Marty Goodman 8/25/06
Below are two items: a press release and a copy of charges I filed against
Roger Toussaint on August 8, 2006. It is in "text only" format.
The two items pertain to a speech Toussaint made to the Executive Board on
June 10th urging violence against dissidents.
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PRESS RELEASE! PRESS
RELEASE! PRESS RELEASE!
WATERGATE IN TWU LOCAL 100?
CHARGES FILED AGAINST TOUSSAINT FOR VIOLENT SPEECH AND COVER-UP.
August 23, 2006
[PAGE 1 of 2]
Roger Toussaint, President of the Transport Workers Union Local 100, during
a June 10, 2006 meeting of the union's Executive Board, said that his
opponents within the union are a "lunatic fringe" and urged that members
"run people like that out with baseball bats."
We are outraged. Such threats are unprecedented for a Local 100 president.
In response, Marty Goodman, a member of the Local 100 Executive Board,
filed internal union charges against Mr. Toussaint for violating the TWU
Constitution and the Local 100 By-Laws [See accompanying charges].
The charges include Mr. Toussaint's responsibility for a Watergate style
cover-up in which Local 100 Recording Secretary Darlyne Lawson has denied
several Executive Board members their right to listen to the official tape
recording of the June 10th meeting. Numerous requests, both verbal and in
writing, were ignored by Ms. Lawson. The right to listen to recordings of
Executive Board meetings was upheld by a vote of the Local 100 Executive
Board under Mr. Toussaint's administration.
Violence within the labor movement cannot be tolerated and it is our duty
as elected officers to speak out. Mr. Toussaint, whose intolerance for
opposing views is well known, has now declared war on the democratic rights
of every Local 100 member. We demand the right of every member to express
their opinions without bodily harm or intimidation.
What's more, democratic unions have the best record defending the rights of
its membership.
Mr. Toussaint's actions do not bode well for the upcoming union election in
December in which he is a likely candidate. Will there be physical
violence? Will candidates be free to campaign without fear? Will there be
full disclosure of the process? Can the official election results be trusted?
Local 100 members must demand that Mr. Toussaint and his supporters
repudiate violent threats and acts of intimidation. In addition, members
must demand an end to the cover-up and allow union officers full access to
the official record.
FOR MORE INFO CONTACT:
Marty Goodman, Local 100 Executive Board member: 212-781-5157
Ainsley Stewart, Local 100 Vice-President for Car Equipment Division:
917-318-8356
John Mooney, Local 100 Vice-President for Station Division: 917-770-4082
Marty
Goodman
731
W. 183 St.
NYC
10033
Recording Secretary Lawson,
August
8, 2006
During the June 10, 2006 Joint Executive Board ? Executive Boarrd meeting,
President Roger Toussaint referred to dissenters within the union as a
"lunatic fringe" and urged members to "run people like that out with
baseball bats."
By encouraging violence against members of our union, Mr. Toussaint has
made himself unworthy of being Local 100 President. Violence or the threat
of violence has no place in Local 100.
To my knowledge, such comments are without precedent for a Local 100
President. Union democracy is the life-blood of the TWU and the labor
movement. As history shows, democratic unions are best able to defend its
members against management. The cause of transit workers cannot be advanced
when fear prevents us from expressing our own opinions. The enemy is the
MTA, not each other.
We must ask ourselves whether the 11,000 members who voted against the
contract Mr. Toussaint negotiated are part of this "lunatic fringe," as he
describes it? How many of them must be driven out with "baseball bats" to
satisfy Toussaint's hatred of union democracy? And, just what constitutes
being "driven out" in Mr. Toussaint's eyes? A push down the stairs? A
baseball bat to a member's skull? A member's death?
With calls to violence being expressed by our President, how democratic
will our union election be in December?
Lastly, inquiries into listening to the official audio record of the June
10th meeting have been ignored by Recording Secretary Darlyne Lawson,
despite numerous written and verbal requests. Toussaint bears
responsibility for Lawson's defiance of the Executive Board decision that
upholds our right to hear the tapes.
Therefore, Mr. Toussaint is charged with violating Article XVI, Section I
and Article XIX, Section I of the TWU Constitution. Mr. Toussaint is
further charged with violating Article III and Article VIII, Section (b) of
the Local 100 By-laws.
