Roger Toussaint, American Hero

So this is what the TWU ended up getting.
"after details of an agreement between the transit workers and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority were spelled out, Roger Toussaint, the union's president, seems to have emerged in a far better position than seemed likely just a few days ago."

From the TWU: Was the strike worth it?

During the strike, I walked a couple of miles to work each day, and while it wasn't fun, it was not as difficult as the conditions that many transit workers face everyday.

Many of these workers work every day amidst rats, high degree of rat poison, animal and human waste and other cancer causing agents. This is before you factor in a difficult public and more difficult administration.

The 60k salary being quoted includes an awful lot of overtime in most cases, and if you think that many of these employers can really be expected to do their jobs into their 60s, you have no understanding of their work conditions. Even with an overtime boosted salary, where do you expect these workers to live in the city of New York? How much do you expect that they are able to contribute financially to their children's education?

On top of all this, since 2001 these transit workers have been told they're the first line in the fight against terrorism. They've requested training but haven't received it. After London and Madrid, this situation seems even more ridiculous.

I hope that the transit workers get paid more next time around.

They deserve more than they get now and certainly don't deserve the scorn from Bloomberg, Pataki and Fox News (leading every hour with reporting on the Illegal Transit Strike {as if Illegal was the corporate sponsor of a bowl game or something}.) I think views on the strike come down to class and race, pretty much. And the politicians' claims about the injury done to the lowest paid workers seems insincere, given the general Republican approach to the working poor.

Here's a report from NPR and one from WNYC

He cut his own salary 25% when he became TWU president

The view from a UFT chapter leader here
There is definitely a UFT faction that would prefer Roger to Randi.

I think Roger Toussaint is an American hero. Someone should name a school after him, or something.