The union has been honoring our founder with these scholarships since 1969. Quill Scholarship awards have benefited hundreds of TWU families. Children of our members in transit, railroad and air transportation, utilities, public employment, space installations, and allied industries are among those who began their college educations with the help of the TWU’s signature scholarship.
Applications are now being accepted for the 2021 Michael J. Quill Scholarship Fund. This scholarship will offer fifteen (15) college-bound dependents of TWU members a scholarship worth $4,800.00. This scholarship will be paid out, each year in the amount of $1,200.00 to winners who continue to be eligible over their four (4) year course. The deadline for applications is April 26, so apply soon.
TWU Local 100 is mourning the passing of a beloved member of the union staff, Helen Lynch O’Connor, who worked in the union’s Accounting Department for nearly 35 years until her retirement in 2000. She was 90 and passed away peacefully at her home in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx on Jan. 9, 2021.
Helen was a first cousin, once removed, of TWU Founder Michael J. Quill, whose mother was a Lynch. She was born in Tralee, County Kerry, Ireland and came to New York in 1963.
Helen was married to the late Michael O’Connor, a MaBSTOA Bus Operator. Her brother Patrick Lynch was a TAS Surface Bus Operator and manager.
Local 100 President Tony Utano said: “Helen was a lovely woman, always smiling; the kind of person who lifted your spirits every day you saw her. Her co-workers loved her dearly. She brought a lot of joy to TWU during her time with us. She also had such a strong connection to the people who founded our union. My heart goes out to her family.”
Helen is survived by sons, Michael and Donal, brothers Jack and Patrick, and three grandchildren.
Arrangements are as follows:
Viewing
9:00 am - 10:30 am
Thursday, January 14, 2021
Hodder Farenga Funeral Home
899 McLean Ave
Yonkers, New York, United States
Funeral Mass
Thursday, January 14th
10:45am, St. Barnabas Church 409 E. 241St Street Bronx, NY 10470
MONDAY, JANUARY 11 -- Local 100 members are now eligible for vaccines against COVID-19. Local 100 insisted that transit workers be given priority status -- and we were. Your union leadership urges you to get vaccinated to protect yourself, your family, your co-workers and your community. Together, we can stop the spread. Click here for the MTA's memo on vaccination opportunities and plans.
JANUARY 6 -- CBS 2 News reports on recent assaults against our members, and the call by President Tony Utano to add more police presence to the transit system. Bus and Subway workers have been assaulted nearly 900 timnes between August and Mid-December. In a letter to Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, Utano said that transit workers don't feel protected on the job. "They call us heroes," he said. "Well, protect your heroes!" A meeting will be held soon. Click on the image above or see the news report by clicking here.
Local 100 President Tony Utano is calling for a meeting with Police Commissioner Dermot Shea, Chief of Patrol Juanita Holmes, and NYPD Transit Bureau Chief Kathleen O’Reilly to demand more police presence throughout the transit system to stop the recent rash of violent assaults against transit workers and riders.
Utano said in the letter that transit workers “do not believe the NYPD has their back. They say that they never see uniformed police officers on their buses, and that they never see uniformed police officers on subway platforms. They occasionally see officers near turnstiles where they appear focused on fare-beating.”
You can read President Utano’s letter to the NYPD Commissioner here.
Union members in many NYCT Departments are mourning the untimely passing of Terence C. Hooper, Jr., at the young age of 29. He was a Traffic Checker and had seven years on the job. He was the brother of RTO Executive Board member Kimberly McLaurin, and of Alphonso Kenny of CED, and the son of RTO Train Operator Terence C. Hooper, Sr.
Ms. McLaurin remembered him as "charismatic, intelligent, creative... the best uncle in the world."
Services will be held at Metropolitan Baptist Church, 151 West 128th Street, in Harlem, on Friday January 15, 2021 at 7pm. All are welcome.
DECEMBER 29 -- TWU Local 100 was rocked with yet another COVID-19 related death with the demise of Station Agent Alejandro "Alex" Paredes, 67. Brother Paredes worked the York Street Station on the F Line and had 14 years of service with NYCT. His family is holding a service for him today.
"We have lost another good man to COVID," said Stations Dept. Vice President Robert Kelley. "This disease is still very much with us. Clearly, the precautions we are taking are not enough. As this escalates, we must increase our safety protocols. Since we are essential workers, the government must move quickly to vaccinate transit workers."
The good works continue as James Pace, Pastor of the Joy Temple Church of God in Christ in Yonkers and a TWU Liberty Lines driver for more than 35, years collects toys for needy children. With Union Chair for Liberty Lines Carlos Bernabel.
A research and advocacy organization with a national reach has granted a public service award to TWU Local 100 for its representation of transit workers during the pandemic. TransitCenter Executive Director David Bragdon presented the “Special Award for Outstanding Public Service and Contributions to Worker Safety” in a virtual event.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority, The San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District and the leader of the Cincinnati Better Bus Coalition also were honored for their efforts during the global health crisis that has been devastating: more than 18 million Americans have been infected and approximately 310,000 have died, including more than 90 Local 100 members.
TWU Local 100’s efforts have included: fighting for workers’ right to wear masks and for the MTA to provide PPE; successfully advocating for rear-door boarding of buses and improved partitions; aggressive cleaning and disinfecting protocols; face shields for conductors, and an early-detection program with Covid testing at bus and subway work locations.
“For their fight for worker protections and their commitment to keeping NYC and essential workers moving, TWU Local 100 wins the Frequency for Outstanding Public Service and Contributions to Worker Safety,” the TransitCenter said in the award announcement. “During the early days of the pandemic, as New Yorkers were being urged to stay home if we could, transit workers continued to keep NYC and the essential workers we all depend on moving. Transit workers were part of our public health response, keeping hospital workers, grocery store workers, government employees, and other essential workers moving, all while needing stronger protections for their own safety.”
The TransitCenter continued: “During this time, Local 100 was dealing with the risks of operating during the outbreak, fighting for worker protections like PPE and stronger distancing measures, expanded sick leave and quarantine policies, and the recognition that transit workers deserved. TWU Local 100 was a leader in this fight, securing protections and raising awareness of worker needs that benefited transit workers nationally.”
MaBSTOA Vice President and Local Chief of Staff Richard Davis accepted the award on behalf of President Utano, Local 100 officers and members. “Transit workers have always been essential to the day-to-day life of New Yorkers,” Davis said. “We get New Yorkers to their jobs, schools, churches, doctor’s appointments and countless other destinations. But throughout this crisis, transit workers have been more than essential. They have been critical to the city’s very survival. When this pandemic hit, New Yorkers were counting on transit workers being there for them. Transit workers delivered. They stepped up like heroes.”
