 |
|
| Election 1997 | By Ed Kehoe | November 15 1997 |
Mention pension reform, what kicks in? A mind numbing state of euphoria set off by the brains release of little retirement endorphins. While you are still riding out this diversionary tactic of a short lived "high" administered by the union pushers, the Transit Authority, clever devils that they are, sneaks in to pick your pocket. When you finally return to your senses: What a hangover. No pension enhancement, no money, and maybe..............NO JOB! The union DEALERS???----- they’re still raking it in and looking for some more new suckers. What can we do??? How about we raid (Vote them out) the dealers hangout at "80 West End Avenue" and return the Union to the rightful owners.
Are we ready for the incumbent leadership to serve another term, can we really afford to let this happen.? In order to fully appreciate the ramifications of this, we must first understand who this leadership represents, no, it most certainly is not us. Clearly, they represent a most profound self interest. Contractually, unfortunately, as far as we are concerned they have the right of exclusive representation. Make no mistake however, about who they really represent, they represent Sonny Hall, and Sonny Hall represents Sonny Hall.
The current Local 100 President, Willie James, was not elected by a vote of the membership, he was appointed as acting president. He was in fact appointed by the same powers that had sponsored the appointment of our last ne'er-do-well as acting (and it was an act) president. One would think at this stage of the game that we would get tired of these actors, and, opt for the real thing. Seda as you may recall left under circumstances that should have left serious questions in the minds of the membership. Like Willie James, Seda did no wrong. That is unless one can consider following the bosses, Sonny Hall’s, orders the wrong thing to do. When Seda left the Local, on the back of a fast moving horse, he didn’t stop until he reached "The TWU International Corral", where he immediately dismounted, and transferred to a different payroll. When Willie James leaves the local, we can assume that he too will keep feeding at this same trough. Both were appointed by the same authority, both ran for election based on pension reform, one has already screwed us on the pension prevarication, the other one is looking for a repeat performance. How damned dim witted they believe us to be, worse yet; have we supplied them with the evidence to support that belief? We will soon find out. The question as I see it is relatively simple. How many MORONS does it take to elect Willie James????
Divisiveness, and the ability to capitalize on it, is what the current leadership is hoping for. Instead of working to remove the differences that separate us, they do every thing possible to amplify them. This works great for them at election time when they capitalize on the issues that split us apart. The problem is that after the election, they got what they want, but the rest of us are still suffering from the loss of unification, the foundation of the union it self.
When Willie James was appointed, he took it upon himself, based upon his vast experience of several months as President, to override our bylaws, extend our contract based on erroneous information and set a precedent for welfare workers to take over the jobs of civil service employees. His outrageous, unprecedented antics, made him an immediate favorite of big business interests because he had set the tone for years to come. The labor friendly publications were highly critical of his shenanigans and couldn’t help but wonder what the hell
we were made of, that we would actually permit this to be done to us. They weren’t alone, I wondered too. But I did more than wonder, I wrote up a list of charges and took the union before the PERB. Next to the firing of the control tower operators by former President Reagan, this was one of the biggest blows to organized labor that I have ever been witness to. He entered into contract negotiations, without a contract negotiating committee and in strict violations of our bylaws. He felt himself capable of negotiating with some of the shrewdest money manipulators on the face of the earth. I am not talking about the pawns that hold the highest titles in the New York City Transit Authority, they don’t make the decisions. Did you know that the MTA, in particular E. Virgil Conway, the CEO, negotiates deals with corporate connivers like Philip Morris, Lockeed and Bombardier just to name a few. A recent boondoggle, printed in the OBSERVER, indicated a real estate transaction between Virgil and the nicotine peddlers that sent some of the best legal minds in the city scouring the law books to verify the legality of the deal. There was no bidding, large sums of money were given by the cancer kings to the republicans both before (an inducement) and after (a Thank you) the transaction. You wouldn’t believe what it cost New York in lost tax revenue. Because our current law makers have a definite "big business bias", I am certain that if it wasn’t legal at the time, a law was immediately amended to make it so. I mention this not to add more filth to the already tarnished reputation of the Authority, but to illustrate the capabilities of these monsters. But that's OK, because------- WE HAD WILLIE! (talk about David and Goliath). He returned triumphantly from the negotiations with an unbeatable deal, telling us how he put one over on the TA, much like the husband who tells his wife that he left the used car dealer crying on the showroom floor. Only later did we find out about the tremendous money surplus the transit authority had forgotten to mention. We lost, and we lost BIG. There are only two possible reasons for the membership to lose at contract negotiations. Either the negotiator was not clever enough to elicit a good deal, or because he was. NOT TO WORRY, WILLIE IS NOW GOING TO TAKE ON THE STATE LEGISLATURE. PENSION REFORM IS ASSURED. Are we then to believe, that the pension plan, involving hundreds of millions of dollars to retired workers will die on the vine if Willie isn’t elected? (what a man).
Principles, Not personalities:
I wonder, who among us can find fault with Willie James as a person, certainly not I. He managed to fight his way out of poverty, secured a responsible position with the Transit Authority, became an ordained minister, became active in union affairs and eventually earned an appointment to the presidency of Local 100. On the face of it, this is most definitely a man worthy of respect. Then again, up to the very last moment, right before the sell out, so too were Benedict Arnold, Brutus and Judas Iscariot. This then is why we must concentrate on the evidence at hand, not on the person claiming false victories, the fulfillment of unrealistic promises and demanding that our enemies give us respect. How in the hell can we as a united work force demand the respect of our adversaries when we are treated with such disrespect by our representatives. Worse then a lack of respect, they, The Transit Authority, actually takes pity on us, now that really hurts. Imagine if you will, a so called united, militant, and unionized work force. Now imagine that this work force has relinquished without a whimper, the only weapon that any union can use in negotiations "The ability to strike". There is no recorded history any where in the annals of the labor movement where any thing of any significance was gained by a work force that was unable, or unwilling, to withhold it’s labor. Labor and management are adversaries, the idea that management is not going to play "hardball" in a contract negotiation because they do not want to take advantage of the oppositions inability to STRIKE, is an absurdity that is beyond all comprehension. Nobody in their right mind would advocate the use of an atomic bomb, but it sure as hell earns the respect of ones adversaries if they know that you have one. The Dictionary defines intelligence as the ability to learn from experience. We sure as hell have had the experience of the worst union leadership in the history of the TWU. The question is, do we have the ability to learn from it. The Union bosses took away your right to recall your officers. Ask yourself Why???
Is it perhaps because they know that in the next several years their performance will be even worse.