FEBRUARY 9 -- TWU Local 100 members were honored by the MTA and by TWU Local 100 in a ceremony at 2 Broadway. President Tony Utano welcomed our members and congratulated them on their achievements.
34 transit employees were honored today at 2 Broadway, including a majority of rank and file union members, who received Medals of Excellence for heroism and performance. From members who saved the lives of co-workers by performing CPR, to Bus Operators who protected the public from danger, to a CTA who acted quickly in a terrorist attack, to a Conductor who brought a disabled man to safety, we stood tall alongside Union leadership and management. Speaking to the audience of members and their families were President Utano recounted the successes of transit workers in recent months in restoring service after a train derailment, successfully moving a million riders to Times Square and back, and surmounting other crises. NYCT President Andy Byford said he was committed to "employee engagement" and said the majority of transit worker were world-class professionals. For the Medals of Excellence program, click here.
The New York Times profiled our Wayfinders (Customer Service Ambassadors) in a major article on February 3rd:
A New Job Description for M.T.A. Workers: Professionally Nice
by Sarah Maslin Nir
“Good morning all! Have a nice day!”
The seven words stopped Lina Shah as she scurried through the subway turnstiles under Times Square on a recent morning, in the thick of rush hour. The words are more typically heard when entering a department store, the automaton drone of a hired greeter. But they seemed so incongruent in the dour tunnels of the New York City subway that Ms. Shah paused in the middle of her commute to find their source.
Local 100 officers and members from MABSTOA Division 2 are mourning the passing of Bus Operator Ronald D’Jomambo on January 25, 2018. Brother D’Jomambo died after a difficult battle with pancreatic cancer. He was only 56 years old.
He had 17 years on the job at West Farms Depot and was a Board member of the Society of African American Transit Employees. He was a military veteran and worked for a decade at Bronx Lebanon Hospital before joining Transit. Local 100 President Tony Utano was among the many mourners at Brother D’Jomambo’s memorial service on February 3, 2018. He is survived by his wife, Jacqueline, five children, two grandchildren, his mother, a brother, four sisters, and a host of other family members, friends and co-workers.
All members in good standing are now invited to apply for vouchers for our Summer and Fall childcare programs. Summer programs are available for kids 6 to 12 at the start of the program. Fall programs are available for newborns through age 12. Click here for our flyer!
Friends and co-workers held a well-deserved retirement party for Ralph Fragosa, who has devoted his entire career as a bus maintainer to Liberty Lines in Yonkers. Ralph, shown holding his retirement cake, is joined, from the left, by Valhalla Depot Chair Tom Monaco, Division Chair Carlos Bernabel, and John Culler. Local 100 President Tony Utano added his best wishes for a great retirement.
Our TWU International Union’s annual Michael J. Quill Scholarship Program is now accepting applications for 15 college scholarships for the children and grandchildren of TWU members. Each scholarship is worth $4,800 to be paid out in the amount of $1,200 annually to winners who continue to be eligible over their four-year course of study.
The TWU International has been honoring the union’s founder, Michael J. Quill, with these scholarships since 1969. In addition to the 15 Quill scholarships, other sponsors, including Union Benefit Planners, M3 Technology, and Pitta Giblin LLP will be awarding additional scholarships in one time payments. To find out more about the scholarships and to download an official application, click here: http://www.twu.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/quillscholarshipapp.pdf
Four TWU Local 100 Members – two Bus Operators, one Collecting Agent, and one CTA – boarded a flight to Puerto Rico on January 21st to assist doctors and nurses delivering care to a population still recovering from the onslaught of Hurricane Maria last year. They will be doing that work for the coming week.
The second relief mission sponsored by the union is part of a continuing effort coordinated by TWU Local 100 Administrative Vice President Nelson Rivera, who has been to the island twice since the weather disaster. Under the direction of President Utano, he assembled two teams in alliance with the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), and its president, Judy Sheridan Gonzalez. Meeting recently with NYSNA nurses and TWU Local 100 members in Manhattan, she called the work of our members essential in providing urgently needed care to hundreds of patients in Puerto Rico.
Local 100 has set up a special account to fund our relief work in Puerto Rico. Expenses include airfare and supplies, especially the cost of gasoline for the vans we are staffing on the ground. You can donate to the TWU Local 100 Puerto Rico relief fund by clicking here. Our members on the ground in Puerto Rico this week are Bus Operators Hugo Rodriquez and Moises del Rio (Grand Avenue Vice Chair), Collecting Agent Emiliano Padilla, and CTA Jose Domenech.
Photo shows our four-member team (back row) with NYSNA nurses who will be going to Puerto Rico. At right is TWU Local 100 Administrative VP Nelson Rivera. In the center, wearing a t-shirt, is Minerva Solla, one of NYSNA's two on-site coordinators for the mission, along with Lillian Sollazzo, at her left, along with Sonya Ivany former LCLAA Chair.
The New York Times profiled our Wayfinders (Customer Service Ambassadors) in a major article on February 3rd:
