LOS ANGELES--The February 7 meeting for UTU Local 1565 was called by the SMART Transportation Division General Committee. SMART is the so called new union, but the players were the same: Victor Baffoni, James Williams and his gang.
They all sat at the table, dressed in suits and ties – looking very "respectable," a perfect cover for the slimy, treacherous vipers that they are. They mainly kept silence. For the most part, the only speaker was Vic the Buffoon (as drivers call him, see letter page).
He sounded like a parrot that had only learned to say one thing. "I have read those issues and we will talk about them at the contract talks," he repeated over and over, no matter what issues the operators inquired about.
He only changed his tune when he said that the "mechanics are at the gate." It was a warning that the mechanics might go on strike any day now. If the mechanics did go on strike though, the "Buffoon" said, "We will tell you just what to do. I cannot tell what we will do because it is out of my hands."
This is a clear indication that these anti-communist, pro-capitalist union hacks are plotting to use operators as strikebreakers, if the mechanics go on strike. Let's not forget how treacherous these union "leaders" are. Here is a reminder of what happened when the MTA operators went on strike in 2000:

"Mechanics Refuse to Cross Picket Line. MTA: They reject union chief's request to return to work. Only eight of nearly 2,000 mechanics appear to have heeded their leader's call to resume work during the morning shift…a stinging public rejection of their union president's request." (LA Times, 10/04/2000)
Our brothers and sisters, mechanics and service attendants, gave Neil Silver, the then-president of ATU, a lesson in workers' solidarity. We are confident operators will do the same to the "Buffoon," the James Williams gang, and the new union.
Just in case the mechanics don't go on strike and operators decide to walk anyway, these traitors are hatching other plans. They are trying to demoralize us. They are already talking of reducing our strike benefits from $1,200 a month to $600.
Some workers thought that the new union would get rid of the James Williams-gang, that SMART would be a "better" union. This was a pipedream. Some are talking decertification to bring in an even "better" union. There is no such animal.
Even if honest dedicated rank-and-filers took over the union, nothing much would change. Capitalism in crisis and on the road to global war is bent on taking away everything the labor movement has "won" in the last 100 years, and more! Unless we destroy capitalism-imperialism, hundreds of years later future generations will be fighting the same losing battles!
Don't organize for "better" unions or union leaders. Join and organize the International Communist Workers' Party. Only a communist revolution can end capitalism-imperialism's reign of racist-sexist exploitation, mass poverty and destructiveness. One big step in this direction is to make our next strike be a political communist statement against capitalism.