Judge Mulls Order Against Transit Union
By Bobby Cuza and Vera Haller
Staff Writer
December 13, 2002, 12:16 PM EST
A judge was deciding on Friday whether to issue an order barring the transit workers' union from striking while round-the-clock talks aimed at averting a work action got underway.
State Supreme Court Justice Jules Spodek of Brooklyn --- after hearing two hours of arguments from lawyers for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Transport Workers Union Local 100 -- said he would issue a written order later on Friday.
“I suspect I’m going to be a while in putting this together,” Spodek said after a sometimes contentious hearing.
Meanwhile, union negotiators checked into the Grand Hyatt Hotel in midtown, where round-the-clock negotiations were planned leading up to 12:01 a.m. on Monday when the transit workers' contract expires.
Union representatives made a mid-morning statement to reporters, claiming that the MTA's negotiators had not yet shown up to begin talks.
“TWU has come to negotiate. The MTA is nowhere to be found,” said union official John Samuelsen. “If they were serious about negotiating ... they would have been here first thing in the morning, if not last night.”
MTA spokesman Tom Kelly brushed aside the statements, saying an appointment had been set for 11 a.m. and adding that the agency's chief negotiator Gary Dellaverson was in constant contact with union head Roger Toussaint.
“We have all been here. We will continue to be here for as long as it takes to get a contract,” Kelly said.
The negotiations, at this point, are focusing on different areas of the contract. The union has about 20 committees each meeting with different representatives of the MTA.
In court, Spodek sought assurances from the union’s general counsel, Arthur Schwartz, that the city's 34,000 bus and subway workers would not strike.
“What I’m concerned with is the one option you haven’t mentioned — the illegal option of the union going out on strike,” Spodek said.
Attorneys for the state, arguing on behalf of the MTA, urged Spodek to issue an injunction barring the workers from walking off the job, saying they would be violate the state's Taylor Law which bars public workers from striking.
The union membership has authorized union officials to call a strike if a contract is not reached by Sunday.
The court hearing came a day after the dispute reached new heights in tension.
After the state and the city on Thursday moved in court to stop the strike and seek damages from the TWU, Toussaint, the union head, lashed out at the mayor.
"Mayor Bloomberg should shut up," Toussaint said. "His comments have not been helpful from the very beginning at all. His comments have been inflammatory. They have burdened the negotiations.
"If Mayor Bloomberg wants to be involved in these negotiations, he should come to the table," he added.
Ed Skyler, a spokesman for Bloomberg, said: "Roger Toussaint needs to understand that the mayor will do everything in his power to prevent an illegal transit strike, which would cripple the city and put lives at risk. If Roger Toussaint does not want to be held accountable for the harm he would do to the people of this city, he should withdraw his threat of an illegal strike."
The mayor, who earlier this week released a contingency plan in the event of a strike, has been urging the workers not to strike, arguing that it would be devastating for the city.
"I feel a strike would be deadly if emergency service vehicles cannot get to where they are needed," Bloomberg said on Thursday. "Not only would people's lives be at risk, but their livelihoods as well."
