If it didn't go to the Solidarity Fund as told to the retirees where is it?

SHOW US THE MONEY!

Better yet return the retirees donations now! The money is not being used for its stated purpose, the Solidarity Fund, and no one has the right to spend it on anything else.

REFUND THE RETIREES MONEY

NOW!

We have more information to share with you on the decline of the Local 100 Retirees Association and how you, the retiree, can help save it and it won't cost you a dime.

It's All About Jobs, Stupid!

2011-11-18T11:02:00.000-05:00

Again Roger Toussaint plays scientist given his quote in The Nation. Toussaint the scientist said, "We want jobs but not as gravediggers for the planet." This is the opinion as reported by Toussaint of the TWU International regarding the Keystone XL pipeline out of Canada. Why is our union sacrificing thousands of jobs to placate the environmental extremists? Below is a plea from the Teamsters to pass the legislation and yet Toussaint the scientist and TWU played a key role in killing thousands of jobs.

Ask Your Representative to Support the Keystone Project and Support Jobs

At a time when the unemployment numbers across the country remain dangerously high, our elected officials should support projects and ideas that will create jobs and turn our economy back around. Currently, one such project, the TransCanada Keystone Gulf Expansion Project, otherwise known as the Keystone XL Project, is being held up in the bureaucratic process. This project, which will create thousands of good jobs and millions in revenue for state and local governments, has been waiting for a Presidential Permit since 2008.

Keystone XL involves the construction of a pipeline to transport Canadian crude oil to Texas refineries. It is projected that 20,000 high-wage manufacturing and construction jobs, including approximately 1,500 Teamster jobs, and 118,000 indirect jobs, will be created as a result. Having a steady stream of reliable energy from Canada, an ally country with a stable government and already the largest supplier of oil to the U.S., will also reduce our country’s dependence on oil from countries with unstable, anti-democratic governments, such as the Middle East, and improve national security.

In addition, in its April 2011 Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the project, the State Department acknowledged that the Keystone XL, when constructed, will be the safest pipeline ever built in North America.

Tomorrow, the House of Representatives will vote on H.R. 1938, the North-American Made Energy Security Act. This legislation is a thoughtful, reasonable, and responsible proposal that would require a decision on the pending Presidential Permit application for the Keystone XL Project by November 1^st and sets forth a number of important findings that confirm the importance of the Keystone XL Project to the energy security and economic growth of the United States.

Please e-mail your Representative today and ask for her or his support of the Keystone XL Project and a “YES” vote on the North-American Made Energy Security Act. It is one more step towards creating good jobs for working families and reviving the American economy.

Oils Well That Ends Well!

2011-11-16T14:49:00.001-05:00

Many speakers echoed Hansen’s sentiments. Transit Workers Union president Roger Toussaint added, “the pipeline closes the door on bringing global warming under control.”

The above statement appeared in an ecological magazine the name of which doesn’t matter. There are two major misconceptions in this one sentence. The first one and least important is referring to Roger Toussaint as a president of the Transport Workers Union, he is not. He is a vice-president of public relations at least as of late he is.

The second and more important mistake is the idea that by stopping the Keystone pipeline project we are protecting the environment from global warming. Not true. Canada, where the oil will stem from, will simply re-route the pipeline with the same effect on the environment as well as cost American jobs to the tune of 6,000 jobs as it looks for labor elsewhere (Asia). Indecently that 6,000 jobs figure comes from the Obama administration. By postponing the Keystone project Canada may simply look to Asia as a market for its oil production which will do nothing for the energy security of America.

As retirees we will see still higher prices for energy also in our daily shopping, as it will cost manufactures more to get their goods to market. Even worse our kids are still looking for work. The decision by the Obama administration is strictly political, as any decision on the pipeline won’t be made until after the 2012 presidential election.

And TWU had to move its flagship office to Washington. Was it to fix our problems or be part of our problems? You be the judge.

Hey! Where'd They Go?

2011-11-12T14:05:00.002-05:00

Not long ago TWU Local 100 and the TWU International not only endorsed but embraced (ugh) the protesters in Zucotti Park. It seems that recent events such as rape, assaults, drugs and outright anarchy have sent our two leaders into a tizzy.

Lets be honest our union was and still is looking to latch it's caboose to any cause that bring them the full brunt support of the members. Zucotti Park? We don't think so. So did our local or the international pull it's money out of the bank? And if everyone did exactly that, take money out of the bank, how many bank clerks and mail-room workers would be fired?

And was it a smart idea to tell police officers and the city TWU will not transport anyone arrested at the demonstration? Hey we all knew we'd lose that one. How do you think the police are going to look at our members next time we walk a picket line for our contract? Not to kindly after what TWU did too them.

The protesters have brought legitimate complaints to the attention of the world but it's time to stop the circus and bring the problems and protests to where they belong............at the foot of the White House.

This blog is relatively new. I have had reports of people not being able to post a comment, please e mail me at Trantalk@aol.com if you have a problem posting. And remember the TWU Retirees Director did not pay his dues when it was needed most. Why is he on staff?

Questions that need answers.

2011-11-07T23:00:00.000-05:00

As our retirees well know Local 100 lost it's automatic dues check-off on July 2007 because of the 2005 strike thus forcing the local to rely on its good members to pay their dues.

Unfortunately some members, for whatever reason decided not to pay their dues. Our retirees, once again, stepped up to the plate and donated thousands when the Retirees Association asked for donations to help support the union.

According to a review conducted by Local 100 back in 2007 it was discovered one of the delinquent officers was Mike Tutrone an International Executive Board member. Tutrone relinquished his position as board member as the facts were indisputable. This individual is today the director of the Retirees Association.

It is appalling to see an individual who turned his back on his union while management was out to bury the active members and the retirees and now he rubs shoulders with retirees who donated money to help the union.

Our By-Laws most be enforced so as to prevent the hiring of members who left the local in bad standing. The Department of Labor has a list of 41 deadbeats....make that 42.

TWU's Version of Transparency

2011-11-04T11:23:00.000-04:00

Transparency does not seem to be a hallmark of the current leadership of TWU, both local and international. The membership deserves nothing less than qualified individuals to represent them. And to be qualified you must have paid your dues. The Department of Labor has a list of 41 unqualified (deadbeats) who hold office and did not pay there dues at the worse time possible for our union at a time the MTA went for the collective throats of our members. We call upon James Little to remedy this problem before the Department of Labor does it for him.

Further the "Kangaroo court" that relieved Izzy Rivera of his duties as Financial Secretary must be reversed immediately. The international tainted with three unqualified (deadbeats) former local 100 representatives must support correcting the wrongs that have been placed upon its members and re-instate Rivera now.

Local 100 is about to enter contract talks. The members of local 100 must be represented by legitimate representatives at present they are not.

The solution? Re-instate Rivera and hold special elections to replace the fraudsters. Again do it before the DOL does it for you.

The Wall Street Protest and TWU

2011-11-02T15:39:00.000-04:00

Recently both TWU Local 100 and the TWU International proclaimed solid support for the Wall Street protesters. Fact is Local 100 joined the protesters one day for what can only be described as a photo opportunity.

Retirees have to ask are we protesting against the right people? The president of the TWU International has shown support for President Obama's Jobs Act and condemned the banks. Noble on the face of it but who can explain supporting the Jobs Bill when Obama has Jeffrey Immelt the chairmen of General Electric as the head of the presidents "job committee". Mr Immelt has sent thousands of aviation industry jobs overseas. Want more? Have you seen those new wacky looking light bulbs? You know the ones that look like a corkscrew, well since our friend Immelt cozy-ed up to the president a law was passed requiring all Americans to use the new corkscrew bulbs and at the same time GE closed its light bulb factories in America and moved its operation overseas again costing thousands of jobs. Incidentally the new bulbs are highly toxic to the environment when discarded.

What about the Keystone XL pipeline which is to run from Canada through New Mexico creating thousands of jobs? When we last checked TWU was against it. Why?

Finally our pensions are invested through Wall Street. Should we be protesting Wall Streets investments or Washington's? It was Washington who invested half a billion dollars in Solyndra only to have it go bankrupt within a year. And now comes word of another half billion dollar loan to a car company that has moved its operation to Finland.

The protests belong in Washington not Wall Street.

In the coming days we will focus on the relationship between Jim Little and John Samuelsen and the others living in Sherwood Forest.

Give it Back

2011-10-29T18:06:00.000-04:00

Recently I reported to you the retirees of Local 100 had donated $95,000 dollars to the Solidarity Fund. Pictured below is the staff of the TWU Local 100 Retirees Association taken when they announced collecting over $100,000 dollars. Ironically 4 of the individuals in the photo are no longer on staff. The real question is, where is the $100,000. If the money is not distributed to furloughed members then it must be returned to the donors not spent on any other project.

The money can be easily returned as the retirees office keeps a record of every check it receives. If your a retiree and donated money for the Solidarity Fund call the association and demand a refund. The money you sent came from your heart, it wasn't needed so it should go back in your pocket.

Retirees Hit the $100K Mark for Laid-Off Local 100 Members

The Fox watching the Chickens

2011-10-26T16:54:00.000-04:00

As many of you know by now the Department of Labor has conducted an investigation and forward the names of 41 officers of Local 100 too the International. There is a lot of finger pointing going on between the old regime (which I was a part of) and the present regime.

At the end of the day there are 41 unqualified officers making decisions about the direction the union is taking. This writer suggests the International take the initiative and remove those officers immediately.

Since some of these rogues belong on the Local 100 Executive Board and on the International Executive Board this writer further suggests all Executive Board rulings relating to Local 100 be rescinded.

If the International does not act to correct these wrongs there is a good chance the Fed will. Which do you think would best serve our union?

Solidarity Fund

2011-10-23T21:18:00.000-04:00

Many TWU Local 100 retirees donated to the Local 100 Solidarity Fund. It is astonishing that retirees who live on a fixed income would come out to support active TWU members who may have been let go by the MTA.

Local 100 has promised to return the balance those donations made by active members. What we haven't heard is that the over $95,000 dollars donated by the retirees will be returned.It's Easy for the local to do as the part time bookkeeper makes copies of every check that goes to the Retirees Association.

The money donated by retirees was not used by Local 100 for the stated purpose and should be returned to the retirees. You can't put out a call for help for one thing and use it for another. Return the money!

Have your say.

2011-10-22T13:20:00.000-04:00

If you are concerned about the direction our union the Transport Workers Union is taking I invite you to join me today in voicing that concern.

Look for updates here and add your comments.