Dec

TWU FUBAR

By Rick Brownell

The Transit Workers Union Local 100 really screwed up on this one, I think.

If you were Roger Toussaint, would you go on strike under the following conditions:

It’s against the law and you will assuredly face crippling fines of up to $1 million for every day you remain on strike

Your union members could each be fined individually and will lose two days pay for every day they remain on the picket line

You didn’t have the backing of the wider International Transit Workers Union

You consequently didn’t have the resources that only the International TWU could provide to withstand the economic blow of the fines and firings

You’ve been without a contract for three years, but choose to strike five days before Christmas – thereby causing the NYC economy to take a significant shot to the jaw

You risk upsetting and losing the sympathy of your base of support: NYC commuters – arguably the toughest, most volatile, most resilient group of citizens there is

You’ve been given a deal more equitable than anything the MTA had previously offered, and comparably more generous than that offered any transit worker union local in any major city in the U.S.

I don’t know how Mr. Toussaint got the job he now has as leader of this ill-fated movement, but I’ll bet he doesn’t have a copy of Sun-Tzu on his bookshelf.

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