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Please enter comments for my Guestbook View My Guestbook Add a link of interest to my visitors:

Politics  The inevitable, undeniable, corruption ridden legalized form of Grand Larceny that robs the worker of his livelihood with one hand, while pilfering the public pocketbook with the other. This page looks at the antics of the upstate gang of thieves. Pataki Politics.

The Signal Shop Gazette: Selected editions from a newsletter published by the author of this site. A little history, about me, The Transit Authority and The Union. The reason I started this site.

Union Stuff: A collection of materials and links that should be helpful to any member, of any union. While the original purpose of this web site was to call attention to the abuses that I, and my brothers in TWU Local 100 are subjected to under the present system, it has nevertheless become involved in the concerns of our brothers and sisters in every union, everywhere.

Supervisors For A Just Contract. Why not, the subject of this web site is UNIONISM. This link will take the visitor to a web site for TA supervisors. Most of these people came from our rank and file. They get treated just as lousy as everybody else. Where the Supervisors pick becomes a meaningless exercise, the Transit Authority takes advantage of a golden opportunity to assign their favorite people to the choice positions. The only way then to get a good assignment, absent a decent pick procedure, would be for the supervisor to have his nose in the managers butt. This is usually accomplished by showing your boss that you have the ability, as well as the resolve, to treat the workers like garbage. I would add at this juncture, there are many who have already proven their point. Look around at the promotions, definitely a good place to start. I would love to see them get a decent contract. I would also see them get some decent representation. Imagine having your union go into the hole because of poor financial management by your union leaders. This is where the human garbage that manages the Transit Authority really shines. They give the union a little cash to keep them afloat in return for which they want the supervisors to give up their pick rights. Should we rename this union, we could always call it: THE NEW YORK TRANSIT AUTHORITY SUPERVISORS UNION We could even allow President Reuter, CEO Conway, the Mayor and the Governor to sit on the unions executive board and perhaps even control the votes. We all know what happens when the big bosses put the screws to the first line supervisors. They force them to make choices about how they treat their subordinates. Some of them are able to take the heat and still manage to treat their subordinates with respect and dignity. Some of them, well, we all remember what happened to a signal worker when the Transit Authority bosses forced the supervisors to change their story about an accident. These are the things that unions were meant to prevent, when your representation is in bed with your bosses your better off with no union at all.

Labor Information: This is another web site that I own and operate. The site is dedicated to the supply of information that is not always pro labor. I believe we should know about everything that is being said and done on the labor front. Sometimes you can find information from the enemies of labor that you should have been told by your union leaders, and you would have, if they wanted you to know.

Labor & Legal Links: An excellent array of sites that are specifically chosen to inform, educate and supply some legal help to the union member, or any other interested worker.

TWU Activists: To my mind a very special group of people that have taken it upon themselves to go public with their opinions making a difference in the terms and conditions in the hope of under which we Sometimes they do this at great personal risk.labor.

New York Transit Authority Bits & Pieces: An interesting, though unclassified, hodgepodge of miscellaneous pieces of information I have been able to gather from various databases. All of this information is transit authority related. I am certain there is something of interest to almost anyone that is willing to go through it.

TWU Local 100: This section will be reserved for anything of specific interest to the Local 100 membership.

Odds & Ends: Information that has no general classification but is important enough to post. An ideal place to publish, letters, opinions or even graphics.

NYC SUBWAY SIGNAL SYSTEM: If you want to learn a little something about Signals, this is a good place to start.

SUBWAY ACCIDENTS: A brief history of accidents involving NYC Subways. Some interesting facts about causes and similarities.

This site, is an outgrowth of one mans struggle against corruption in the government sponsored agency that employs him, the Inspector Generals Office that endorses this corruption and a few high ranking union officers that collaborate with those agencies in an effort to deprive their constituency of its rights. The agencies I refer to are the New York Transit Authority and The Office of The Transit Authority Inspector General. The Union I refer to is the Transport Workers Union, Local 100. From the point of view of the worker......they are all now one and the same. Though it would seem on the face of it that the Transit Authority and The Union would be miles apart on many issues, strangely enough the very same consistencies dominate both entities, CRONYISM AND FEAR.

CRONYISM: has been the system of choice used by management in both systems when it comes to choice assignments, and promotions within their own ranks. This method of choosing a viable candidate for a responsible position eliminates the need for assessing the preferable qualities of leadership, competence and integrity. A strong requirement for advancement is a good track record indicating a penchant for blind unquestioning obedience, and, the absence of any evidence that would indicate a tendency to submit suggestive feedback either positive or negative. In both organizations, close personal alliances with those in positions of authority will suffice to fill the gap between the candidates documented qualification for a preferred position and that which is necessary to qualify for it. Many of our first line supervisors (foremen) as well our mid level managers know only too well that competence in their job is not enough for any chance of upward mobility. They have known for some time that the only tools necessary for advancement to a better position is a good set of knee pads and a pucker. Unfortunately, while this largely unspoken of procedure is beneficial to the recipient in the good graces of his sponsor, it falls far short of a benefit to the organization, much less the riding public. A strong union can go a long way towards removing such incompetents before they can cause harm to the employees, to say nothing of ridding the railroad of the procedures which cause an artificial increase in production at the cost of a decrease in the system safety.

FEAR: is most likely responsible for the total lack of complaints that come from the union membership. This is certainly not a complicated issue to understand. Generally a complaint will elicit an unfavorable reaction from the person who is the recipient ( though not the target) of the complaint. Whether it is given to a first line supervisor or a union representative the result is the same.........inevitable retaliation. Sometimes the retaliation is blatant, in most cases however, it is subtle and insidious. Difficult as it may seem to believe, many of the workers will not even vote on important issues because they do not want the union officials to know that they are opposed to their policies. Our last contract, clearly an out and out rip off, was nevertheless approved, even though only 27% of the membership voted for it. Fear, and the absence of any thing remotely resembling support from their union has created a sense of apathy and frustration. This in turn takes the fight out of them. They don't go to union meetings, they don't file grievances (what's the use). Because they stay away from the meetings, to the great relief of the union officers, they don't get to participate in the opportunity to force our leaders to make changes. Since they don't attend meetings, they are not permitted to run for union office, thereby guaranteeing the continuation of the incumbents tenure.

The union is the workers primary access to the legal system.

The workers of this country can not afford to be without effective representation, the great economic inequality of the parties to a contract would make it almost impossible for the worker to defend him/her self against the enormous financial resources of the employers. Those elected leaders who would otherwise seek to deprive those workers of their rights in order to further their own ends must be removed from office. The politicians, the bosses and the union representatives have a sweet thing going for them. The present legal system has been put together in such a manner as to protect our legal representatives against the very people that they are supposed to be protecting.........us! When such a system is allowed not only to survive, but actually to proliferate in a society such as ours, the results will be catastrophic. We must fight for union democracy and for effective leadership.

The unions are the backbone of this country.

We can't afford to have them taken over by incompetent union officers, crooked politicians and unscrupulous business interests (those who have a contract on America).

As you can well imagine, both the union and the management hold me in great disfavor. They have both done everything possible to thwart my efforts on behalf of the workers. Unfortunately they have been a lot more successful than I have, they have the time, the financial resources and a legion of attorneys to assist them. Both the union and the management have engaged in a conspiracy to get rid of me. They have used my status as a disabled worker in an attempt to throw me out of my job. My new position makes me ineligible to hold the office of The Shop Steward and so I have resigned that position. They were even willing to throw the rest of the disabled workers in the shop out of their jobs just so they could get rid of me too. They have caused me to spend money on lawyers, they have caused no end of emotional trauma to myself and my disabled coworkers. I have no doubt that soon again they will subject me to another one of their medical exams in an effort to cause me further distress. This site, and the continued publication of my newsletter, THE SIGNAL SHOP GAZETTE, is the way I choose to fight back. When these things are combined together with the hell I try to give them at the union meetings I find that I am able to make a difference, no matter how small. Finally, they can change my job, continue to harass me, continue to subject me to the outrages of their well endowed medical and legal departments, they can even turn my union against me, eventually, they might even be able to fire me. They can't however, scare me off, buy me off or shut me up. Those rights come with my American citizenship, however, if we don't try to stop them here, it won't be long before they try to take that away too. We had better wake up!

I am certain that I am not the only union member that is having difficulty with internal union problems. I am also certain that a great many of our union leaders are well meaning, hard working individuals who have the best interests of our membership at heart. I will therefore make an attempt to include in this site, information that will be beneficial to all union members in their quest for justice. Information that will help to form an effective coalition that will eventually rid our union of those of our leaders that would otherwise destroy us. Having said that, I have one last word to our Signal department Union Leader leader who said "Why the hell should I worry about a few disabled workers, I have three hundred able bodied men to be concerned about". To that individual I offer this quotation in reply:

"When the "common good" of a society is regarded as something apart from and superior to the individual good of its members, it means that the good of some men takes precedence over the good of others, with those others consigned to the status of sacrificed animals."

Ayn Rand

The many letters of concern and support I have received from those of you who have visited this site has far exceeded my expectations. You have come from the News Media, Government, The Military, Educational Institutions, Labor unions and working people from almost every country in the world. I thank you, I thank you very much.

Ed Kehoe