P R E S S   R E L E A S E   For Immediate Release: April 24, 2006   Contact: Corrine Innis (212) 598-4000

Roy Innis, National Chairman of CORE Comments on the

Jailing of TWU Local 100 President Roger Toussaint

Roy Innis, National Chairman of CORE, expressed sympathy for TWU Local 100 President Roger Toussaint and his family in an interview with a reporter from channel 11 news. These comments were made as Toussaint prepared to serve a 10 day sentence for calling and leading an illegal strike under the Taylor Law.

Mr. Innis, stated that “Toussaint did what he had to do in the interest of his union; now he has to pay the penalty. The Taylor Law must be re-examined to make sure that it is fair to the various parties of interest. We have to make sure that it is fair to the people of New York. Secondly, we must examine the law to make sure that it does not impose excessive penalties on labor. Finally, we should make certain that the law does not give a disproportional edge to management. The law should be structured to encourage fair bargaining in good faith. Consequently, if management does not bargain in good faith, the union should have recourse through the Taylor Law to force management to bargain in good faith.”

It disturbed Mr. Innis that many are equating the actions of Mr. Toussaint  and the Transporters Union with the actions of Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement of the 50’s and 60’s. Mr. Innis argues that such an analogy is an extremely far stretch. As one of the founding leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, Roy Innis reminds New Yorkers that the movement demanded rights that were withheld for 100 years, that were guaranteed by the 13^th, 14^th, and 15^th amendments of the U.S. Constitution. There is no comparison.