Fat Lady Iced

Hold on, New York.  This one may not be over yet.

A group of executive board members and workers from the city's transit workers union today accused their union president, Roger Toussaint, of giving too many concessions in the settlement he signed last week with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
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The dissidents, who voted against the contract last week when the board overwhelmingly endorsed it, urged workers to disapprove the contract later this month when it goes to a mail-in vote by members of the rank-and-file: 33,700 subway and bus workers.

The executive board dissidents accuse Toussaint of engaging in "secret deals" during the negotiation, which resulted in a contract that was unfair.

They're right about at least one thing.  The new contract is indeed far from fair.

It's way, way too generous to the TWU.  What's more, the wage increases and exceptional benefits that have been heaped on top of the already distorted and swollen wage rates came as a result of leverage gained by the union's coordinated illegal activity, and at the considerable expense of the rest of the city.  As such, "generous" is probably a poor word choice, as the authority's final concessions were effectively extorted.

In the third year of the new contract, the average train driver will earn nearly $70,000 per year, receive full pension benefits at age 55, and contribute a scant 1.5% of pre-tax wages (about $1,000 per year) for health insurance.  More than half of MTA employees will receive pension payment refunds estimated to exceed $200 million (unless Governor Pataki vetoes the provision).

We won't know until later this month whether the dissidents gain any traction with the rank and file.  Depending on the timing of the mail-in vote (and the disposition of Judge Theodore Jones), Toussaint et al may find themselves behind bars before the membership has had a chance to vote.  Ironically, if Toussaint is jailed (for his unlawful actions carried out (however misguidedly and inexcusably) on behalf of TWU members), his martyr status may notch up sufficiently to convince union members that his battle was indeed hard enough fought for them to accept the deal he so despicably brokered.

The prospective irony in a nutshell: Toussaint's lawlessness may inadvertently prevent further striking.

Previously:

What a Deal
Roger Toussaint's Billion Dollar Christmas Present
Back on Track
The [Unofficial] Not For Tourists Guide to NYC - Strike Edition
Strike 3 (Do Not Pass Go, Do Not Collect $62,000)
Transit Strike Update
TWU Walks Out On New york
New Yorkers Behaving Like New Yorkers
T-Minus 1 Hour: Transit Union Walks Out
No Progress on Transit Negotiations
Bracing for Bedlam
Bloomberg Steps Up
New York's Looming Illegal Transit Strike