Roger Toussaint

Roger Toussaint (born 1956 in Trinidad and Tobago) is the current President of Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100, the union of New York City Transit Authority employees in New York City.

Early life

Toussaint emigrated to New York from Trinidad and Tobago at the age of 18 and settled in Brooklyn. He enrolled at Brooklyn College, and held a succession of blue collar jobs including working as a welder. He was hired by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as a cleaner in 1984, and became a track worker in 1985.

Worker activism

Dissatisfied with working conditions at the Transit Authority, he and his fellow track workers started a newsletter called "On Track" which highlighted worker grievances. In 1994, he became a formal union member when he was elected leader of the 1800-member Track Division. As a TWU member, he was active in pursuing workers' grievances, much to the dislike of management.

In November 1998, he was fired by the Transit Authority for having been in an unauthorized car during working hours, although he was on official union business. Toussaint had been in an accident three months earlier (he was hit at an intersection), and had suffered neck and back injuries. Management had apparently hired private investigators to follow him. When the extensive surveillance was exposed, including trips to his son's nursery school and union meetings, his firing became rallying cry for union members who demanded his reinstatement. In the 2000 union election, he was elected president of the TWU. Upon taking office, he cut his own salary by 25%. [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/revson/dinner/speakers03-04/speakerProfile/toussaint.htm]

After being re-elected in 2006, he came under heavy criticism from his membership as he began removing union officers who were elected on opposition slates and began working more closely with New York City Transit management.

2005 strike

On December 20, 2005, Toussaint announced the start of the 2005 New York City transit strike after a protracted contract dispute with the New York City Transit Authority, concerning worker salaries, retirement age, pensions, and working conditions. Both the MTA's attempts to negotiate pension benefits for public employees as well as the strike are illegal, as they are in violation of New York State's Taylor Law. ^{[http://www.goer.state.ny.us/cna/bucenter/taylor.html] , [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/21/nyregion/nyregionspecial3/21taylor.html]} . State Justice Theodore Jones has fined the union 2.5 million dollars and suspension of automatic due deductions to all members for striking. He also sentenced Mr. Toussaint to 10 days in jail, which began on April 25 2006. However, due to good behavior, he was set free on April 28.

ee also

* 1966 New York City transit strike
* 1980 New York City transit strike
* 2005 New York City transit strike
* Trade unions

External links

* [http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/04/24/1346222 Transcript and audio of interview with Toussaint] conducted by Democracy Now! a day before Toussaint went to jail.

References

* [http://www.columbia.edu/cu/revson/dinner/speakers03-04/speakerProfile/toussaint.htm Speaker's bio] - Columbia University, Revson Fellows dinner speaker, 2003-2004.
* Smeed, Jeremy, [http://www.nysun.com/article/24823?page_no=3 "Kalikow Warns Talks May Be "Futile"] , "New York Sun", December 22, 2005.