By Doug Cunningham

Roger Toussaint, the President of transit Workers Union Local 100 in New York City, went to jail Monday after his supporters marched across the Brooklyn Bridge in a send-off for him. A judge sentenced Toussaint to a ten day jail term for striking in December in defense of pensions. The union was also fined $2.5 million for the strike, which broke New York’s Taylor law.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney was among the union leaders and members supporting Toussaint as he headed to jail. Toussaint says the Taylor law is biased against labor and he says the transit authority in New York City engaged in illegal behavior that was not punished. He said the TWU will go to court if the transit authority’s board doesn’t vote at its board meeting on Wednesday on a new contract for transit workers. In a re-vote, TWU members have approved a tentative agreement they rejected in December. That agreement ended the strike. The transit authority says its board will not vote on that agreement on Wednesday.