Utano Announces Permanent Memorial for Members Lost to Covid

AUGUST 18, 2020 – Local 100 President Tony Utano today announced that the union is working with a prominent New York-based art and design firm and local artists to create a permanent and powerful memorial for the scores of Local 100 members who were lost to the Coronavirus. Utano made the announcement at the union’s regularly scheduled Executive Board meeting at the Union Hall in Brooklyn.
He said that the wall-sized, multi-media memorial will be located on the 3rd Floor at 195 Montague, and will respectfully display the names of those who died from the disease.

In a statement to the membership, Utano said: “This memorial will be a fitting tribute to our fallen heroes and to all transit workers who put this City on their shoulders and carried it forward during the darkest days of this terrible plague, and continue to do so despite the ongoing dangers.”

“It’s not enough that we have won line-of-duty death benefits for the families.  It’s not enough that we have secured a much safer workplace for all transit workers as the pandemic continues to endanger us all.  It’s not enough to simply have a one-time event with speeches and candles to memorialize our brothers and sisters.  This is the reason for creating what I know will be an unforgettable memorial to remind everyone who enters our union hall of the terrible losses we are all feeling, and as well, that transit workers made an enormous contribution to defeat this virus.”
Photo: The Local 100 Executive Board met on August 18 observing social distancing.