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Vintage Buses Shine at the New York City Transit Museum Bus Festival

SEPTEMBER 22—A selection of five vintage buses made their way from the Bronx to Brooklyn Bridge Park for New York City Transit’s annual Bus Festival on Sunday, an event crowded with nostalgia and transit enthusiasts.

TWU Local 100 members worked tirelessly to prepare the buses for the festival, getting them into place 4 hours before the event’s 10 AM start time.

“When it comes to stuff liek this there’s people behind the scenes who actually really care, a lot of times I want to say it’s their life’s work,” said Larry Vila, a MaBSTOA Maintainer of 20 years and shop steward from the Zerega Overhaul Shop.

Models from the 1930s through the 1990s and a modern electric bus were the attractions at the park, with some lines wrapping around the corner and down the block.

TWU's 27th Constitutional Convention Wraps in Las Vegas

SEPTEMBER 19 — TWU's 27th Constitutional Convention wrapped up in Las Vegas with International President John Samuelsen and his slate reelected for another term, several resolutions passed to protect members and grow the union and many guest speakers. See you in 2029 for the next one.

Gary Rosario Sworn In as New TA Surface VP

SEPTEMBER 18 — Gary Rosario, most recently Division Chair of TA Surface, was sworn in yesterday as the new VP of TA Surface during an Executive Committee meeting held in Las Vegas during the TWU Constitutional Convention.

Rosario, repeating after TWU Local 100 President John V. Chiarello, swore to “bear true and faithful allegiance to the international and the local union and the cause of all organized labor.”

Mayor Adams Blindsides TWU; Backs Carriage Horse Ban

SEPTEMBER 18 — In a video released Wednesday, while walking through Central Park wearing a Teamsters jacket with its horsehead logo, Mayor Eric Adams said that “we are taking the steps to ban the horse carriage industry in the City of New York… it’s the humane thing to do.”

Referring to a bill pending in the City Council called Ryder’s Law which would sunset the industry, he said, “they already have 20 sponsors, so there’s no reason we can finally end the horse carriage industry in the city.”

TWU Local 100 represents the 170 owners and drivers who operate the carriages that take passengers through Central Park, providing one of New York’s most memorable experiences for thousands of tourists each year.

For nearly 10 years, TWU has been fighting allegations from animal rights activists who say the horses are mistreated. Evidence and testimonials from multiple veterinarians show they are well treated and well cared for.

Stations Department Mourns Collecting Agent Eric Irizarry, 61

SEPTEMBER 18 — Eric Irizarry, a Collecting Agent with 19 years of service with NYC Transit, died on September 15 after suffering a heart attack on his way to work, Division Vice Chair Pedro Rivera said.

Our Union Brother, who worked out of the 14th Street AFC shop, had been out on a three-month leave for health problems but was recently cleared by the MAC to return to duty. But as he was coming to work on Saturday, September 13th, Irizarry got into a fender bender on the FDR Drive at around 5PM, Rivera said. While dealing with the accident paperwork, Irizarry experienced chest pains and collapsed. The driver of the other vehicle called 911, and a City ambulance took the Collecting Agent to Metropolitan Hospital in upper Manhattan where he was admitted, Rivera said. Irizarry died the following Monday.

Rivera remembered Brother Irizarry as “a good worker. He was always joking around. He was somebody you wanted to be around.”

He leaves his wife, Isabel, and her children from another marriage. Rivera has been assisting her with navigating through NYCERS and the MTA BSC to obtain death benefits. The Union has a contractual active duty death benefit of $50,000 and the retirement system provides a death benefit equal to three years’ salary.

Brother Irizarry will be cremated and a memorial service has yet to be scheduled, Rivera said.

Day 3 at TWU Convention Focuses on Worker Safety, Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez Pledges His Support

SEPTEMBER 17 — The focus of much of Day 3 at TWU's Constitutional Convention in Las Vegas was worker safety, with Local 100 taking the lead.

A vote on a resolution to advance safety in the workplace was introduced by Local 100 Administrative VP Alexander Kemp.

“Most of these fights that we have collectively as a union, when it comes to safety, are usually on the ground and in real time, and unfortunately when those stands are not taken the cost is ultimately people’s lives,” said Kemp from the podium.

One of the three TWU members tragically killed on the job since the last convention in 2021 was Local 100 Trackworker Hilarion Joseph, who was fatally struck by a subway train on November 29, 2023.

Local 101 President Constance Bradley at the Mic at NESE Rally

TWU Local 100 Joins Electrical and Utility Workers from Local 101 at Rally for Natural Gas Pipeline

SEPTEMBER 17 — TWU Local 100 rallied in downtown Brooklyn in solidarity with Local 101, representing National Grid utility workers, who know that a new pipeline is needed for a reliable energy system and the continued employment of thousands of blue-collar workers.

The demonstration took place outside the Citytech auditorium on Jay Street, where the New York State Power Authority is holding a hearing on energy policy, allowing public comment.

At issue for the unions is whether New York State will greenlight the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project (NESE), a 37-mile underwater pipeline from New Jersey, which would bring an additional 400,000 dekatherms of natural gas per day to the Northeast, including to New York City.

Local 101 President Constance Bradley flew in from the TWU Constitutional Convention in Las Vegas specifically to address the rallying members.

“Major infrastructure projects like this one are the heartbeat of our workforce. These projects build and strengthen communities, create new opportunities, and ensure that front line workers benefit from New York's economic growth," Bradley told the crowd.

John Samuelsen and Slate Reelected to Leadership of Transport Workers Union of America at Constitutional Convention

SEPTEMBER 16 — International President John Samuelsen and his slate were reelected by acclamation for the second time at TWU’s 27th Constitutional Convention in Las Vegas today.

The rest of the victorious Top Five, who ran unopposed as the United Unstoppable slate, includes International Executive Vice President Alex Garcia, International Secretary-Treasurer Jerome Lafragola, International Administrative Vice President Curtis Tate and International Administrative Vice President Mike Mayes.

“Local 100 is my home,” Samuelsen told the hundreds in attendance after he was elected.

TWU's 27th Constitutional Convention Begins in Las Vegas

SEPTEMBER 15 — TWU’s 27th Constitutional Convention began today in Las Vegas, a weeklong event attended by air, rail and transit locals from across the country that will feature guest speakers, roundtable discussions, votes on resolutions and nominations to leadership office.

Local 100 President John V. Chiarello read the rules of the convention to the hundreds of members in the ballroom, and Local 100 Executive Board Member and New York City Employees Retirement System Trustee Mario Galvet presented one of the resolutions—#17, concerning the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.

“You see a lot of videos and stills of all manner of workers engaged in debris removal, mainly. You see lots of heavy equipment in those images that bear the names of all sorts of private construction firms. You should understand that that is a really not representative image of what actually happened that day,” said Galvet before reading the resolution, which aims to preserve the history of TWU’s involvement as first responders and included over 3,500 New York City Transit Workers joining the rescue and recovery effort at Ground Zero.

After 31 years, Pitkin Barn Chair Adelina Carson-Leath Retires

SEPTEMBER 12 -- For 31 years, Adelina “Lena” Carson-Leath called transit her home.

First Carson-Leath performed the grunt work of terminal cleaning, handling what’s left on the trains after they reach the last stop, then she got under the trains — working with equipment that was already old when she was born and needed to be pampered. She rose from CTA to Car Inspector when women in that title comprised less than one percent of the CED workforce. Understanding how unions level the playing field and contribute to positive change, she ran for the TWU Local 100 Executive Board and won, and then was voted chair of Pitkin Barn by her co-workers, holding that position for 13 years.