All News

Utano, Schumer Discuss Hazard Pay, Aid to MTA

IB Image

JUNE 29 -- TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano and U.S. Senator Charles Schumer discussed efforts to secure federal funding for mass transit and hazard pay during a meeting Wednesday afternoon. Schumer (D-NY) and Utano spoke for about 25-minutes via Zoom: Utano from the Union Hall on Montague St., and Schumer from his office in Washington, D.C.

The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives in May passed a second proposed coronavirus relief package. It includes a $3.9 billion bailout for the MTA – and money to provide individual bonuses up to $10,000 each for essential workers for their work during the pandemic.

NYU Conducting Major Health Study of COVID-19's Impact on Transit Workers

TWU Local 100 has engaged public health experts from New York University to research the infection risks transit workers have faced during the pandemic, COVID-19’s impact on the membership and the MTA’s management of the crisis.

This is an intense effort by independent scientists, who have no affiliation with the authority, to gain a better understanding of how the virus spread through the workforce. They will then recommend what additional steps are needed to protect transit workers.

“This will be the first time outside medical experts gather information from transit workers about their experiences during the pandemic and put the MTA’s actions under the microscope,” Local 100 President Tony Utano said. “We can’t bring back our fallen heroes. But we can keep working to improve safety on the job and that’s what this is all about. Local 100 has been consulting with experts from the NYU School of Global Public Health for months as we faced this unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. This is an important next step not just for NY transit workers but transit workers everywhere.”

You can read the NYU press release here.

Pass The Heroes Act!

IB Image It’s hard to believe. Coronavirus cases, unemployment numbers are climbing and TWU workers are still on the frontlines, but Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sent the Senate home without debating the HEROES Act, the next coronavirus economic relief package. Despite the health risks, thousands of TWU frontline workers continue to do their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s time for the Senate to do theirs.

Wanted for Assault on Bus Operator

IB Image The NYPD is seeking the public's assistance identifying the male in the attached photos and video wanted for questioning in connection to an assault within the confines of the 13th Precinct. The following has been reported to police:

On Monday, July 20, 2020 at approximately 0230, in the vicinity of Madison Avenue and East 29th Street, an unidentified male attempted to board a northbound M2 MTA bus without a mandatory face covering, when he was stopped by the 62-year old male bus driver. The male punched the driver in the face and fled the bus in unknown direction. The victim suffered pain and swelling and was transported to NYU Langone Hospital by EMS in stable condition.

MTA Deploying Law Enforcement Officers to Buses

IB Image JULY 20 -- The MTA announced today that it is deploying law enforcement officers to buses and will distribute free masks to bus riders – two safety initiatives TWU Local 100 has been urging the authority to enact.

In a press release today, the MTA said:

The MTA has deployed approximately 160 Bridge and Tunnel Officers to perform spot checks of mask compliance on buses. Bridge and Tunnel Officers will be encouraging customers to wear a mask and will be instructing those who are out of compliance to leave the system. Bridge and Tunnel Officers will also have masks on hand to provide to customers.

Union Mourns Passing of Civil Rights Icon John Lewis

JULY 18 -- Long-serving US Congressman John Lewis, the last of the civil rights leaders who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., died yesterday. He was 80 years old.

Lewis was an original Freedom Rider in 1961, a speaker at the 1963 March on Washington where Dr. King delivered his I Have a Dream speech, and a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Commitee in the 1960's. Unafraid to stand up to racism, Lewis was beaten and arrested many times at protest marches and demonstrations. He described these as "getting into good trouble," a phrase which mirrors our union activism.

On March 7, 1965, Mr. Lewis was beaten while marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama. TWU Local 100 President Matthew Guinan was also on that bridge marching with the demonstrators. He committed union resources to that march and to Dr. King's cause.

In 2011, Lewis was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. TWU Local 100 mourns the loss of this courageous leader in the struggle for equality and against bigotry.

$25,000 in Scholarship Grants is Awarded to Local 100 Members and their Families

JULY 10 — $25,000 in scholarship grants was awarded today at the Union Hall. On July 10 at the Union Hall, $25,000 in scholarship money was awarded to union members and their families in the TWU RGLZ Tech Scholarship Awards. The Awards were announced by Assistant to the President and Scholarship Coordinator Shannon Poland as they were drawn at random from a barrel.

A complete list will be posted on the Union's website at www.twulocal100.org.

WANTED BY NYPD

Police need our help in finding the criminal who assaulted our Union brother, Bus Operator

Anthony Reid, out of Fresh Pond Depot. Why was Brother Reid attacked? He reminded his attacker that MTA rules require passengers to wear a mask on buses. If you see the man shown on the Security Alert below, call MTA Department of Security Command Center at 718-694-4278. We need to get this person off the street and prosecuted.

NY 1 Report: Transit Union Demands Masks Enforcement on City Buses as Ridership Returns

JULY 9 — NY1 Reporter Dan Rivoli reports on the MTA's refusal to enforce rules on mask wearing on buses. You can watch the report here.

Here's the text of the report:

NEW YORK - Bus drivers are seeing too many faces of passengers not wearing a face covering. It’s unnerving bus drivers who either radio to their command center to report violators or make announcements reminding passengers that masks are mandatory.

$100,000 in Scholarship Grants is Awarded to Local 100 Members and their Families

JULY 8 -- $100,000 in scholarship grants was awarded today at the Union Hall. TWU Local 100 administered the awards program, which is underwritten by M3 Technology, which also provides insurance coverage to members on a voluntary basis. The winners were announced by our Scholarship Coordinator, Shannon Poland, who is also Assistant to President Tony Utano and a Union Trustee. Brother Poland announced the winners as they were pulled at random. The first two winners will receive $10,000 each, the next six will receive $5,000 each, and the remaining 50 will receive $1,000 each. Brother Poland will contact the winners to ask them for the necessary documents before the funds are disbursed.