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Latest COVID Memo on Testing

Management has issued a memo on COVID-19 testing which explains testing procedures for members who choose not to get vaccinated. It also explains how to provide proof of vaccination. You can read it here.

We Celebrate Indian-American Heritage -- Photos from the Event

Indian Day 2021

Five hundred transit workers hailing from India and Southeast Asia celebrated with Union leadership at a festive evening November 20th in Elmont. Officiating at the celebration were longtime CED officer Jolly Eapen and the younger members of the Committee. A great time was had by all -- the food was first rate, and Bollywood dancers and singers entertained the crowd. Enjoy the pix!

UPDATED: Arrangements for Brother Shepperd Grant

TWU Local 100 and workers at the Liberty Lines Transit Depot in Valhalla, NY are mourning the unexpected death of veteran Bus Operator Shepperd E. Grant on November 24, 2021.

 

There will be a Service on Saturday, December 4 at the Eternity Funeral Service, 725 Gun Hill Road, in the Bronx. The Viewing will take place from 9am to 10am, with the Service from 10am to 11am. A Final Viewing will take place after the Service from 11am to 12 Noon. Then Brother Grant's remains will be taken to Kensico Cemetery in Vallhalla, NY. May he Rest in Peace.

 

Brother Grant had just pulled his bus into the depot, filed his paperwork, and collapsed in the breakroom area.  He was only 50 years old.

 

Private Lines Division Chair Carlos Bernabel expressed the shock and sorrow of the entire Liberty Lines workforce.  “Brother Grant was a wonderful man.  He was friendly, quiet, very professional, and a great union supporter.  The entire Depot is in mourning.”

 

Brother Grant had 18 years on the job.  

 

Please keep Brother Grant’s family in your thoughts and prayers.

Tier 6 Refund Checks for Overcharged Members Are On the Way

Good news.

The MTA has started reimbursing Tier 6 members who were overcharged for their pensions. The checks are in the mail.

This first round of checks will be for overcharges that took place this year (2021). Reimbursements for overcharges that took place in prior years are expected to be issued in the first quarter of 2022.

TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano raised concerns earlier this year about the MTA’s pension-calculations, prompting the authority to do a comprehensive review. The review proved the concerns were on target.

Pensions are overseen by the New York State Legislature in Albany. The Tier 6 legislation mandated workers contribute 3% to 6% of their earnings through automatic paycheck deductions towards their future pensions. The legislation also limited, or capped, how much overtime could be used to calculate a retiring worker’s pension. The limit is now about $17,000 a year.

The MTA has conceded it had wrongly been making pension deductions to overtime earnings above the overtime cap.

The checks currently going out to overcharged members are for deductions on overtime earnings exceeding $17,000.  The MTA will continue to deduct Tier 6 contributions for those employees on 40 hours only for the rest of the year.  Deductions on OT earnings for those employees will not be subject to deduction for the remainder of 2021, and beyond.

The MTA has said that approximately 8,000 employees with the Tier 6 plan will be getting reimbursements with interest.

1010WINS Reports on How Local 100's Carriage Horse Drivers are Fighting the Mayor

Local 100 Shop Steward and Carriage Horse Driver Christina Hansen goes on 1010 WINS to support her Brothers and Sisters in Central Park and their iconic industry. Listen here.

Union Continues Campaign to Stress Severity of Worker Assaults

NOVEMBER 18 -- RTO Vice President Eric Loegel continued the Union's ongoing campaign to bring more public attention to the continuing issue of assaults on transit workers. With him was Conductor Trevor Thomas, who was shot in the face with a BB gun as he was pulling out of the 219th Street station on the #2 Train on November 8th. Brother Thomas described the pain and anger he felt after being shot by a gang of three teenagers. Union Rep Jose Melendez displayed Thomas's bloody shirt to assembled media. The assailants have not yet been apprehended.

TWU Local 100 in the Bronx in May on a safety campaign urging riders to tell the mayor to deploy cops to buses
TWU Local 100 in the Bronx in May on a safety campaign urging riders to tell the mayor to deploy cops to buses

Get cops on buses!

TWU Local 100 has been very vocal about the need for uniformed police officers to ride buses to help prevent the attacks and abuse inflicted on Bus Operators. It appears the MTA has come to the same conclusion. The MTA’s Sarah Meyer today told the authority board at its monthly meeting that 64% of subway riders feel safer when they see a uniformed police officer in the system – but that “the NYPD does not patrol buses. We need a plan on that front.”  MTA Chairman Janno Lieber said, “Policing isn’t limited to the subway or the commuter rail system. People who ride buses also deserve effective policing. We’re looking at it right now.”
 
TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano issued the following comment in response to this development: “We are grateful that the MTA has finally publicly taken up our call for the police to pay much more attention to buses. This is good news for riders and Bus Operators. Bus Operators never see uniformed police officers on buses and have been subjected to violent assaults and horrendous abuse for far too long. The city has increased the number of police officers in the subway. It’s a good step but there’s more to be done throughout the subway and bus system. Transit workers come to work to do a job, not be punching bags for unhinged riders and criminals. We want to go home to our families at the end of our shifts safe and sound, not wind up in the emergency room.” 
Police on a relatively very small scale “step on, step off” buses at very few bus stops but do not ride buses along routes. 
Some previous coverage about Local 100 demanding police attention to buses. https://nypost.com/2021/05/13/scared-nyc-bus-drivers-demand-cops-in-their-vehicles/
 



Carriage Horse Driver Christina Hansen -- a TWU Local 100 Member -- Talks Horses with WCBS88

IB Image

Click on the image to hear Carriage Horse Driver Christina Hansen, who is represented by TWU Local 100, talking to WCBS 88 about how the horse carriage industry is now making a comeback as the COVID cloud begins to lift. Or click here for the report.

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