Roger Perb-turbed

As NY 1 first reported yesterday, and is followed up in the papers today, the Public Employee Relations Board has voted to send the transit contract dispute to binding arbitration. Roger Toussaint, Local 100's leader, nevertheless vowed to re-submit the rejected contract back to the members saying, "Today's PERB ruling serves neither transit workers nor the riding public." Nor, of course, does it serve Roger himself very well.

Clearly Toussaint has not distinguished himself and the editorial in today's NY Post underscores just how much the contract fiasco has hurt his reputation. It's not just that Roger is dislikable, a trait that a leader can overcome, he is now being viewed as ineffective. This, when combined with his lack of good looks and charm, is becoming insurmountable as union elections loom at the end of the year.

The longer this dispute keeps going the more vulnerable Toussaint appears to be. It certainly doesn't help him that as of today workers will lose a day's pay for each day of work missed during the strike. All of which makes the re-vote process that much more interesting.