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TWU Launches Main Table Talks with the MTA

IB Image TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano and the union’s elected Executive Committee launched main-table negotiations with the MTA Tuesday afternoon.

Utano was joined at negotiations by Secretary-Treasurer Earl Phillips, Recording Secretary Latonya Crisp, Administrative Vice President Nelson Rivera, and Vice Presidents John Chiarello, Richard Davis, Peter Rosconi, J.P. Patafio, Eric Loegel and Lynwood Whichard. The union’s legal team of General Counsel Denis Engel, Legal Department Senior Director Deirdre Feerick and outside counsels Vincent Pitta and Arthur Schwartz sat alongside the union negotiators on the 29th floor conference room at 2 Broadway.

In his opening statement, Utano said that the Local 100 leadership and the union’s Contract Policy Committee, took great care in consolidating scores of the membership’s proposals into a document that truly reflects the needs of the membership.

This first main table meeting, attended on management’s side by Anita Miller, the MTA’s Chief Employee Relations officer, Veronique Hakim, MTA managing director, Andy Byford, NYC Transit president, and other ranking labor relations and operating officers, was conducted in a respectful atmosphere.

Utano explained the rationale behind each of the union’s main table demands, which include raises, a reduction in disciplinary actions against workers, increased longevity pay, an improved dental plan hearing aids for retirees, and a request that the MTA join the union in supporting legislation in Albany for Tier 6 reform.

The MTA executives did not present any counter-demands. They instead offered to set up a series of mutually agreeable dates to move forward on the negotiating process.

Daily News Lauds Transit Hero

We are pleased to say that our brave conductor who managed to hold a maniac for police after being stabbed on a subway platform in the Bronx is recuperating at home. Denaul Jenkins’ heroics made the front page of the NY Daily News. President Utano and RTO Vice President Eric Loegel are quoted in the article below.

'You can't let somebody like that get away': MTA subway conductor captures his attacker after being stabbed on the job

A Bronx subway stabber arrived at his last stop thanks to a gutsy and bloodied MTA conductor who fought off a platform knife attack and corralled his assailant for cops - and it nearly cost him his spleen.

Statement by Local 100 President Tony Utano on the Stabbing of a Conductor on Easter Sunday

"One of our union brothers was stabbed in the abdomen and in the arm on the No. 4 express platform at the 149th Street station in the Bronx this morning. He has been hospitalized. He is now in stable condition. Union officers responded, and we will provide updates.

The police have made an arrest, and we demand that the full weight of the law now come down on this individual. We also demand that the city step up and make the subway safer for both workers and riders. We want to go to work and return to our families safe and sound.

The early reports indicate that the attacker is an emotionally disturbed person. Too many of these unfortunate people use the subway system for refuge, and some of them pose a serious threat to workers and passengers, as was the case this morning. The city is failing to address some very serious social issues, and it is falling well short of its responsibility to move these people from the subway system to proper shelters where they can receive the care and treatment they need."

TWU's Lobby Day Brings Out Political Support

Legislative leaders including Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli came out with direct support for the Union's agenda on April 9th. Watch the video for President Utano's remarks to legislators and for their statements to the membership.

On 1010 WINS, President Utano Ramps Up Pressure to Find Assault Suspect; Sec-Treas Phillips Talks on CBS-TV

APRIL 14 – Speaking to 1010 WINS, TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano said Local 100 is circulating photos of a man wanted in two disgusting assaults on female transit workers. The images, taken from surveillance video obtained by NYPD detectives, shows a young man who is suspected of throwing urine first onto a Conductor at the Brook Avenue station on the 6 line, and then on an Operator driving a BX2 bus on 138th Street and the Grand Concourse. You can see the NYPD Wanted Poster here.

President Utano expressed his outrage at the disgusting and unprovoked nature of the attack, telling 1010 WINS about the Bus Operator: "She can't believe it. I wasn't like there were any words going back and forth. She was loading passengers and the person came and threw urine right in her face." He added that the Union is cautioning Conductors to watch for anyone moving toward them on the platform and Bus Operators to keep windows closed.

On WCBS Ch. 2, Secretary-Treasurer Earl Phillips talked about the incident, and you can watch that here.

The suspect has not yet been apprehended but detectives are following up on a lead coming from a Local 100 Bus Operator who says she may have recognized the suspect. We will keep our membership updated as developments occur.

Union Urges Members, Public, to be on the Lookout for Man Wanted in Assaults on Female Transit Workers

The Transport Workers Union is urging its more than 40,000 members – and the millions of daily bus and subway riders - to help identify a man wanted for assaulting two female transit workers on Friday by throwing urine at them.

The NYPD has obtained a surveillance photo of the man who splashed urine on a No. 6 train Conductor at the Brook Ave. station at E. 138thSt., and also doused a Bus Operator with urine in front of 250 Grand Concourse at E. 138thSt. “Take a close look at this photograph and call the police immediately if you know him,” TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano said. “He is a dangerous menace and needs to be arrested right away. These were disgusting, horrific attacks that can not go unpunished.”

To transit workers, Utano said: “As you drive bus and train routes, keep your eyes out for this suspect and alert the authorities if you spot him. But also be careful. Bus Operators should keep their windows closed. Train Conductors should make sure they are wearing their goggles - and close their windows if someone approaches on a platform.”

TWU Local 100 will have officers distributing a Wanted Poster in the area where these attacks took place. “We will flood the area with Wanted Posters with the photograph of this criminal, and we look forward to seeing him in handcuffs.”

Union Warns of Possible Serial Attacker Targeting Transit Women

Passenger Throws Cup Of Urine In MTA Bus Driver's Face, Police Say
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - An MTA bus driver is speaking out after being assaulted while on the job. She says she was on her usual route in the Bronx Friday morning when a stranger suddenly threw urine on her. "It literally went inside the collar... whole left shoulder soaked," Trellis Robinson said.

TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano is warning transit workers of a possible serial attacker targeting women on the job.

“Bus Operators should keep their windows closed and Train Conductors should make sure they are wearing their goggles and immediately shut their windows if someone approaches on a platform,” Utano said. “We will do everything we can to help the police catch this disgusting individual and put him in handcuffs.”

A female No. 6 train conductor was punched in the face and splashed with a liquid believed to be urine at the Brook Ave. station Friday morning at about 10:40 a.m. A female Bx1 Bus operator was splashed in the face with urine at East 138th Street and Grand Concourse, which is about 15 blocks away. You can see the news report on that incident above.

Utano is asking the NYPD to increase their presence along the No. 6 line and bus routes in the area. If the attacker’s image was captured on video, Utano said TWU Local 100 will flood the area with the image along with an appeal to members of the public to call the police if they recognize the individual. “This abuse of transit workers is outrageous,” Utano said. “No other group of workers gets treated like this.” The assailant was described as a black male, about 5-feet-7 inches tall, 160 to 180 pounds, wearing a Navy sweatshirt with a hood, khaki pants and red sneakers.

NYCT Clarifies Cancer Screening Policy; Allows 4 Hours Paid Leave

In a memo from NYCT Human Resources dated March 21, the company clarifies that four hours of paid leave are available to employees for cancer screenings. A cancer screening is defined as an "examination for cancer where there may be no symptoms present. Cancer screenings may include, but are not limited to, physical exams, laboratory tests, imaging procedures and genetic testing." Read the memo here. For the form to request the leave, click here.

Local 100 Rocks Albany at our Annual Lobby Day

APRIL 9 -- TWU Local 100's annual Lobby Day brought approximately 1,500 transit workers to the State Capital to graphically demonstrate the power of the union. Legislative leaders including Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, and Assemblyman and Chairman of the Committee on Governmental Employees Peter Abbate addressed our members in the convention center, while other political leaders came to the union's pre-lobby day reception at Corning Tower. Our photo essay shows the enthusiasm of our members as they began the day, which featured direct one-on-one lobbying of legislators to advance our political agenda. That agenda includes pension reform, a guarantee that train crews will include an Operator and a Conductor, fairness for our School Bus Members who are subject to discipline, and protections against diesel fumes exposure.

Train Operator Acts Fast; Saves Boy on Tracks

APRIL 4 -- A Local 100 Train Operator rescued a young boy who wandered onto the very dangerous subway tracks in Brooklyn Thursday morning. Train Operator Hopeton Kiffin was heading through the Hoyt St. (2/3) station on an express track when something out of the ordinary caught his eye at approximately 9:15 a.m. “I see a slight red flash, and I slowed the train down,” Kiffin said. “As a Train Operator, you always have to be aware. I saw a customer on the platform pointing to the tracks, so that confirmed that something was wrong.”

To his amazement, Kiffin, 51, said he saw a boy, about 12 years old, wearing a red sweater or jacket standing between two pillars. The boy was in a narrow area separating the northbound express and local tracks. There are four parallel tracks in the station.

“I was taken aback. I was like, “What is he doing there?,” Kiffin said. Kiffin alerted the Rail Control Center and then exited the No. 5 train to approach the boy. “He was clapping his hands,” Kiffin said. “He wasn’t afraid. There was no fear. I guided him to the train, got him on board.” Kiffin took the boy to the next station, Borough Hall, and handed him over to the NYPD Transit Bureau.

“This could have been a terrible tragedy if not for the alertness and professionalism of our Train Operator,” TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano said. “You can never relax when you are operating a subway train. You have to be alert for anything out of place. This story has a happy ending only because this Operator spotted this child and managed to get him to safety.”

At about the time Kiffin’s train was entering the station, a rider who observed the boy on the tracks used a Help Point intercom to alert the Station Agent. The Station Agent informed the RCC, which put out an alert to train crews in the area. Numerous television stations wanted to interview Kiffin, but he didn’t want to be in the spotlight. “It’s just part of my job,” he said. “I’m just glad everything turned out well.”