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From the March-April 2009 issue of Union Democracy Review #178
In the Transit and Transport unions
Amalgamated Transit Union
Local 241, Chicago: Never a dull moment in this 6,700-member local of city bus drivers. Lamont Coleman and Marcus Scott continue their campaign to open up the union, for the right of members to free discussion in break rooms, for information on side agreements with management, and for rescheduling membership meetings at a more convenient time for members. Now a second group sought to file charges against the local president, accusing him of agreeing to contract memos without membership approval and of adding his wife to the union payroll to campaign for Obama. According to Coleman, a vote of 75% at a membership meeting is required before charges can be processed for trial. But 75% of what? This turns out to be an odd 75%. Here, he reports, is how it worked out:
The charges were read out before an unusually large meeting, over 300 turned out. But, as the president went on and on and on in self-defense, the audience thinned out as members started drifting home. Finally, a vote was taken, not for and against but how many in favor of proceeding to trial? By actual count, 145 voted yes. The chair ruled that since 145 was not 75% of the more than 300 who had originally signed in, motion lost.
Local 1181, New York: Ballots were counted on March 26 in the officers' election of this 15,000-member union of New York City school bus and paratransit drivers. The local had been run by an international trustee since 2006 after its officers had been convicted on charges of domination by the Genovese Crime Family. Michael Cordiello, who had been a board member under the old regime, was elected president, but with a plurality. I n the election supervised by the American Arbitration Association, by a vote of 2,708 to 2,526, he narrowly out-polled John Bisbano, the candidate of the reform group, Members for Change; but the reform vote was split by two other opposition candidates who received a total of 845 between them. The two had been part of the Members for Change (MFC) caucus but broke with it when they were passed over as nominees for president. Their defection allowed the old regime candidate to coast in without a majority. A fourth candidate received 1,067 votes.
Although the split in their ranks lost the presidency, Members for Change did remarkably well. They won two of three other top positions: Simon Jean Baptiste as vice president, and Jean Calixte as secretary treasurer. In a third success, the group's candidate for first delegate, Brijida Pilgrim defeated Anthony Battaglia by six votes. Battaglia is the son of Sal Battaglia, the former local president now in federal prison.
MFC criticized ATU International President Warren George for not acting promptly or forcefully enough against the corrupt local officers. During the trusteeship, they charge, he allowed many representatives of the old regime to keep their jobs. Eddie Kay, a retired officer of Healthcare Local 1199 who served as a volunteer organizer for Members for Change told The Chief, "I think the old guard will still control. But at least we have a voice for sanity, honesty, and for standing up for the membership."
Transport Workers Union
TWU Local 225 in New Jersey represents about 800 employees of tour guide companies - guides, ticket takers, and others whose jobs are often irregular and seasonal. For a small local, it can boast of bylaws that are elaborate, lengthy, and detailed. Some provisions carefully wrap members' rights in technicalities. Other provisions have the moldy odor of something outworn and old fashioned. To run for office, you must have been in continuous good standing for 12 months before nominations and have attended at least half of the meetings in that period. If your job makes you miss a meeting, you can be excused but only if you are careful to send a request by registered mail within 30 days along with a written explanation. If the executive board doesn't like your explanation, you have to go through a hearing where the burden of proof is on you. When you do attend a meeting, you must sign a register to get credit. A real warm and welcoming spirit!
If members ask AUD's opinion of the following clause, they could be violating it: "No member shall seek outside advice or counsel without first exhausting all remedies in their procedure as outlined in our local By-Laws and constitution, and no member will discuss Union affairs or Union business [Editor: what affairs are not the union's business?] in the presence of non-Union members.
Watch this one carefully. Wherever did it come from? It exceeds what Federal courts have already nullified. The following is an offense: "Maliciously instituting, or urging or advocating that a Member of any Local Union instituting (sic.) action in a Court against the International Union or any of its Officers or against the Local Union or any of its Officers without first exhausting all remedies through the forms of appeal of the Local Union and the International Union." You are not only barred from actually suing, but also from urging or advocating the horrible act.
There are a few other clauses in that same spirit, but too much is already enough. Some members are thinking of how to get rid of this stuff.
New York City's Local 100, the big union of subway and bus workers is about to hold elections wrapped in confusion, complex and contrived. Votes are to be cast in July and then sequestered in storage until December when they will be counted. This odd system was concocted by incumbent president Roger Toussaint and confirmed in a local referendum. He had a rationale for proposing this odd system, but this reporter forgets what it was and finds it not worthwhile to research it.
The local lost its dues checkoff rights after an unlawful strike, and so the good standing of potential voters will be subject to challenge. Half of the 38,000 membership is now in bad standing so many will be ineligible to vote. Apart from that, in the years since the strike, Toussaint has removed elected division representatives and declared them ineligible for falling behind in dues. Some claim that union records would show that they had in fact actually paid. But who's looking?
Meanwhile, Toussaint has taken a job with the international and will not run for reelection. His heir apparent and candidate for president is Curtis Tate, who has a more amiable reputation than the heavy-handed Toussaint. The leading opposition candidate for president, John Samuelson, had once been in the Toussaint camp until he was cast out for mildly criticizing the president. His candidacy got a big boost when it was endorsed by Steve Downs, a founder and leader of the now defunct New Directions caucus. Toussaint was originally elected president as the New Direction reform candidate, but the group fell apart after he turned out to be more authoritarian than his predecessor.
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