President John V. Chiarello at the MTA Board Meeting

Chiarello Slams Management on Radio Outages; Bus Defects

FEBRUARY 25—At this morning's MTA Board Meeting, Local 100 President John Chiarello addressed transit bosses, taking them to task for ignoring ongoing problems with the citywide bus radio system and pointing out other grave safety concerns.

"The outages to date have not been addressed with the union. The vendor's records have not been supplied to the union for all the updates that are happening," he said. 

Chiarello said the union didn't know whether the Bus Operators stuck in high snowdrifts during this week's blizzard, the worst in 10 years, were able to reach the command center on their radios.

Local 100 Holds Janno Lieber's Feet to the Fire on Bus Radio Outages

JANUARY 28—Local 100 and other members of the newly formed inter-union Safety Alliance held a press conference at the Union Hall this afternoon about the ongoing danger of bus radio outages, which have left Bus Operators unable to reach command during their shifts.

“There are still buses without operational radios on the streets of New York, and that is unacceptable,” said Local 100 President John Chiarello to the assembled press.

Chiarello also shared a previously unknown detail about the recent birth of a baby girl on a city bus.

“There was a Bus Operator who helped deliver a baby last week, who was praised by management, but what they didn’t tell you was that he had trouble getting through to command in that poor woman’s time of need. He did not get a response for five full minutes on the radio and had to use his cell phone to call 911 as this woman was in agony on the bus.”

Membership Meeting Brings over 2,500 to Javits Center; Chiarello Sets Tone for Contract Fight

JANUARY 26—More than 2,500 union members braved bitter cold temperatures on Saturday and packed the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan for the 2026 TWU Local 100 Mass Membership Meeting.

The event was our first mass meeting since 2023, and the first with John V. Chiarello at the helm as Local 100 President. Members filled the seats and lined the room to hear President Chiarello issue a resounding call for action in the run-up to the union’s 2026 contract fight. The central theme of this year’s meeting, “Our Fight, Our Contract, Our Future, Our Union”, formed the foundation of Chiarello’s fiery keynote address, which closed out the meeting.

To boos, he said the MTA had budgeted two percent for the 2026 contract. “Two percent raises. That’s not an offer — that’s an insult!”