News from TWU Local 100

Joe Sclafani

Union Win on “Scheduled Operations” Work in TA Surface

TA Surface Maintenance Chair Joe Sclafani, working with his depot chairs and the top leadership of TWU Local 100, pushed back concessions management wanted that would have short-staffed maintenance crews in the critical jobs of inspections and brake re-lines. The agreement with management came after TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen intervened, allowing the TAS Maintenance Division Committee to reopen negotiations with management and secure key union demands. At issue were new rules that would have ended Scheduled Operation (SO) status for certain jobs.

Facts About the Solidarity Fund

The membership – approved a special dues assessment of $10 per pay period to assist our laid-off members in paying for continuing medical coverage.

The following are some “Q&A’s” on what’s happening with the assessment.

[click here for pdf version]

Who Benefits from the Fund?

Good standing members, including provisionals, laid off in 2010 will be the beneficiaries. The monies collected will help these members pay for continuing medical coverage. These benefits are extremely expensive, from $427 per month for an individual (HIP) to as much as $1,330 per month for family coverage (GHI with High Option Rider). (1)

How Long Does the Assessment Last?

Six months from the pay period that the deductions begin. The bi-weekly assessment will stop being deducted at that time.

When will the deductions begin?

As soon as management can start the deductions.
We’re in discussions now. We’ll let you know when a date is settled on via www.twulocal100.org and email.

How Will the Solidarity Fund Be Managed?

An Executive Board Oversight Committee consisting of Lloyd Archer (TA Surface), Tony Aiken (MABSTOA) and Derrick Echevarria (Stations) has been established. This oversight committee will work hand in hand with the Secretary-Treasurer’s office and Local 100’s Comptroller and Counsel to manage the fund and resolve problems which may arise.

Will There Be Transparency?

Yes. An accounting of all money coming into the fund, and all payments, preserving the confidentiality of the recipients, will be posted on the TWU Local 100 website. This information will begin to be posted as soon as the union starts receiving monies from the assessment.

What will happen to money remaining in the fund after the six-month assessment period?

All of the money in the Fund will be spent on medical insurance. When the assessment ends in six months, there will still be members laid off. Any money in the Fund at that time will go toward medical coverage for members who are still laid off.

Is the assessment tax-deductible?

The $10 assessment is part of union dues. If you normally deduct your union dues on your tax returns, the assessment is deductible. Save your pay stubs; these are your receipts.

Do laid-off members have an alternative to COBRA for health coverage?

For the majority of laid-off members who do not have coverage through a spouse, COBRA will be the only coverage available.

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(1) COBRA rates can be found at: www.nyc.gov/html/olr/downloads/pdf/healthb/cobra.pdf

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NEXT: How Your Contractual Raise Compares to the Solidarity Fund Assessment

Your Union Will Not Abandon You

Help Desk for Laid Off Members

Local 100 has established a "HELP DESK" to provide you with a continuing resource to ensure that your Seniority and Civil Service rights are protected.

Union Defends Signal Maintainers

Local 100 President John Samelsen, MOW Vice President Tony Utano and LES Chair John Chiarello came out swinging in defense of eight Signal Maintainers who may be arrested on May 18, 2012 in the so-called SignalGate episode. The officers hit most of print and electronic media including CBS (seen above), NBC, PIX, Eyewitness News, Fox, WNYC and CBS Radio, the Daily News and AM New York, to get the message out that our members are being scapegoated while upper management, the real culprits, get away scot-free. President Samuelsen said that the union will stand by the members during criminal proceedings, and will vigorously defend them against possible discipline from the MTA.

Update: Signal Maintainers and Helpers should download and read the following flyer, "DO NOT Become Signal Management’s Next Scapegoat" [pdf link]

Pres. Samuelsen Addresseses 1st National Conference on Transit Worker Assault

John Samuelsen addresses the 1st National Conference on Transit Worker Assault, organized jointly by TWU Local 100, Amalgamated Transit Union, and Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Nicholson and Walsh: Lost but not forgotten

In 1990 Signal Maintainers Robert Nicholson and Daniel Walsh went down on the Culver Elevated just a stone’s throw from the Kings Highway tower. In 2012 they were still remembered. A score of people, including four of Danny Walsh’s sisters and two representatives from the Office of the Chaplain, as well as active members and retirees, filled the wide area south of the tower to pay their respects.

President Samuelsen and Chaplain Berkowitz both spoke, Chaplain Danny Rodriguez offered a prayer, and retiree and former rep Dominick Spagnola was thanked by the Walsh family for his friendship and support for Danny and Robert. When the ceremony concluded, a wreath was laid along the catwalk.

We last lost a TWU member on the tracks in 2007. We hope the five years become five decades and then five centuries, but we will always remember those we lost and fight without let up for the safety of the living.

video: MTA CEO & Chairman Joseph Lhota's address

Conference logo shows partnership

Intense Focus on Assaults Brings DA's, MTA, Unions Together

The gap between crime and punishment on the rails and on the roads seems to be narrowing. Transit workers, for years suspicious of the MTA’s and the NYPD’s resolve in following up on assault cases, should be heartened by what took place on May 10 in downtown Brooklyn. Four of New York’s District Attorneys (the fifth sent his top deputy), MTA brass including CEO Joe Lhota, and the leadership of both the TWU and the ATU had a serious discussion about the growing numbers of assaults and how to prevent and prosecute them. Watching and listening intently were some 300 rank and file and officers from Local 100, ATU Locals 726 and 1056, and others.

Each of the District Attorneys assured transit workers that any assault against one of their own while on the job was being fast-tracked inside their offices – with most “vertically prosecuting” the case – i.e., assigning an ADA who stays on it from start to finish, paying special attention to the victim. MTA CEO Joe Lhota revealed that the NYPD was putting assaults against transit workers into its fabled COMPSTAT meetings even as the Authority was increasing the numbers of surveillance cameras in use on buses and on subway platforms. Still, Lhota conceded that “assaults are on the rise and it’s unacceptable to me and we need to do more.”

Local and International Presidents – including TWU Local 100’s John Samuelsen, Philadelphia SEPTA TWU Local 234 President John Johnson, Jr., TWU International President Jim Little, and ATU International President Larry Hanley along with ATU Presidents Danny Cassella (726) and I. Daneek Miller (1056) – didn’t let the MTA or the DA’s off the hook, expressing frustration with what many operators see as lenient prosecutions and the tendency of transit managers to find fault with employees who should instead be supported through the ordeal.

Stations Vice President Maurice Jenkins got a round of applause when he said: “The people who are being attacked are the face of the Authority. People are upset because service has been cut and there’s no one to address except the person in the uniform.”

The MTA’s President of Buses, Darryl Irick, said the MTA is open to creative ideas about how to stem assaults, and many were offered, including offering rewards to witnesses who come forward in assault cases, creating a public campaign to humanize bus operators and highlight the problem, and inviting members of the public to text a special NYPD exchange to warn of assaults in progress or observed.

ATU Local 726 President Danny Cassella reported on a very positive new relationship on Staten Island between his union and the police, in which NYPD officers are now stopping buses to ask the operator if everything is OK, riding more buses, and even conducting sting operations to arrest fare beaters. That’s also being done in the Bronx, according to Anthony Schepis of DA’s Johnson’s office, where a new ten-code has been introduced for rookie officers to board buses and ride to enhance safety.

Caucus members join us in Albany for January press conference

Black & Latino Caucus Tells Cuomo: Negotiate With Local 100

Thirty members of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus are urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to take the bargaining handcuffs off the MTA so that the Agency can “swiftly arrive at a reasonable asking settlement with a decent wage increase,” for transit workers.

In a letter dated April 25, 2012, the Caucus members also urged the Governor to restore service to pre-2010 levels. “These service cuts, which included the loss or reduction of 110 bus routes, the loss of two subway lines, and the removal of hundreds of station agents from the system, has detrimentally impacted many communities throughout New York City.”

The Caucus members said it believes that the MTA has sufficient money to fund a contract and restore service. It also urged the MTA to tap into its Governmental Accounting Standards Board fund (GASB) if necessary to complete negotiations and restore service.

View the letter here [pdf].

Samuelsen, TWU, Stand with Occupy Wall Street

At the conclusion of the May Day march from Union Square to Wall Street, TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen and Teamsters Local 808 Secretary-Treasurer Chris Silvera, NYC LCLAA head Sonia Ivany, George Martinez of OWS, Verizon worker Amy Muldoon and others addressed thousands of supporters.

May Day 2012: Transit Workers Take to the Streets

TWU Local 100 took Broadway on May 1, proudly leading the unions, OWS, and immigrant groups from Union Square down to 2 Broadway, where we rallied in favor of a good contract. These videos were shot near Wall Street, and show the high spirit that characterized the march throughout. More video to come in the next few days, featuring remarks by President Samuelsen and more highlights.