TWU Local 100 Endorses Eric Adams for Mayor of New York City

APRIL 29 -- TWU Local 100 overwhelmingly and enthusiastically endorsed Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams for mayor today.

The Local 100 Executive Board voted overwhelmingly after hearing from eight leading candidates at the Union Hall in Brooklyn.

“Our members and officers have known Eric for a long time,” TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano said. “He’s stood with us in many battles and has always been there for us. He’s earned this endorsement and richly deserves it.”

Working in the Heat

Working in hot environments is not safe. Your body builds up heat when you work and sweats to get rid of it. Too much heat can make you tired, hurt your job performance, and increase your chance of injury. When the temperature changes quickly, you need time for your body to get adjusted to the heat. Be extra careful early in the summer when hot spells begin.

You have a right to a safe & comfortable work environment:

Clean water provided through a fountain, cooler or bottled water at all locations
Cool Work areas and break rooms
Ventilation to bring in clean air and take out hot air
Make adequate water supplies part of your daily workplace inspection

Need relief? Follow up with supervision immediately:

Bus- Call console, request immediate medical assistance
RTO- command 212-712-4480
CED- call your Barn Chair or Local Union rep
MOW- control 212-712-4120

If needed, file a Safety Rule Dispute Resolution Form.

For Stations: To follow up with supervision, call your respective Field Office. If you are a CTA, you can also ask for a comfort by entering the booth to cool down. If you feel unwell, you must notify OSAC and inform them that you are going home. Doctor’s lines will be needed on your return. Field Office numbers are as follows: 125th Street: 212-712-3127 or 718-436-8421; 44th Street: 212-424-5407 or -5408; 7th Ave: 718-243-3903 or 243-3905; Parsons-Archer: 718-334-8106. OSAC is 347-694-6500. Sick Desk for CTA’s ext. 42.

Click here to download a printed version of this message. Print it out and post it in your workplace.

For Stations Department members, click here.

One good flyer deserves another.

London Calling! TWU Local 100 Glad to Help Out

London’s Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers Union (the RMT) – our brothers in arms across the pond – found inspiration in our recent graphic campaign to slow trains and prevent subway fatalities. We sent them our graphics files and they went to work, repurposing our graphic image of a chalk outline on the roadbed and making it the centerpiece of their campaign to bring back laid off workers who ensure safety on the Bakerloo line. The line’s management cut staffing, forcing train operators to drive out of service trains into stations or “sidings” in yards without checking for passengers who didn’t get off in time. The RMT points to the case of a 12-year old boy who found himself alone in a yard walking the tracks. Now the public is getting the message that this unsafe practice should end and that they should let London Underground management know they need to bring back the laid-off staff. See the RMT’s flyer here.

President Chiarello Presents Check to Recipient of Nelson Rivera Scholarship Award at SOMOS

NOVEMBER 8—While in Puerto Rico for the SOMOS conference, President John V. Chiarello on Friday presented a young doctorate student with the Nelson Rivera Scholarship Award in the amount of $5,000.

The student, Kenneth Pol-Rodriguez, attends Nova Southeastern University as a first-year graduate student after receiving his undergraduate degree in Medical Microbiology from University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, where he maintained a 3.49 grade point average and was on the Dean’s List for all four years. He is expected to graduate as a Doctor of Pharmacy in 2029.

Carmen Flores, who is on the SOMOS Board of Directors, described Pol-Rodriguez’s activism, pointing out that the student had recently gone to Congress to advocate for college students to receive SNAP benefits so they could get proper nutrition while studying to become the next wave of leaders.

President Chiarello described Nelson Rivera’s contributions to not only Local 100 but also Puerto Rico, noting that Rivera was battling cancer as he devoted himself to helping the island’s people after the devastation of 2017’s Hurricane Maria, a Category 4 storm.

“When you say his legacy lives on, that’s the important part. Because now a young man is going to receive a check, and it’s not about the money, it’s about giving forward,” said President Chiarello. ”Maybe this young gentleman will be a senator, maybe he’ll cure cancer. Whatever he does, it’ll be in memory of someone who’s very near and dear to this union, and I want to carry that forward.”

“There’s no doubt about this, this guy was a fighter, but when you would talk to him on the side he was a gentleman, a scholar, and he fought like hell and I want that to live on,” President Chiarello said about Rivera, before shaking Pol-Rodriguez’s hand and wishing him well.

Local 100 Gives Back to Puerto Rico

NOVEMBER 7—While TWU leaders attend the essential SOMOS conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico to to get facetime with lawmakers, they also participated in a day of community service.

Local 100 members gathered Friday to volunteer for Pinones Aprende y Emprende (PAYE), a non-profit that provides tutoring, workshops, and support to the children, youth, and community of Pinones in the Puerto Rican municipality of Loiza. The group was organized to provide services after the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria and continues with a mission of enhancing education.

Members helped paint a school, and PAC Director Sharase DeBouse donated some funding to PAYE in memory of former Administrative VP Nelson Rivera, who passed away in 2020 after having led three trips to the island to help victims of the hurricane. 

Alex Ramos, middle left, with veteran advocates at the workforce seminar

Local 100 member and Marine Alex Ramos Speaks at Webinar about Veterans in Transportation

NOVEMBER 7—Recording Secretary of Line Equipment Section, TUF Outreach Coordinator and Marine Alex Ramos spoke in a webinar Thursday to a national audience of transit agencies along with three other U.S. military service members.

The discussion focused on opportunities for veterans in the public transportation workforce. The event, sponsored by the Transit Workforce Center, shared resources to encourage veterans to join transit agencies. Ramos says that military veterans are particularly suited to transit jobs because of their self-discipline, work ethic, and ability to follow directions. 

“It took me six to eight months to transition to civilian life. In the Marine Corps we carry a high standard. The skills that I managed from the service to my job now include time management. Every job here is crucial. I’ve been here 22 years, and I’ve never been late. And when the task changes, it’s not an issue for me.

TWU members and TSS to the rescue. Kathy Ann Caesar is at the top.

TWU Teamwork Saves Man and Dog Who Fell Onto Tracks

OCTOBER 31—October 4 was a ruff night for first-year Conductor Kathy Ann Caesar when she pulled into the 14th Street/Union Square station on the N train around 10:30 PM and heard a clamor of passengers alerting her that a man had fallen onto the southbound tracks. She called control to stop train traffic in the other direction and then saw another shocking sight—a dog running on the tracks, heading north.

The man who had fallen was lifted onto the platform and into a stretcher, Caesar said, but the dog, who was with the man, kept running into the tunnel. Caesar followed, her N train also heading north.

“By the time I got to 34th Street, the dog was at 34th Street. Passengers told me, ‘there’s a dog on the tracks!’ I thought, ‘my God, the dog again? I called control again, and they asked me if I could see the dog, and if there was someone who could grab him. But no – the dog just kept on running northbound.”

TA Surface Mourns Former Vice Chair Lennox Ali, 75

OCTOBER 30—Lennox Ali, formerly Shop Steward for TA members at the Zerega Maintenance Facility, passed away on October 22, said TA Surface Vice President Gary Rosario. Brother Ali, a Bus Maintainer by trade, retired in 2017. He had 27 years with New York City Transit.

A viewing will be held on Friday, October 31 from 11AM to 2PM at Benta's Funeral Home at 630 St. Nicholas Avenue in Manhattan. 

Early Voting is Underway: Endorsements from TWU Local 100

OCTOBER 27—While TWU Local 100 is not endorsing a candidate for mayor of New York, there are many candidates down the ballot who have the interests of labor in mind and have had Local 100’s back when it counts. We are proud to make the following recommendations on candidates and ballot proposals:

Making Strides with Local 100

OCTOBER 27—It gave new meaning to mall walking.

Early on Sunday morning, hundreds of TWU Local 100 members dressed in pink gathered at Bay Plaza in the Bronx to take part in a walk through the sprawling shopping complex for the annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event.

Local 100 President John V. Chiarello helped to kick off the event from the stage, explaining why the union was a regular sponsor of the event.

TA Surface Mourns Frank "Jake" Carlo

OCTOBER 27—TA Surface regretfully announces the passing of Frank “Jake” Carlo, 63, who worked as a Bus Maintainer Group A and who had been very active in Local 100.

Carlo died on Friday, October 24 after a battle with lung cancer.

“He was a good guy,” said Danny Ascona, Division Chair of TA Surface Maintenance. “Always pleasant, always gave opportunity to everybody, an ear if you needed.”

Retirees Association staff (l-r): Shalena Lindsay, Barry Roberts, James Whalen, Carolyn Surian, and Victoria Griss

Retirees Reach Membership Milestone; Set Political Goals

OCTOBER 23—The TWU Local 100 Retirees Association has reached its highest membership numbers in 25 years.

Retirees Director James Whalen, speaking Thursday at the organization's general membership meeting at Eastwood Manor in the Bronx, said the association now claims a paying membership of 8,400 transit retirees—about a third of the total number of TWU Local 100 retirees. Association members are eligible for extra benefits, including optical and dental, and also have an organization that works to advance retiree benefits around the country.

Addressing areas of concern, Whalen told the over 300 members in attendance that the controversy over the Aetna Medicare Advantage insurance coverage seems to have ebbed, with very few complaints coming in compared to the year before. He said that both he and his wife are on the Aetna plan and they have no complaints, a conclusion echoed by Retirees Executive Board Member Kevin Harrington.

He said that the Retirees Association's recent events—including a riverboat cruise and a country outing at Krucker's Catering and Picnic Grove—had been very successful. The Association sees a steady stream of retirees and Retirees in Training (members looking to retire) in their offices on the third floor of the Union Hall at 195 Montague Street in Brooklyn. They're served by the able staff of the Association, which includes Whalen, Barry Roberts, Shalena Lindsay, Carolyn Surian, and Victoria Griss.

Anger and Disappointment in Brooklyn as Convicted Assailant Refuses Court Appearance

OCTOBER 22—A man who pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of NYCT Train Operator Myran Pollack, accepting a 15-year prison term in August, refused to enter the courtroom Wednesday to be formally sentenced and face the man he brutally stabbed 13 times.

Just over a year ago, on October 8, Jonathan Davalos was on a 4 train sitting at the end of the line on Utica Ave. when Pollack asked him to step off the car. Davalos responded by stabbing Pollack repeatedly, and giving chase to continue stabbing him.

“I was looking forward to seeing him, because the last time I saw him, he was above me with a knife. I wanted to let him know exactly how much pain I’m going through," Pollack told reporters after the aborted court appearance.

CED Mourns CTA Jonelle Lopez, 39

OCTOBER 22—Co-workers at the Pelham Bay terminal are fondly remembering a joyful co-worker who died at the young age of 39.

Jonelle Lopez's cause of death was an enlarged heart, also known as cardiomegaly, said CED Division Chair Robert Ruiz. Lopez passed away at home on October 14.

Lopez’s mother, Luz Yvette, said her son was proud and happy to be an employee of the MTA. A devoted father, Jonelle worked hard to build a better life for his children, Alyson, 15, and Alekzander, 10. She added that every day, he came home with stories from work—about his coworkers, customers, and the day's adventures—always finding humor in everything.

“That was Jonelle: a true jokester with a big heart and a bright spirit,” said the grieving mother.

Fellow union members may pay their respects at a funeral service to be held on Monday, October 27th, at the R.G. Ortiz Funeral Home at 22 First Avenue in Manhattan from 4PM to 8PM.