By Doug Cunningham

When New York City’s Mass Transit Authority refused to bargain in good faith and attacked the pensions of transport Workers Union Local100 members, the union went on strike in December of 2005. The MTA had billions in surplus dollars but still tried to cut pensions and health care benefits. The courts found the union violated New York’s Taylor law, which barred them from legally striking. A heavy fine of $2.5 million was imposed. Dues are the lifeblood of unions and are often paid through automatic payroll checkoffs. The courts ended that automatic checkoff to punish the union for daring to defend working family pensions. TWU Local 100 Secretary Treasurer Ed Watt.

[Watt]: "They were actually trying to bust the union, and there's no question in our mind. They were tryin' to push back pension gains that we had won over years and separate our newer members from older members. One of the most common tricks in the book. But one of the most effective ways to bust a union is to split it up and get the members fighting amongst themselves so that they forget that the boss is the enemy."

Watt says TWU members are paying their dues, sometimes months or even a full year in advance since automatic checkoff ended June 1st. But getting to a hundred percent dues payment will be tough without the automatic check-off. Watt says the MTA violated the Taylor law first, but they were not punished like the union. Watt says TWU stood up for all workers and did what it had to do to defend pensions. To support the Transport Workers Union you can go to their web site at twulocal100.org and make a donation to the union’s solidarity fund.