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MTA Staff Analysts Get 2.5% Raise, Benefit Gains in Pact

In a copyrighted story, the Chief's Bob Hennelly reports this week on TWU Local 100's latest contract ratification vote. The MTA's Staff Analysts, who voted to join the Union last year, now have their first contract, which gives retro money, raises and additional benefits including a commuter pass and, for the first time, overtime. This brings the newly organized MTA units, including the Staff Analysts, Computer Specialists, and other titles, to 1200 new union members. Read the story here.

Local 100 President Tony Utano (center) with Secretary Treasure Earl Phillips, Administrative Vice President Nelson Rivera, RTO Vice President Joe Costales, Conductor/Tower Division Chair Crystal Young and RTO members stand in front of the new union office at Stillwell Avenue crewroom.

Local 100 Opens Union Office at Stillwell

Local 100 President Tony Utano was on hand to open a first-ever union office at the Stillwell Avenue RTO crewroom, the busiest in the system. Utano said that a union officer would be available on a rotating schedule for both AM and PM shifts. A business schedule will be posted in the crewroom for the membership’s convenience. The union will also set times when a pension and/or health benefit expert would be available on site to provide those services.

The office will be outfitted with a computer to access records and other pertinent information, and will have business forms available for a variety of union functions. Utano said that he is considering similar union outreach at other facilities. “We are going to monitor traffic at the office to see if the members use this service. If it proves popular, we’ll expand the program,” he said.

TWU Suffers World Trade Center Fatality as MOW Carpenter, James Delman, Dies at 64

James Delman, a Locksmith and Carpenter with NYCT who had 38 years of service has died of pulmonary fibrosis, which he contracted while working as a member of the bucket brigade and clean-up crew at the World Trade Center disaster. He passed away on Sunday, May 6.

Delman, then a candidate for a bilateral lung transplant, was too ill to attend the union's 9/11 ceremony in September of last year. His grand-daughter, Sadie, accepted the medal from President Utano on his behalf. Delman told the Daily News that "I still get nightmares" from the memories of the twisted metal and dust from the demolished WTC buildings.

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James Delman's family will be receiving friends on Wednesday, May 9th, from 2 to 4 and from 7 to 9 at the Timothy E. Ryan Home for Funerals, 145 Catherine Boulevard, in Toms River, New Jersey. A funeral service will be held on Thursday, May 10th, at 11 AM at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Toms River, with burial to follow. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.ryanfuneralhome.com.

Brother Delman is one of approximately 35 TWU Local 100 members and retirees who have received the union's 9/11 medal, crafted to honor transit workers at Ground Zero who were awarded compensation for their illnesses and injuries by the federal goverment's Victim Compensation Board (VCF). He was one of approximately 3,000 transit workers who were either directed to respond to the terror attack or who volunteered to serve. Our members cut through iron, cleared wreckage, operated heavy equipment, and drove first responders to the site using MTA buses.

Celebrating the ratification win are, from the left: President Tony Utano, Danny D’Amato, Frank McCann, VP Peter Rosconi, First Mile Square Chair Evelyn Castillo, and Division Chair Gus Moghrabi.

School Bus Members Ratify Contract with First Mile Square

Local 100 members at the Yonkers-based School Bus Company, First Mile Square, have ratified a new three year contract in landslide fashion. The tally was 282 in favor and only 7 against. An agreement in principle was actually reached late last year just 48 hours before the union was poised to strike the company. Union officers and attorneys worked for the past few months finalizing language. The contract provides three annual wages increases and is retroactive to September 1, 2017. It expires on June 30, 2020. The voting took place from 6AM and 4PM on Friday, April 4th at 3 separate locations.

The big issue for First Mile Square workers was to reach parity with TWU’s other big Westchester School Bus company, Royal Coach, which was accomplished. First Mile Square workers transport students in Yonkers, Mount Vernon, New Rochelle and Mamaroneck.

We Honor our Fallen: Workers Memorial Day 2018

At City Hall at an event organized by City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, and attended by labor leaders and advocates, TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano spoke of the loss of transit workers over the years and the importance of their sacrifice being recognized. Speaker Johnson has pledged to hold a similar event each year and also to begin every stated meeting of the Council with a reading of the names of fallen workers. He presented a plaque to CLC President Vinnie Alvarez. Also in attendance was Administrative VP Nelson Rivera. Later, at the TWU Local 100 Union Hall, we were joined by the families of five transit workers and union members who died in the line of duty. Receiving flowers from Local 100 were representaties from the Boggs, Richards Stevens, Bennerson, Franklin, and Pena families.

Shelley Mayer Romps in Westchester — With Our Help

APRIL 24 — In a big win for TWU Local 100’s political action operation, Democratic Assemblywoman Shelley Mayer handily defeated her Republican opponent, Julie Killian, by 15 percentage points. She succeeded George Latimer, now Westchester County Executive, in the special election for State Senate in Westchester’s 37^th District.

Cuomo Signs Bill Protecting Public Sector Labor

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On April 12, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed legislation protecting public sector labor unions. He noted that "the legislation makes it clear that members who pay union dues will receive certain benefits and services, and unions - while they serve the interests of all workers in bargaining units they represent - cannot be forced to provide full benefits of membership to those who do not pay for them." The full text of the Governor's statement can be found here.

TWU Local 100 leadership took a photo with the Governor after the signing. You can read the actual amendments to the New York State Taylor Law here.

Conductor Kevin Bartsch, also an EMT, acted quickly to save a life on Good Friday.

TWU Local 100’s Transit Heroes -- Doing Great Things Above and Below New York City

BY PETE DONOHUE

An F-train rider in Queens came back from the dead three days before Easter Sunday. The man was slumped in his seat without a pulse. But Conductor Kevin Bartsch revived him with CPR. “He jumped off the floor…,” Bartsch told Newsday and The New York Post. “I was telling him, ‘You just died. You need to relax and listen to what I’m telling you.’ “
Bartsch’s life-saving heroics make him a very strong contender for a new award: TWU Local 100’s Transit Heroes Award.

“Our members do great things above and below the streets of NYC all the time,” Local 100 President Tony Utano said “They deserve to be recognized and honored by their union, at their Union Hall.” The N.Y. Daily News has held an annual award contest in Manhattan since 2012. The News, however, informed the union earlier this year that it was discontinuing the program. Utano was already considering starting TWU’s “Transit Heroes” when the News pulled the plug.

Transit Heroes will honor transit workers who do exceptional deeds for their riders, co-workers or communities. The Communications Staff will collect nominations in the spring and summer. The elected officers on the Executive Committee will then vote on this year’s winners. An exact date for the event has not yet been selected.

In addition to being interviewed by Newsday and the New York Post, Bartsch appeared on several television stations. He explained that he knew how to handle the emergency situation because he has been a volunteer EMT in the city and Long Island. “When it all was going on, training mode took over,” he said. “I did what I had to do.”
One rider who was saw Bartsch in action was effusive in her praise. “He was amazing and was really heroic,” Amy Harris told The Post. “He saved that man’s life.”

To nominate a Transit Hero, email communications@twulocal100.org. Include the full name of the candidate and an explanation of why they deserve recognition. Include your contact information (cell phone and email) and the title, work location and contact information (if known) of the candidate. We anticipate five to 10 awards being issued at a special event in the fall.

Executive Board Elevates Costales to VP, Goodridge-Seymour to Ex. Bd.

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APRIL 19 – The TWU Local 100 Executive Board today voted overwhelmingly to elevate RTO Executive Board Member Joe Costales to Vice President of RTO. The Board also voted to replace longtime MABSTOA Executive Board member Christopher Magwood, who is retiring, with Harriet Goodridge-Seymour, currently Vice Chair at Mother Clara Hale Depot.

Brother Costales has been with transit since 2000 and has been active in the union since 2005. He has served on the Executive Board since 2015 and prior to that was Chair of the Conductor Tower Division of RTO.

Sister Goodridge-Seymour has 23 years with transit, and has held positions on Local 100’s Womens’ Committee as well creating the MABSTOA handbook for new hires.

Goodridge-Seymour is the first woman to serve as an Executive Board Member from MABSTOA's Divison 1. The vote to confirm Ms. Goodridge-Seymour was unanimous.

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Gov. Cuomo Tours 207th, Announces Full Funding of Subway Action Plan

Above: Gov. Andrew Cuomo, touring the 207th Street Barn in Upper Manhattan, discusses the full funding of the Subway Action Plan, which will result in the hiring of hundreds of additional TWU Local 100 members. He praised the efforts of the transit workforce. Photos of the tour are below:

Here is the Governor's press release:

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today toured MTA New York City Transit's 207th Street Car Overhaul Shop with MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota and announced a series of accelerated car repairs associated with the full funding of the Subway Action Plan. The 207th Street Overhaul Shop along with the system's other overhaul shop in Coney Island will now fully rehabilitate more than 1,300 cars a year - nearly 40 percent more than previous years. The full funding secured in the FY 2019 state budget will allow New York City Transit to significantly enhance the number of workers hired as part of the Subway Action Plan and allow the MTA's car overhaul shops to be fully staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"The subway system is the lifeblood of New York City, and the newly fully funded Subway Action Plan is essential to deliver a mass transit system of the caliber that New York's economy and people require and deserve," Governor Cuomo said. "Enhancing the reliability of subway cars leads to fewer delays and better performance for riders, and we are determined to further modernize the system quicker than had ever previously been thought possible."