Statement from TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen On the Video Showing an MTA Bus Operator Confronting a Fare-Beater On Nov. 11, 2014

Operating a bus on the streets of New York is a stressful job under normal circumstances. It becomes unbearable when you add in an obnoxious serial fare-beater, repeatedly provoking a hard working Bus Operator, spewing racially charged taunts at him and interrupting service.  This driver has 25 years of service to the working families of New York.  He’s a military veteran working on Veterans Day and now he’s facing termination.  Something is definitely wrong with that picture.  We intend to vigorously defend his livelihood.

For more on this story, see Pete Donohue's piece in the NY Daily News:

Transit union backs now-suspended Queens bus driver

The driver, who has been on the job for nearly 25 years, also has been under heavy stress in his personal life, union officials said. His wife has stage 4 cancer, they said. “This guy is a veteran bus operator and a veteran of the United States Navy,” Samuelsen said. “He’s a stand-up guy and a freakin’ smart-ass kid got on the bus and verbally and physically provoked him.”