AM New York, April 24, 2006, Monday

AM New York

Toussaint marches off to jail
BY CHUCK BENNETTSTAFF WRITER
http://www.amny.com/news/local/newyork/am-transit0424,0,844119.story

April 24, 2006

Transit union chief Roger Toussaint wants all of New York to know he's going to the clink
Monday.
The president of the Transport Workers Union Local 100 will lead a boisterous 4 p.m. labor
rally outside King's County Supreme Court, where Toussaint was sentenced, followed by a
march over the Brooklyn Bridge to the jail, where he will report for his 10-day sentence.
Supporters, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, will hold overnight sit-in outside the lockup while
Toussaint does time for ordering the illegal transit strike last December.
"He knew this would potentially happen, and he is more than willing to serve the time," said a
union source. Toussaint spent Sunday in meetings planning the rallies and the day-to-day
logistics of managing his union from jail.
His jail sentence and surrounding hoopla is meant to put pressure on the MTA board to ratify
its post-strike contract offer. The union rank-and-file voted for the contract last week after
initially rejecting it in January.
The MTA board is scheduled to meet Wednesday but chairman Peter Kalikow has repeatedly
said that offer is no longer valid because binding arbitration has already begun.
The union's public demonstrations -- which will include teachers, cops, firefighters and other
city workers -- along with Toussaint's jail sentence are part of the union's strategy to sway
the MTA board to reconsider.
"There is a lot of evidence the union is being severely punished," said Ken Margolies, a collective bargaining expert at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations, referring to Toussaint's jail sentence, the union's $2.5 million fine and the suspension of its automatic dues collection.
"They are not rewarding workers for striking so its seems like rubbing it in to not accept [the contract]," he said.
The Rev. Al Sharpton said he will spend Monday night in a tent outside the Bernard B. Kerik
Complex, aka "The Tombs", where Toussaint will serve his sentence. He promised members
of his National Action Network will be camping out each day of the sentence out of
solidarity.
Daily vigils will follow with each transit union division asked to show up on a certain day.
On Saturday Toussaint is asking the 33,700 transit workers to join the United for Peace and
Justice march against the Iraq war.
Once inside jail, the Corrections Officers Benevolent Association publicly promised to ensure
his "safety and security" and make sure his stay is as comfortable