MTA Moving on Union Testing Demands

TWU Local 100 has been urging the MTA to adopt a COVID-19 testing and screening program to identify members who might have the virus - but are not yet experiencing symptoms. This goal appears in the TWU 10-Point Transit Plan For a Re-Opened NYC, which the union released in May.

Since then, Local 100 President Tony Utano and other union officers have stressed the importance of this issue to elected officials, the media and MTA management. Now, it appears the MTA is moving in that direction.

MTA’s Chief Safety Officer Patrick Warren briefed MTA board members Wednesday on what he described as efforts to protect workers and riders from a “second wave” of the virus hitting the region. In hi comments, Warren said “we are pursuing cutting edge rapid diagnostic testing protocols to provide more effective, early screening of employees and contractors that live outside the NYC metropolitan area before they encounter our workforce and customers.  We are also seeking new, inexpensive rapid testing protocols that could further help identify individuals that have contracted the virus but are asymptomatic in order to limit their ability to expose others to the virus.”

This echoes the language in item No. 3 in TWU’s 10-Point Transit Plan. That calls for the “testing of TWU Local 100 members in large numbers (testing size to be determined by an expert) with the objective of curtailing the spread of the virus by workers who are asymptomatic.”

TWU Local 100 will be meeting with Warren and other authority executives to obtain more details and provide input on any new testing and screening tactics. “We will withhold final judgement until we receive more details, but this is a good sign,” Local 100 President Tony Utano said. “It appears that Local 100’s advocacy on this very important issue is getting results.

Warren also said the authority will increase Call Center staffing in the coming months if necessary, to stay on top of contact tracing and employee communications, which Local 100 also covered in its 10-point plan. You can read Warren's complete report to the MTA Board here.