TWU DISSIDENTS URGE NO VOTE ON PROPOSED CONTRACT

Union dissidents oppose contracts they don't feel are adequate and they run against leadership in union elections. Unions are democratic institutions. Ultimately, the members control them.

TWU Local 100 is a vibrant democratic union for New York City Transit Workers.  Two dissident groups are campaigning against their latest contract.

Some information from the Chief Leader:
Two factions within Transport Workers Union Local 100 have taken to social media to urge rank-and-file members to vote against the contract reached Dec. 4 between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the union’s leadership.

The deal, which provides raises of a shade less than 10 percent over four years, was approved by Local 100’s executive board the following day by a 42-to-4 vote with 3 abstentions. The last contract expired on May 16.

In a phone interview, executive board member and Train Operator Kimberly “Nuke” McLaurin, who voted no, complained members were not given a written copy of the contract before they were asked to vote on the pact. Instead, she said it was read aloud by a union lawyer.

“It was really a red flag for me,” she said. “It was read to us. Nobody signs their mortgage like that. Even your Apple apps contracts you can read.”

Ms. McLaurin was elected to the executive board last January under the Progressive Action banner, one of the factions that’s been critical of the incumbent TWU leadership.


She continued, “And now that the contract has been released to the public, the members are not happy and there is disgust localwide. There are no gains here. It still keeps us in the red having to work all this overtime.”

Call to Send Message

On Facebook, Joseph Campbell, who led the Transit Workers United slate that finished second in the last union election, said members should send a message by voting no.

“Even if this passes, show that at least some of us have some self-respect,” he suggested. “Don’t give another mandate on another concessionary contract. Because I can guarantee you, if you do, the next contract will look just like this one…. or worse.”

In a statement responding to Ms. McLaurin’s criticism, the union defended how the contract details were provided.

“The union’s attorney went through the contract line by line as it was projected onto a large screen in the boardroom,” according to the Local 100 statement. “He provided explanations and answered questions at every step. No one objected to having the vote or said they didn’t understand the information. It passed overwhelmingly with 91% of the votes. (42-4).”

‘Full Transparency’

The statement continued, “The contract in its entirety was posted on the website on Dec. 10. A copy of the contract will be mailed to every Local 100 member with their ballot on Dec. 18. This is full transparency.”


Under the tentative contract, union members would see a 2-percent raise retroactive to May 16, 2019, followed by a 2.25-percent hike next May, a 2.5-percent increase in the third year, and a 2.75-percent bump effective May 16, 2022.

The union leadership defends itself further as the article continues.

TWU Local 100 ballots on the contract will be tabulated on January 9, 2020. Their members have a copy of their contract before they vote. I last received a written UFT contract in 2007.

What about salary increase comparisons between TWU Local 100 and other unions?

Again back to the Chief Leader:
According to the Citizens Budget Commission, over the past 15 years, wage growth of the MTA’s union workforce has outpaced other public-sector workers. The business-funded fiscal watchdog reported in April that since June 2005, TWU wage rates have risen 40 percent. That’s a greater rate of increase than the city Sanitation workers and state workers represented by the Civil Service Employees Association, Public Employees Federation and the New York State Troopers Benevolent Association, the CBC said.



My guess is readers want the UFT salary numbers compared to TWU Local 100 for the 2005-2020 time period. The 2005 top New York City teacher salary was $90,472. The 2019-2020 top salary is $121,862. The percentage increase from 2005-2020 for teachers in NYC is 34.7%. That's five percent less than TWU's and we are still waiting until next year for a quarter of the money from our salary increases from 2009-2011. It helps for sure to have a strong, DEMOCRATIC union, not one where members drop out to save dues or refuse to do anything to stand up for themselves or their fellow union members.

The UFT, unlike TWU Local 100, is by no means a democratic union. I have explained thoroughly how UFT elections are basically rigged because no opposition group could possibly get to the thousands of retirees who vote and are spread out throughout the country and beyond. However, I still hold out hope that at some point the actual teachers will rise and say in great numbers: "That's enough!" Teachers don't have to keep taking it. An opposition group or coalition could win over the teachers or at least the high school, middle school or even elementary school divisions. We have each other. That's really all we need if we would just use our collective power.