TWU Local 100 is mourning the passing today (May 23, 2020) of Administrative Vice President Nelson Rivera after a long fight with lung cancer. He was only 53 and died at his home in his beloved Brooklyn.
He was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer shortly after Labor Day in 2018 and was given only months to live. But he fought back hard going through a series of grueling and painful procedures in an effort to beat the disease.
During this entire time, he never missed a day of work at TWU, even to the end while working from home.
Local 100 President Tony Utano said: “This is a sad day for our union. Local 100 has never had a tougher, more aggressive advocate for this membership than Nelson Rivera. With management, he was direct, uncompromising, and totally unfiltered, and had a record of success in those battles second to none. But with this membership, the people he loved and fought for every day, he had incredible empathy and compassion. There are literally hundreds of Local 100 members who today have a job because of Nelson’s relentless advocacy. Nelson’s passing is a tremendous loss for all of TWU, for all the the labor movement.”
Secretary Treasurer Earl Phillips, said: “TWU has lost a true fighter, and a leader who got his point across to New York bus and subway management in uncompromising fashion. I will dearly miss Nelson saying his favorite word, ‘apparently.’ I have learned from him what bipartisanship is all about. Nelson is resting on a pillar of unionism. May he Rest in Peace, and in his travels, I know he will continue to organize. He was a true union brother.”
Recording Secretary LaTonya Crisp said of Nelson: “I have never met an individual with a work ethic like him. If I could be half the union officer he was, I would still be great advocate for this membership. I always remember, as a woman in a tough union like TWU and a company like New York City Transit, what Nelson would tell me: ‘make these managers respect you.’ I heed that advice every day. We have truly lost a great union Brother and officer.”
Car Equipment Vice President Shirley Martin, a close friend, said: “I can’t believe he’s gone. I was so hoping and praying that he would get better, but I was in denial. He was a friend and tremendous mentor. I’ve worked side by side with him since 2005 and have seen how his advocacy has paid off for the membership. Believe me, 99.99 percent of the time, Nelson was right on the merits.” “But a few times” VP Martin said with a laugh, “they would give him what he wanted just to make him stop talking. Management had tremendous respect for him. A number of managers would tell me ‘Nelson keeps us in our place'." Through her tears, she said: “I don’t know what I’m going to do without him.”
Brother Rivera joined New York City Transit in 1989 at the age of 23 as a Car Maintainer Helper at the 207th Street Overhaul Shop. He earned promotion to Car Maintainer in 1990. He also worked at the Concourse Barn and Coney Island Overhaul shops, repairing and rebuilding subway cars. He was elected TWU Local 100 shop steward at 207th Street in 2000 and then Shop Chair in 2004. He was then elected Vice President for the Local 100 Car Equipment Department in 2007, and was reelected in three subsequent elections. He was named Administrative Vice President in 2017, and was elected to a full-three year term to that office in 2018.
He was also a member of the TWU International Exectutive Council of the Transport Workers Union of America, representing over 150,000 workers in the airline, railroad and mass transit industries. Rivera was a member of the National Executive Board of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA). He also served on the Executive Board of the NYC Chapter of LCLAA. He served on the union’s Indian Day and Russian Day Committees since their inaugurals 14 years ago.
He spearheaded TWU Local 100’s relief effort for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, and personally led three aid missions to the Island’s hardest hit areas. Also recently, he oversaw the union’s “Trash Train” campaign aimed at forcing the MTA to hire a full compliment of Cleaners for underserved terminals.
He graduated Automotive High School, as did his dad, in Brooklyn and found work doing quality assurance and warranty work for MTA vendors Kawasaki, Alstom and CLRT, before joining New York City Transit. Nelson was a lifelong Brooklynite. He is survived by his wife, Catherine, and three children, Jason, Jeffrey, and Samantha.
Brother Rivera led an action late last year to defend the jobs of Cleaners in Car Equipment and you can see that video here.
He announced the winner of the Trash Train Contest at the 148th Street Terminal in Manhattan, and you can see him at the press conference here.
In 2019, he was presented with the Community Service Leadership Award by NYCT at 2 Broadway. You can see his remarks here.
