The Only Arithmetic He Ever Got Was Hearing The Referee Count Up To Ten
Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union is engaged in a meaningful and constructive debate with itself as the organization develops its latest negotiating position:
A burly transit union dissident has been charged with beating a union staffer aligned with Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint, the Daily News has learned.
“This is a message for Toussaint,” assault suspect Christopher Magwood, 46, allegedly told victim James Mahoney during the incident at a Manhattan bus depot, Mahoney said yesterday.
Magwood — who is about 6-feet-3 and weighs around 300 pounds — was arrested this month on misdemeanor assault and harassment charges, Manhattan prosecutors confirmed yesterday.
He is a bus driver who sits on Local 100’s executive board. But Magwood has ties to a previous administration that lost power when Toussaint was elected, and he regularly opposes the union boss.
Mahoney — about 5-feet-5 and 180 pounds — works on retiree issues for Toussaint and organized protests leading up to last month’s illegal three-day transit strike.
The alleged TWU smackdown is among the topics the executive board is expected to discuss today at its first meeting since workers rejected a tentative contract deal by just seven votes this month.
The contract’s rejection highlighted dissent in the union, which has a history of tumultuous politics.
Mahoney, 56, was at the Quill Depot in Hell’s Kitchen on Nov. 15 to organize bus workers when, he said, he was attacked by a “ranting and raving” Magwood.
The bus driver shoved Mahoney’s head against the wall of an elevator, according to a criminal complaint.
“It hurt like hell,” Mahoney said yesterday.
Mahoney said he suffered bruises to his face and still has neck pain.
(Gratuitous On The Waterfront reference poached from here.)
Posted: January 31st, 2006 | Filed under: Everyone Is To Blame Here