A Veterans Day Message from TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen

Today, I join all Americans in offering our deepest gratitude to the courageous men and women who answer their nation’s call to service.  I offer a special thank you to our Local 100 members who have served in the U.S Armed Forces, especially those who have put their lives on hold, and have left their jobs and families to serve in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past decade.

This year, I was hoping that we as a union would be able to offer a more tangible form of gratitude to our pubic sector military veterans. 

For the past two years, the Local 100 Veterans Committee has worked tirelessly to gain passage of a bill that would allow all veterans, regardless of when they served, to buy back up to three years of pension service in the city or state retirement systems.  Current law grants that ability only to veterans who have served during certain periods of war and national crisis.  This unfairly excludes veterans who served in peacetime, and virtually all women veterans, who until recently were barred from combat roles.

Service to America is service to America, no matter when it occurs.

Our Veterans Committee rallied around this proposed legislation, despite many in the Legislature telling them that passage was a pipe dream.

They built the size and strength of their committee in a very short period of time to where now it is a formidable political force in our State. They formed alliances with legislators on both side of the aisle.  And working in conjunction with our Political Action Department, they organized two very successful Veterans Lobby Day trips to Albany to push the bill. 

Despite the odds, they were able to secure passage of the bill in both Houses of the State Legislature.

Unfortunately, Gov. Cuomo vetoed the measure over the weekend.  He cited additional financial mandates of $57 million on municipalities as the main cause for his rejection. He also noted in his veto message that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, the New York State Conference of Mayors and Municipal Officials, and the New York State Association of Counties urged him to reject the bill.

I have personally registered our union’s disappointment over the veto with the Governor’s office.  We also disagree with the actuarial assumptions that Gov. Cuomo used to form his opinion.

Obviously, we have our work cut out for us.  But we are not backing away from this campaign.

Thanks to our Veterans Committee, we have come a very long way in a very short time. 

Just a year ago, we were in the beginning stages of the fight that most told us was unwinnable.  Yet today, the tenacity of our Veterans Committee had us so close to complete victory.  This same energy and commitment that got us this far, will get us over the top next year.

Again, thank you TWU Local 100 veterans for your service to America.  We will keep up the fight in your behalf.