Newsday from New York, New York • 7

last AbL Split could spell strike Transit workers union is fractured, adding to uncertainty over how contract talks will play out BY RAY STAFF WRITER The most recent bargaining session between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Transport Workers Union started on a suspicious note, according to the head of the union. "I know you're relying on the 'fifth column' within our ranks to help you in these negotiations," TWU Local 100 President Roger Toussaint recalled telling Gary Dellaverson, the MTA's chief negotiator. With two weeks before his union's contract expires, Toussaint heads a deeply splintered local, whose loyalties are unpredictable. The supposed "fifth column" of opposition meaning any union faction with a surprise up its sleeve he referred to during the Nov. 22 bargaining session could lie almost anywhere "You can rest assured the city flyers accusing TWU Local 100's is updating the set of plans it had leadership of corruption and misfrom a few years ago," said management started circulating Mayor Michael Bloomberg yes- around bus depots and train terday, referring to contingen- yards throughout the city.

cies made during the 2002 con- But Toussaint downplays the tract talks. "This is a city that de- rift. pends on mass transit, and "We have a divided leaderthere's no question a strike ship," Toussaint said yesterday. would have a very detrimental "I wouldn't say you have a dividimpact." ed union." Gov. George Pataki said he The MTA will not comment hoped a deal could be struck by on the talks, but people familiar the Dec.

15 contract deadline. with the bargaining process said "We want to have a contract, the divisions within the local and it is clear that the law makes could lead to work stoppages or it illegal to engage in any strike," even a strike. he said. "This is the only time in three Divisions within the union are years union members could realnot new. Labor experts said its ly hurt management," said leaders have long come under George McAnanama, a 30-year pressure to talk strike in order to transit veteran and former Local avoid being accused of weak- 100 officer.

"If they send the ness. shoppers home, a lot of businessAnd this time, one faction in- es in New York are going to be cludes a group of dissident Local curling up. This is their only way 100 officials who filed a $3.3 mil- to flex their strength. lion lawsuit earlier this year Joshua Freeman, a labor hisagainst Toussaint, accusing him torian at the City University of of preventing them from run- New York Graduate Center, ning the union. Another faction said the union's militant histois headed by officials loyal to the ry should not be ignored.

Local 100's parent union, which "There are a lot of voices inhas clashed with Toussaint and side the union, both in power his supporters. and in opposition, that are pushTwo months ago, mysterious ing for a very militant stand." AP FILE PHOTO "We have a divided leadership. I wouldn't say you have a divided Union President Roger Toussaint within the local's nearly 34,000 members, and could influence the talks in any number of ways. No one is certain how these splits will play out as the contract deadline approaches, but city and state officials aware of Local 100's combative history are gearing up for a possible strike. In 1980, union members defied state law, fines and jail sentences, and shut down the nation's largest transit system for 11 days.

downtown Breaking ground downtown BY DAN JANISON STAFF WRITER Ground was broken in lower Manhattan yesterday for a new 43-story headquarters for the Goldman Sachs Group that the investment-banking firm is scheduled to begin occupying in 2009. Dignitaries including the state's two U.S. senators, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. George Pataki hailed the project at West Street near Vesey Street, close to Ground Zero as a big commitment to renewing the area. The company is receiving more than $100 million worth of city and state tax breaks and cash grants, in addition to $1.6 billion of tax-free Liberty bonds to finance construction costs for the $2.4 billion project.

Goldman Sachs is committed to retaining 9,000 employees in the city and says it will add 4,000 jobs in the coming years and keep its headquarters here at least through 2028. Pataki touted the economic benefits of the development. "It's excellent government policy," he said. Bloomberg, in a separate news conference at the site, said, "I've never really been enamored of the idea of trying to lure companies here with tax incentives and other financial incentives." www.nynewsday.com NEWSDAY, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Mayor Bloomberg, Goldman Sen. Charles Schumer, Battery Park City Authority chairman But he said Goldman Sachs plainly had alternatives, including other Manhattan locations, justifying the assistance.

The company abandoned a plan earlier this year to build its headquarters just' south of the trade center site, citing traffic and safety concerns about a proposed tunnel for vehicles underneath Ground Zero. Officials later scrapped the tunnel plan and Goldman Sachs agreed to a 8.1 new deal in August. Sachs chairman CEO Henry Paulson, Gov. George Pataki, AP PHOTO WEDNESDAY, James Gill and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton dig in at site.

town has been the subject of town still needs to grow and it much debate, something evi- needs. government help." How to best redevelop down- mercial development for down- NOVEMBER dent in statements from the var- But Bloomberg said it is 30, ious speakers yesterday. mainly the market that must deFor example, U.S. Sen. termine the need for office 2005 Charles Schumer said, "Com- space..