Roger Toussaint
Roger Toussaint
Roger Toussaintwas the President of Transport Workers UnionLocal 100, the union of New York City Transit Authority employees in New York City and former Vice President of Strategic Planning for the parent union, an international organization...
gotten insults law obey people transit tried workers
I will do 30 years before transit workers surrender. Working people have tried to obey the law, and we have gotten nothing but insults for it.
patience riders thank
We thank our riders for their patience and forbearance.
details next outcome patience providing regarding riders several strike thank various
We thank riders for their patience and forbearance. We will be providing various details regarding the outcome of this strike in the next several days.
binding possible
We, of course, will do everything possible to keep it out of binding arbitration.
begin board bus executive extending lines onto private series strikes tonight voted
Tonight the executive board voted to begin a series of strikes first out on some of the private bus lines and then extending onto MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) properties.
pensions saving
What they'd be saving on pensions is a pittance.
behavior morning move selfish thugs trains wake
We wake up at 3 and 4 in the morning to move the trains in this town. That's not the behavior of thugs and selfish people.
appear appreciate front governor nation needs political public television threatened tough
We do not appreciate being threatened on public television nonetheless and in front of our children. Even if the governor needs this to appear to be tough to the nation for his own political ambitions, it's inappropriate.
answers approval area confident health meet package urgent
We are very confident that this package will meet with the approval of the members, ... It answers many of their needs, many of their urgent pleas, especially in the area of health coverage.
bargain contract deadline deal past tried
We tried to bargain with the MTA. We negotiated well past our contract deadline because we wanted to get a deal done, and we still do.
tired transit workers
Transit workers are tired of being underappreciated and disrespected.
city extremely fathers points problem shared state
We are not thugs. It points to the problem at the MTA that is shared by the city fathers and the state fathers. ... We find it extremely regrettable.
benefits concession consider coverage fair health items lifetime major medical members pension resolution respect worth
We got the major items that were important to our members with respect to lifetime medical coverage and with respect to a pension rebate worth a lot of money. We made a concession in respect to the health benefits ... We consider that to be an appropriate and fair resolution to the strike.
apparently governor mayor
We did not want a strike, but apparently the MTA, the governor and mayor did.