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School Bus Driver Alejandro Bustamante Is Victim of the Virus

The union sadly announces the passing of Alejandro Bustamante, a School Bus driver for the First Mile Square School Bus Company in Yonkers, NY. Brother Bustamante is the 11th Local 100 member, and first from our School Bus Division, to die of the Coronavirus plague. Brother Bustamante had been with Mile Square since 2014 and was a resident of Yonkers.

Sandra Claderon, a friend and co-worker whose own daughter was transported to school on Brother Bustamante’s bus, said: “Alejandro took my daughter to school safely every day. He was responsible, respectful and always smiling. He was a very religious person who was very involved with his church. He will be deeply missed by all at Mile Square.”

School Bus Division Chair Gus Moghrabi said that Brother Bustamante’s death “has hit our Division hard. We are all extremely upset about his passing, and extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends.”

Local 100 President Tony Utano echoed those sentiments, and add: “Alejandro’s death is a stark reminder that this blight affects every corner of America, and every segment of our society. We all mourn with his family and his co-workers at Mile Square.”

3 New Laws Provide Leave for COVID-19

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APRIL 2 -- At the Union's request, the MTA issued a memo and accompanying informational posters regarding leaves available for members who are ill or quarantined due to COVID-19. Click on the image for the main memo. Here are links to the informational posters.

New York State Paid Sick Leave for Employees

Rights Under the Families First Coronavirus Act

MTA Memo — New Federal and State COVID-19 Related Leave Laws

Congresswoman Grace Meng Donates 3,000 Masks & Hand Sanitizer

Local 100 Pres Tony Utano sends our sincere thanks to Congresswoman Grace Meng for her donation of 3,000 masks and hand sanitizers to Local 100 members. In the photo, TWU Int'l Rep Angelo Cucuzza accepts supplies from a staff members at the Congresswoman's Flushing field office. We're all in this together.

Utano: Passengers Need to Cover Noses and Mouths While Riding

APRIL 2 -- TWU Local 100 is urging the MTA to strongly recommend riders cover their noses and mouths with bandanas or scarfs while riding if they do not have masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Government officials should consider making this a requirement at some point if there isn’t voluntary complance.

“This is a common-sense move that will prevent the spread of the virus and could ease the concerns of both transit workers and riders,” TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano said

TEMM Robert Sarutto Succumbs to Virus, Tenth Member to Die in Pandemic

A ninth New York City Transit Worker, and tenth Local 100 member overall, has passed away of the dreaded Coronavirus. Robert Sarutto, 59, was one of several members at the TEMM Jay St. crew quarters who had called out sick from the virus. His condition worsened in recent days and he died at his home in Staten Island. Brother Sarutto had 23 years on the job in the Elevator and Escalator Department.

Ralph Arpaio, a close friend and co-worker said of Brother Sarutto: “He was dedicated and hard working. He was always the first one to jump in and help another. He had a great sense of humor and a big smile on his face all the time. He was a good hearted guy, loved by all and will be greatly missed.” He leaves behind his grieving wife, Roxanne, and a host of friends and co-workers in MOW.

MOW Vice President John Chiarello said, “this is a terrible blow to LE/S and all of our 8,000 workers in MOW. We are all praying for his wife, Roxanne, and will continue to be there for her and his loved ones."

Local 100 President Tony Utano said that Brother Sarutto’s passing “is another heartbreak for Maintenance of Way and all of Local 100. We are all devasted by the mounting losses in Local 100 and across our City and country. I ask that all in Local 100 pray for Brother Sarutto’s family and friends during their time of grief.”

TWU Mourns Phyllis Holley, Sister of Richard Holley

IB Image TWU Local 100 is mourning the passing of Phyllis Susan Holley, the older sister of Power Division Vice Chair Richard Holley. Phyllis has been a Conductor in the subways for the past four years after retiring from a career in the U.S. Post Office. Her husband, William had been caring for her at home as she battled virus-like symptoms. She passed away overnight at the age of 61.

Brother Holley said that the family is devastated by his sister’s passing. They are also praying for their brother, a Metro North employee, who is in the hospital with a confirmed case of the Coronavirus.

Vice President John Chiarello said that “all of MOW is praying for Richie’s family. Richie is a great union officer who has helped and supported this membership for years. Now, he needs our support to help him get through this time of grief for himself and his family,”

Local 100 President Tony Utano, himself a member of the Power Department and a close friend of Brother Holley, said: “Richie has a beautiful, closeknit family. I know this is a very difficult time for them, and we should all remember them in our thoughts and prayers.”

Richie Holley, 2nd from left, with his sister, Phyllis, and four brothers in a happy family photo. Phyllis, inset.

It’s the 40th Anniversary of TWU’s 1980 City-Wide Strike

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It was April Fools Day 1980, but the TWU Local 100 membership was not joking.

Thousands of New York City transit workers hit the picket lines on Tuesday morning, April 1, 1980, in the first City-wide transit strike in 15 years. The strike would last 11 tumultuous days.

New York City Mayor Ed Koch, who did more harm than good during the strike, lamented to the press: “The unthinkable has happened and now we have to figure out how to live with the unthinkable and we will.”

The man at the center of this watershed moment in TWU’s history was John Edward Lawe, a rugged Irish immigrant who had labored in a road repair crew and in Ireland’s peat bogs before arriving in America in 1949 at the age of 30.

Lawe, one of ten children to Luke and Kate Lawe from Strokestown, County Roscommon, Ireland, worked as an elevator operator in a Manhattan high-rise for one year before finding work as a Bus Cleaner for the old Fifth Avenue Coach Co. at the 132nd Street depot.

He became active in the union as a Shop Steward. During the 29-day bus strike in 1953, he served as a picket captain for maintenance. Later that year, Lawe switched to transportation and quickly rose up the union ladder. He was elected Transportation Section Chair in 1955 and then Chair for all of Fifth Ave. Coach Transportation. After the historic 1962 bus strike that led to the creation of MABSTOA, Lawe was elected Division 1 Recording Secretary immediately, and then Division 1 Chair in 1964.

Lawe served on the negotiating committee during the union’s first citywide transit strike in 1966. In 1968, he was elected Division 1 Vice President. Then in 1977, Lawe succeeded Ellis Van Riper as President of Local 100.

The decade of the 70’s was a turbulent financial period for New York City, which in 1975 teetered on the edge of bankruptcy. Who from that generation can forget the famous October 30, 1975 front page of the New York Daily News that blared “Ford to City: Drop Dead.” President Ford, the day before, had vowed to veto any Congressional bailout for the City.

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It's the 40th Anniversary of TWU's 1980 City-Wide Strike

Thousands of New York City transit workers hit the picket lines on Tuesday morning, April 1, 1980, in the first City-wide transit strike in 15 years. The strike would last 11 tumultuous days.

Big Bus Local 100 Member Dies of the Virus

APRIL 1 -- TWU Local 100 has lost another good union Brother to the Coronavirus scourge. Brother Raul Clarke was a Bus Operator for the Big Bus Tour Bus company. Brother Clarke passed away on Tuesday, March 31, 2020. He had been with the company since 2016 and was a well liked, well respected man and Union Brother.

James Hoffman, a Local 100 Shop Steward at Big Bus, said that Brother Clarke was “a friendly warm presence at the company. I always looked forward to working with him He was quick with a laugh, reliable with the safety of everyone on his bus, and a joy to do a loop with. We will all miss him very much.”

Local 100 President Tony Utano said that all of Local 100 feels this loss. “Our hearts and prayers go out to this fine man’s family. I offer my deepest condolences to all of our Local 100 members at Big Bus here in New York and across the country. I can only hope and pray that this dark cloud over our country passes quickly.”

33-Year CED Veteran, Patrick Patoir, Dies of the Virus

A seventh Transit Worker, Patrick Patoir, a Maintainer Helper B at the Pitkin Barn, has passed away of the dreaded Coronavirus.

Brother Patoir was a 33-year veteran of the Car Equipment Department. He worked for more than 25 years at the Coney Island Overhaul shop, and for the past 6 years at Pitkin.

His family told the union that Patrick first called out sick on March 21, 2020. His condition worsened and he was admitted to the hospital on March 25th where doctors placed him on a ventilator, and later put him into a medically induced coma. His wife called today to say that her husband had died.

Local 100 Administrative Vice President Nelson Rivera said that he worked with Patrick years ago when he first started in CED as a Helper. “He was a wonderful person, and a great union Brother who always stepped up to the plate for Local 100.”

CED Vice President Shirley Martin, who has known Patrick since she first started 29 years ago, echoed those sentiments. “Patrick was one of the most beautiful souls I have ever known. He was always the first to help. If you wanted something done, ask Patrick,” she said. “Everyone at Pitkin is in mourning. Many of his co-workers where in tears when they found out.”

Patrick’s brother, Wendell, is a Machinist at the Coney Island Wheel and Axle Shop. He leaves behind his grieving wife, and four children.

International President Samuelsen Interviewed on Good Day NY

John Samuelsen, International President of the Transport Workers Union, praised Local 100 members transporting soldiers fighting the war against the Coronavirus – nurses, EMS workers and other healthcare professionals – to the front. But he criticized the MTA for belatedly providing masks to transit workers and only after being compelled to do so by the union.

“Our people are the most dedicated workforce you can ever imagine,” Samuelsen, a former Local 100 President, said Monday on the Good Day New York news television program. “We recognize that we are the front-line transportation network that is really transporting the soldiers fighting this war against COVID-19. But we’re not going to be used as cannon fodder. We don’t want to be used recklessly. Unfortunately, I think the fatalities that you are seeing, and the amount of infections you are seeing among transit workers, could have been mitigated against if the PPE came a lot earlier than it did.”

Local 100 President Tony Utano thanked Samuelsen for securing tens of thousands of masks for transit workers to supplement those the MTA began distributing Sunday. Utano, Secretary-Treasurer Earl Phillips, TWU International staff Rep. Angelo Cucuzza and Samuelsen helped transport those union-obtained masks, along with thousands of others donated by Councilman Justin Brannan, to Local 100 Vice Presidents and Chairs Monday morning.