Posted on 12/22/2005 4:53:12 AM PST by COUNTrecount
December 22, 2005 -- WHILE countless ordinary New Yorkers were trudging home from work in the bitter cold Tuesday night due to the transit strike, Transport Workers Union boss Roger Toussaint and his chaos-causing labor cronies were living the high life at an upscale uptown eatery. Toussaint and his comrades were in a jubilant mood at chichi Harlem Grill, an elegant supper club on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard with gleaming candelabras, antique mirrors and live jazz.
A spywitness tells PAGE SIX's Fernando Gil: "[Toussaint and his party] were there for at least 2 1/2 hours. People kept coming and going all night, but there must have been at least six people at their table at all times.
"They were drinking, eating and joking," the witness relates. "At one point, the owner or manager of the restaurant came over to make sure they'd been taken care of. I heard a man in their group say, 'Do you think they're all going to stay home tomorrow?' — and people at the table laughed."
Our source reports that Toussaint, dressed smartly in a suit, chowed down on clay pot snapper. Others at his table devoured grilled salmon, rib-eye steaks and glasses of chardonnay. In an apparent sign of solidarity with the working man, they left a $30 tip on the surprisingly modest $152 check.
Had the trains been running, Toussaint and his cronies could have taken the 1, 2, 3 or C lines to Harlem Grill, but we suspect the large-living labor leader and his fellow revelers were driven to the feast in a comfortable, heated limo.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Let them eat cake, eh Roger?
Less than 20%? I routinely leave tips better than that - guess I must be a real supporter of the working man...
No wait, I'm a conservative! Obviously I'm trying to hold them down so I can profit from their labor.
Why the surprise? It is a Dim institution, after all.
Union leadership is a microcosm of Congress. "Screw the little guy, We got ours".
$152 for that amount of food and wine?
They must be regulars.
You mean they might've gotten a deal?
Gee, if Rog expensed the meal, I wonder what amount he put down?
Yet another communistic race pimp.
How longer must America suffer the subversion of such as he?
I'm right with you. I've been known to tip $5 on a $6 meal if the service was good. I figure that a $5 minimum on table delivered food is appropriate. Why should a waitress suffer financially because I eat cheap. There are some people that tend to be demanding, demeaning and least the least amount of tip that can rationalize no matter how good the service is. I can only guess which party they vote for.
I doubt he suffers anything financial loss over this strike, although he may spend some time in the pokey. His dinner was probably paid for by union dues.
The unions are their own worse enemy. Just like the Dems, 2005 has been a bad year for them.
Somebody must have been picking up the drinks...
When you tip, tip on the value of the food and drink received. If the restaurant comps you a $20 dinner, make sure you leave your waitresss and extra $4 on the tip.
Yeah, union leaders are all for the working man.... uh huh.
....Manhattan has sure changed since my salad days there
Tied up a table for over 2 hours and spent only $152? Obviously, the waitstaff forgot to tack on the charge for rent.
.....Roger Toussaint....
Hatian?
Jamacian?
What lousy PR this guy is making for himself. Wonder if it will help him in his big court appearance.
Morning Wolfie,
The "fruits of their labor" when working people let the commies hoodwink them into believing," We are looking out for you."
Al Gore's union, with the red star attached.
Fools will always be fools and they the workers, suffer while the union elitist(s) party down in Harlem Town.
I would envision this as "SOS" (Stuck on Stupid) for the dues paying union members
My jingle, " You can trust your welfare to the men who wear the "Star" the big bright union elitists "Commie Red Star."
A slight revision of an antiquated "Texaco" jingle.
As I See It,
NSNR-FATD&S
http://search.co.tt/trinidad/rogertoussaint/
Roger Toussaint of Trinidad and Tobago
Roger Toussaint
Roger Toussaint - NY Transit Workers' Chief an Activist
NY Transit Workers' Chief an Activist
Fri Dec 13, 1:40 PM ET
By LUKAS I. ALPERT, Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK - Whether protesting the government in his native Trinidad
as a teen or battling public officials as head of the city transit
workers union, Roger Toussaint does not back down.
Toussaint, 46, has emerged as a key figure in the fierce negotiations
over the next contract for 34,000 bus and subway drivers in the
Transport Workers Union Local 100.
Toussaint's election in 2000 "was a pretty clear indication that
union members wanted someone who was less accommodating to
management," said Richard Steier, editor of The Chief, a weekly
newspaper that follows public employee unions.
Toussaint reigns in the mold of legendary transit union boss Mike
Quill, who greeted Mayor John Lindsay on inauguration day 1966 with a
12-day transit strike. Like Quill — who, in a thick Irish brogue,
consistently mispronounced Lindsey's name as "Linsley" — Toussaint
has become an irritant for current Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
"Mayor Bloomberg should shut up," he said after the mayor called for
heavy fines against the union and its members in case of a strike
next week.
Toussaint has promised to bring his experience as an activist in
Trinidad to the nation's largest city.
"I stood my ground down there, and I am not going to back down to
fear and intimidation tactics by the transit authority," he said.
Born in 1956 in the British-ruled country, Toussaint was one of nine
children in a one-room house. As a teen, he became active in fighting
the postcolonial regime that took over in 1962.
He was arrested at 17 for writing "Free Education" and "Free Books"
on walls near his school. After leaving Trinidad a year later to
escape its "atmosphere of harassment and retaliation," he landed in
Brooklyn.
At Brooklyn College, he joined protests against cutbacks and
supporting minority student programs. A welder at the Brooklyn Navy
Yard, Toussaint joined the Metropolitan Transportation Authority when
the city's shipping industry dwindled.
He started as a cleaner in 1984, moving up to track worker. The
gadfly soon became an annoyance to both the MTA and the union,
creating a newsletter that aired workers' grievances but criticized
alleged union inaction.
Toussaint didn't hold an official union post until 1994, and only
rose to power with the help of an anti-establishment union faction.
That movement gained momentum in 1999 after criticizing leadership
for agreeing to the contract that expires Monday.
"They were very critical of their predecessors," said Gene Russianoff
of the Straphangers Campaign commuter group. "They really felt the
old leadership wasn't being aggressive enough."
The contract was ultimately ratified, but Toussaint easily ousted
union chief Willie James the following year. The union was soon
walking a harder line — including last weekend's vote by members to
authorize a strike if contract talks fail.
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