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Hopeful · Feb 19, 2004

IT SEEMS SONNY HALL DOESN'T HAVE THE YAMS TO REMOVE LOCAL 100 PRESIDENT LIKE HE DID CHUCK SCHALK AND BOB OWENS:

Iww-news] TWU Feud Heats Up as Head of Local Goes to Court Against Parent Union's Chief
steve zeltzer [email protected]
Sat, 17 Aug 2002 06:54:13 -0700

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http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/16/nyregion/16UNIO.html
August 16, 2002

Transport Union Feud Heats Up as Head of Local Goes to Court Against
Parent Union's Chief

By STEVEN GREENHOUSE

The feuding within New York's Transport Workers Union has reached
new heights as the president of the local representing 38,000 subway and
bus
workers seeks an injunction to prevent the president of his parent
union from punishing him.

On Monday, Roger Toussaint, the president of Local 100 of the union,
asked for an injunction against the union's president, Sonny Hall, after
Mr. Hall warned
that several of Mr. Toussaint's recent statements about internal
frictions might violate union rules.

Mr. Toussaint filed his suit in Federal District Court in Manhattan, and
a hearing is scheduled for Thursday to determine whether Mr. Hall should
be enjoined
from bringing internal union charges against Mr. Toussaint.

Last week, Mr. Hall sent a memo to Mr. Toussaint criticizing statements
to the news media in which he said that Mr. Hall had warned workers at
three private
bus lines in Queens against going on strike because any walkout was
bound to last a long time.

Mr. Hall also criticized Mr. Toussaint for saying that a union rival
allied with Mr. Hall had fomented the seven-week strike, which involved
1,500 workers and
inconvenienced more than 100,000 riders. Many bus workers were angry
about missing seven weeks' pay and failing to make major gains in the
contract.

"Mr. Hall is making a clear move to muzzle me from saying what I, as the
president of the local, need to say to make sure the lessons of the
strike are fully
appreciated," Mr. Toussaint said. "He wants to make sure that certain
things are not reported to the membership, such as the fact that the
negotiating committee
for the Queens bus workers was pressed into going forward with the
strike and that he had failed to act when he had the opportunity to head
off the situation."

Mr. Toussaint's lawsuit asserts that Mr. Hall might be seeking to punish
him to short-circuit an investigation that Mr. Toussaint was pursuing
into more than
$20,000 in questionable spending by several of Mr. Hall's allies.

The legal papers argue that any action or threat of action against Mr.
Toussaint would violate the federal Landrum-Griffen Act, which protects
union members'
right of free speech.

David Rosen, the parent union's general counsel, who is defending Mr.
Hall in the lawsuit, said: "We don't understand why Mr. Toussaint feels
that he was
threatened with discipline. We don't threaten people with discipline for
using their free-speech rights."

Mr. Rosen denied that Mr. Hall would threaten charges against Mr.
Toussaint to derail the investigation of financial improprieties.

"What's involved here," Mr. Rosen said, "is simply a correspondence
between two officials in the same union who sometimes disagree strongly
with each other."

Mr. Toussaint contended that the Aug. 8 memo sent by Mr. Hall =97 titled
"Irresponsible and Unacceptable Statements" =97 was an obvious threat. In
that memo,
Mr. Hall wrote, "Your public statements puts into question possible
violations of Local 100 By-Laws and, as well, our International
Constitution." Mr. Hall wrote
that Mr. Toussaint's public statements were "not in the best interests
of the membership, nor the Union itself."

Mr. Hall added, "On a personal note Roger, I will say the following: You
are a relatively new Local 100 President, who demonstrates that you
believe you know
everything about everything, yet is unwilling to take responsibility for
anything."

Mr. Toussaint asserted that the memo implicitly threatened to bring
charges that could lead to his suspension. "His memo said that my
statements were a
possible violation of specifically cited clauses in the bylaws," Mr.
Toussaint said. "If that's not a prelude to bring charges, then what is
it?"

Tensions between Mr. Toussaint and Mr. Hall heated up last year when Mr.
Toussaint unsuccessfully sought to unseat Mr. Hall in a race for the
presidency of
the parent union.

Mr. Toussaint has asked the United States Department of Labor to
investigate the election, asserting that the union undercounted the
delegate support for him.

Mr. Toussaint and his supporters voiced concern that Mr. Hall's memo
would undercut him when Local 100 begins negotiations with the
Metropolitan
Transportation Authority over its contract covering 34,000 city bus and
subway workers. Their contract expires on Dec. 15.

"We're seeking an injunction because we fear that if charges are
brought, it will distract Roger just when these important negotiations
are beginning," said Arthur
Z. Schwartz, a lawyer for Local 100 and for Mr. Toussaint. "And if Sonny
Hall brings these kind of charges, that tends to chill everybody's
free-speech rights
around here."

In 1995, a federal jury in Manhattan found that Mr. Hall, who used to
head Local 100, had engaged in a "scheme to suppress dissent" in the
local by filing
numerous charges against political opponents and by barring union
members from distributing unapproved literature.

--Boundary_(ID_sRIl478fZDLeikj9EYlB9w)
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<HEAD>
<TITLE>TWU Feud Heats Up as Head of Local Goes to Court Against Parent Unio=
n's Chief</TITLE>
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<BODY>
 <TT>http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/16/nyregion/16UNIO.html 
August 16, 2002 
 
Transport Union Feud Heats Up as Head of Local Goes to Court Against 
Parent Union's Chief 
 
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE 
 
    The feuding within New York's Transport Workers Un=
ion has reached 
new heights as the president of the local representing 38,000 subway and<BR=
>
bus 
    workers seeks an injunction to prevent the preside=
nt of his parent 
union from punishing him. 
 
On Monday, Roger Toussaint, the president of Local 100 of the union, 
asked for an injunction against the union's president, Sonny Hall, after<BR=
>
Mr. Hall warned 
that several of Mr. Toussaint's recent statements about internal 
frictions might violate union rules. 
 
Mr. Toussaint filed his suit in Federal District Court in Manhattan, and<BR=
>
a hearing is scheduled for Thursday to determine whether Mr. Hall should<BR=
>
be enjoined 
from bringing internal union charges against Mr. Toussaint. 
 
Last week, Mr. Hall sent a memo to Mr. Toussaint criticizing statements 
to the news media in which he said that Mr. Hall had warned workers at 
three private 
bus lines in Queens against going on strike because any walkout was 
bound to last a long time. 
 
Mr. Hall also criticized Mr. Toussaint for saying that a union rival 
allied with Mr. Hall had fomented the seven-week strike, which involved 
1,500 workers and 
inconvenienced more than 100,000 riders. Many bus workers were angry 
about missing seven weeks' pay and failing to make major gains in the 
contract. 
 
"Mr. Hall is making a clear move to muzzle me from saying what I, as t=
he 
president of the local, need to say to make sure the lessons of the 
strike are fully 
appreciated," Mr. Toussaint said. "He wants to make sure that cer=
tain 
things are not reported to the membership, such as the fact that the 
negotiating committee 
for the Queens bus workers was pressed into going forward with the 
strike and that he had failed to act when he had the opportunity to head<BR=
>
off the situation." 
 
Mr. Toussaint's lawsuit asserts that Mr. Hall might be seeking to punish<BR=
>
him to short-circuit an investigation that Mr. Toussaint was pursuing 
into more than 
$20,000 in questionable spending by several of Mr. Hall's allies. 
 
The legal papers argue that any action or threat of action against Mr. 
Toussaint would violate the federal Landrum-Griffen Act, which protects 
union members' 
right of free speech. 
 
David Rosen, the parent union's general counsel, who is defending Mr. 
Hall in the lawsuit, said: "We don't understand why Mr. Toussaint feel=
s 
that he was 
threatened with discipline. We don't threaten people with discipline for<BR=
>
using their free-speech rights." 
 
Mr. Rosen denied that Mr. Hall would threaten charges against Mr. 
Toussaint to derail the investigation of financial improprieties. 
 
"What's involved here," Mr. Rosen said, "is simply a corresp=
ondence 
between two officials in the same union who sometimes disagree strongly 
with each other." 
 
Mr. Toussaint contended that the Aug. 8 memo sent by Mr. Hall =97 titled 
"Irresponsible and Unacceptable Statements" =97 was an obvious thre=
at. In 
that memo, 
Mr. Hall wrote, "Your public statements puts into question possible<BR=
>
violations of Local 100 By-Laws and, as well, our International 
Constitution." Mr. Hall wrote 
that Mr. Toussaint's public statements were "not in the best interests=
 
of the membership, nor the Union itself." 
 
Mr. Hall added, "On a personal note Roger, I will say the following: Y=
ou 
are a relatively new Local 100 President, who demonstrates that you 
believe you know 
everything about everything, yet is unwilling to take responsibility for<BR=
>
anything." 
 
Mr. Toussaint asserted that the memo implicitly threatened to bring 
charges that could lead to his suspension. "His memo said that my 
statements were a 
possible violation of specifically cited clauses in the bylaws," Mr.<B=
R>
Toussaint said. "If that's not a prelude to bring charges, then what i=
s 
it?" 
 
Tensions between Mr. Toussaint and Mr. Hall heated up last year when Mr.<BR=
>
Toussaint unsuccessfully sought to unseat Mr. Hall in a race for the 
presidency of 
the parent union. 
 
Mr. Toussaint has asked the United States Department of Labor to 
investigate the election, asserting that the union undercounted the 
delegate support for him. 
 
Mr. Toussaint and his supporters voiced concern that Mr. Hall's memo 
would undercut him when Local 100 begins negotiations with the 
Metropolitan 
Transportation Authority over its contract covering 34,000 city bus and 
subway workers. Their contract expires on Dec. 15. 
 
"We're seeking an injunction because we fear that if charges are 
brought, it will distract Roger just when these important negotiations 
are beginning," said Arthur 
Z. Schwartz, a lawyer for Local 100 and for Mr. Toussaint. "And if Son=
ny 
Hall brings these kind of charges, that tends to chill everybody's 
free-speech rights 
around here." 
 
In 1995, a federal jury in Manhattan found that Mr. Hall, who used to 
head Local 100, had engaged in a "scheme to suppress dissent" in =
the 
local by filing 
numerous charges against political opponents and by barring union 
members from distributing unapproved literature. 
 
</TT>
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</HTML>

--Boundary_(ID_sRIl478fZDLeikj9EYlB9w)--

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