Welcome to 

Wayne's World

Online Newsletter

Reporting the truth and facts to fellow union members of

 LaGuardia Depot 

7/09/2008

WE ARE THIS CLOSE 

TO A CONTRACT....??

This statement was told to us by our appointed Vice President at many Division meetings and during his visits to the Depot.  Was this statement an intentional lie or he doesn’t understand what is going on.  You’ll be the judge.  At the mean time I will bring you the straight facts on what is going within LGA Depot.

Our union committee tells everyone that Local 100 is doing the right thing for the members. TRY EXPLAINING WHY WE ARE PAID $3.35 PER HOUR LESS THAN NYCTA BUS OPERATORS WHILE WORKING FOR THE SAME EMPLOYER IN THE SAME UNION LOCAL?

The Chief-Leader Online Edition

http://www.thechief-leader.com/

Called a Toussaint 'Puppet'
TWU Feuds Over Private Lines VP 

By ARI PAUL 

After more than five months without a vice president, the Private Lines Division of Transport Workers Union Local 100 has one. 

Local 100's executive board appointed Queens Division Vice Chairman and LaGuardia Depot-based Bus Operator Enzo Sinnona Aug. 27 amid calls from division members and a former vice president for an election. Local 100 President Roger Toussaint steadfastly maintained that the union's bylaws gave the executive board the power to fill the vice president's vacancy by appointment. The division has been without a vice president since April, when Acting Vice President Rod Bailey, who ran on the opposition Rail and Bus slate, took a management-level position. Mr. Toussaint voiced confidence about the board's choice. 

'He Stood Up' 

"In 2002, when an attempt was made to split the Private Lines from Local 100, he was one of the activists who stood up for a strong union instead of disunity and weakness," Mr. Toussaint said of Mr. Sinnona in a letter to members Aug. 28. "Until his selection as vice president, he was vice chair of the division and depot chair at LaGuardia. In the latter capacity he made news earlier this year with the depot's spirited support for assaulted Bus Operator Henry Ye." 

Former Local 100 Private Lines Vice President Neil Winberry, who ran and lost on Mr. Toussaint's One Union slate, had voiced concern over the lack of a contract for the division and circulated a petition for a new election in June, likening the stasis in negotiations to an airplane in a holding pattern running low on fuel. 

"Members in the Private Lines face many challenges in the coming period, starting with the overdue MTA Bus contract," Mr. Toussaint said in his letter. "They need to have a vice president in place as they meet those challenges." 

But some members see Mr. Sinnona's appointment as a political maneuver meant to dilute the influence of the Queens and Westchester Division chairmen, both of whom ran on the dissident Fresh Start slate. 

'He's a Roger-Kisser' 

Queens Division Chairman Joe Sexton had called for an election rather than an executive board appointment and felt that Mr. Sinnona was not a good choice for the position of vice president. 

"All he did was kiss Roger's ass," Mr. Sexton said. "He has no business taking this job. He didn't earn it." 

One former union official offered a different view, however, saying that Mr. Sinnona had been active during the Private Bus Lines strike a couple of years ago and noting that he supported Conductor Mike Carrube, who headed the Fresh Start slate against Mr. Toussaint in last year's election. 

"The workers respect him tremendously," said this official, who spoke conditioned on anonymity. "Nobody stood up better than Sinnona. Then he got into a fight with Roger, because Roger gets into fights easily." 

Mr. Sinnona declined to comment. In a letter to Private Lines members in July, Mr. Toussaint vowed to deliver a contract for members that had "A wage settlement which resolves the problem of different wage scales for the same work (i.e. parity), ... guaranteed health benefits that don't leave widows and children behind [and] work rules we can live with." 

Mr. Sinnona's appointment is part of Mr. Toussaint's ongoing reorganization of the division. In July, Mr. Toussaint announced that the division would morph from a two division structure to a three division structure. Local 100 also opened a new Private Lines Division office in Yonkers with Gil Bobe, a former subway worker, as its appointed head. Mr. Toussaint recently informed Mr. Sexton that he was not authorized to travel to three locations that the Queens Division represents. 

Calling Mr. Sinnona a "clown," Mr. Sexton said the new vice president did not have the ability to negotiate a fair contract for members. "To appoint a guy who is going to be a puppet more or less hurts the members," Mr. Sexton said. "Roger once again did what he always did."

Your rights as a Union member: Filing a grievance

 

 

The right to present a grievance is a Union member's most basic right. A grievance is a complaint in writing, presented in accordance with your Collective Agreement. Grievances arise out of workplace dissatisfaction, complaints and frustrations experienced by Union members.

 

As soon as a member sees a violation of the Collective Agreement, she should try to resolve it through discussions with management. If not successful, a grievance should be filed immediately.

 

Your Union representative, your shop steward, can assist you in preparing your grievance, and can present it to management. Your Collective Agreement outlines the grievance process. It:

 

• Sets time limits for submitting the grievance at each level, and time limits for the employer's reply.

• Requires the employer to inform the employees of who they should present their grievance to, and which manager is authorized to make a decision at each level of the grievance process. The employer must post this information on the employee's union worksite bulletin board.

 

If you have a worksite problem, remember this rule: Obey  first, grieve later. In other words, continue to do your job but proceed to file your grievance. Make sure you ask for a Collective Agreement. Read it and know your rights. If you see that you are being violated, contact your Shop Steward.

 

Wayne's World is Back!!

 

I'm back! Last year I decided to resign my position of 6 years as Staff Representative of Local 100.  The reason why I left is because I could no longer support policies of the present administration of Local 100 pertaining to the Private Bus Lines Division. I decided to run for Section Chairman.  During the course of the election, literature was handed out to the members containing false and inaccurate information about a school bus company leaving Local 100 under my watch. The truth is they left local 100 approximately 7 months after I came back to LGA Depot.  I confronted my opponents about this literature but they continued to hand it out.  They won the election and I won free time for myself.  Unfortunately the union committee is trying to disturb my free time by continuing to put out slanderous information.  I will not sit still and allow the appointed Vice President and LGA Depot union committee to harass me.  Wayne’s World is back in full swing to tell the truth about these certain union officers.

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