Class of 30 Transit Workers Enters TWU/MTA Apprenticeship Program

These TWU Local 100 members are on a new career track.

A group of 30 cleaners, property protection agents and traffic checkers started training Monday to become plumbers, masons and carpenters – higher paid, skill-based titles in the Structures Department.
This is the third – and largest – class of Local 100 members to participate in the union’s Upward Advancement Program at The Apex Technical School in Long Island City, Queens. “I’m proud to be standing here and I’m proud of this program,” Local 100 President Tony Utano told the students in an opening ceremony. “This program is worth gold. You are going to learn a trade, and a lot of people don’t get this opportunity.”

For six months, the students will attend class full time at Apex while receiving their regular pay. As part of their training, they will build a small replica of a house, complete with a foundation, brick masonry, electricity and plumbing. After completing the program, they will be assigned to work in the field alongside skilled tradespersons at NYC Transit.

"The road ahead is long,” Charles Jenkins, acting director of Local 100’s Training and Upgrade Fund. “It will be challenging and exciting, but most of all, it will be rewarding.” Participants are selected by a joint union-management committee using criteria that includes their grades following completion of a math and reading comprehension course, and their disciplinary and attendance records at NYC Transit, Jenkins said. After working as a cleaner, CTA Sakina Brown, 37, said she was looking to advance economically. “I want to provide a better life for my kids,” she said. “I started as a cleaner. The pay is okay. It keeps you above water. I just want better.”

Utano was joined at the opening ceremony by Local 100 Secretary-Treasurer Earl Phillips, Car Equipment Vice President Shirely Martin, MOW Vice President John Chiarello and Structure’s Executive Board member and Division Chair Richie Rocco.