The union representing 34,000 subway and bus workers is to announce results today or tomorrow of a ratification vote on the three-year contract settlement reached last month.þþSeveral leaders of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union have campaigned against ratification, faulting the agreement for including a first-year wage freeze and eliminating a job-security clause.þþRoger Toussaint, the union's president, worked vigorously for ratification, visiting dozens of work sites and arguing that it was an excellent deal considering the financial troubles of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.þþMr. Toussaint predicted yesterday that the settlement would be ratified, accusing opponents of trying to promote their political careers. ÿI don't think there is any question it will pass,ÿ Mr. Toussaint said. ÿOn the whole, transit workers will see the big picture. They will not go for the politics of confusion.ÿþþNoel Acevedo, the local's recording secretary and the highest-ranking opponent of ratification, said he expected that the union's members would vote down the deal. ÿThere was a lot of misinformation put out by Mr. Toussaint,ÿ Mr. Acevedo said.þþUnion officials said that about 20,000 workers have voted since the mail ballots went out three weeks ago.þþMr. Acevedo said he ÿhad problemsÿ with the way the ballots were to be counted in-house. Martin Scheinman, a widely known labor arbitrator, will oversee the counting, which will be conducted today at the union's headquarters on the West Side of Manhattan.þþ
Source: NY Times
