Roger Toussaint wants all 34,000 transit workers to go to jail with him.
The Transport Workers Union boss has planned daily vigils by workers outside the Manhattan House of Detention beginning Monday, when his 10-day sentence for leading last year’s illegal strike begins.
“Take a stand,” proclaim fliers passed out by the union yesterday, urging workers to accompany Toussaint when he surrenders at Brooklyn Supreme Court Monday, and then protest his incarceration throughout the week.
Jailhouse block parties are planned outside the jail from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. the rest of the week.
Train operators, conductors and some bus operators are told to come Tuesday; the car-equipment division Wednesday; the rest of the bus drivers and mechanics Thursday; and station agents and track workers Friday.
“We have to support our leader,” one bus driver said. “I will not miss it.”
Toussaint’s supporters complain that white-collar criminals are treated better than union bosses fighting for the rank and file.
“What happened to the CEO of Enron when he plunged 30,000 workers’ pensions into the ground?” the flier asks.
“Three years and he is still not in jail. What happened to a union president when he protected the pensions and benefits of 34,000 members? He got sentenced to jail time. This is not justice.”