[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 46 (Tuesday, April 25, 2006)]
[House]
[Pages H1713-H1714]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          ROGER TOUSSAINT AND PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PENSION BENEFITS

  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent to claim the Special 
Order time of the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. Brown).
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the 
gentleman from New York?
  There was no objection.
  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from New York (Mr. Owens) is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. OWENS. Mr. Speaker, Roger Toussaint, the president of Local 100 
of the Transport Workers Union, is in jail in New York City tonight. 
Toussaint's crime is that he took a stand against New York Governor 
Pataki's sneak attack on public employee pension benefits. When the 
Governor's puppet appointees on the New York Metropolitan Transport 
Authority Board had already reached agreement on all other items during 
labor contract negotiations, the Governor ordered that a cut in pension 
benefits be added as a new demand. Although it was a cut proposed for 
the future employees, Roger Toussaint said, ``No. I will not be a party 
to an agreement that sells out the unborn.''
  Roger Toussaint would not allow the Governor to set a precedent for 
all future State, city, county, and later on it would spill over to 
Federal employees, and they would have shoved in their face at the 
bargaining table this precedent of having cut public employee pension 
benefits. A domino effect would roll right across the entire Nation, 
and no public employee pension benefits would be safe. ``Strike'' was 
the rallying cry at that moment, and that rallying cry deserves the 
support of all working families across the Nation.
  The private sector, the corporate butchers, have been carving up 
private employee pension benefit funds for some years now. Indeed, 
those of us who serve on the Education and Workforce Committee know 
that there is an impending pension bankruptcy crisis which may produce 
shock waves similar to the savings and loan scandal. Private pension 
benefits for workers we know are endangered, but we have all assumed 
repeatedly that pensions for public employees are safe, they are 
secure.
  Roger Toussaint's confrontation with the Metropolitan Transit 
Authority dramatically exposes the fact that public employee pension 
benefits are also

[[Page H1714]]

in danger. Governors, mayors, and legislative bodies can carve up 
pension benefits even faster than the private sector if working 
families and their representatives do not remain vigilant and stand up 
against these attempts.
  Ten days in jail they have ordered for Roger Toussaint. Two and a 
half million dollars they have fined the TW Local 100 organization. 
Dues check-off privileges have been taken away. The Governor and his 
MTA puppet board are trying to destroy the union that stood up and 
exposed the plot to swindle the workers out of their pension benefits. 
They want to destroy Roger Toussaint, the labor rebel. They want to 
smother the union rebellion.
  Roger Toussaint should not remain an unsung hero. Now is the time for 
all working families to come to the aid of an heroic labor leader. 
Listen to the final words of Roger Toussaint at the door of the jail: 
``I stand here today because a judge has found me guilty of contempt of 
court. The truth of the matter is I have nothing but contempt for a 
system that gives employers free rein to abuse workers.''
  Now is the time for all labor organizations across the country to 
come to the aid of TW and Roger Toussaint in New York.

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