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A Message from TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano

APRIL 4 -- The MTA today will begin distributing N95 masks to TWU Local 100 members in the field. While we all recognize there was a global shortage, and we all wanted this safety equipment to come sooner, this is a very good development.

From the very beginning, the Transport Workers Union has had to compel the MTA to take some important safety-related actions, or had to push them to act with greater urgency.

Cesar Torres, Grand Avenue Bus Operator, Dies of the Virus

Local 100 regretfully announces the death of Bus Operator Cesar Torres, a 20-year veteran of Fresh Pond and Grand Avenue Depots. He was only 55 years old and died of the Cornonavirus after going out sick in recent days. He is the 10th Transit Worker and the 12th TWU Local 100 member overall to succumb to the disease.

Grand Avenue Depot Chair Clarence Patterson said that Brother Torres was “a wonderful guy, very family oriented, and always in a good mood. The Depot is in shock.

Gov. Cuomo Says Transit Workers Are "Doing Heroic Work"

APRIL 3 -- Gov. Cuomo singled out Transit Workers as "doing heroic work" in his daily press conference from Albany this morning. He noted that transit workers have a "very high rate" of illness due to the Coronavirus, and he personally thanked TWU and the workforce for its "heroic" efforts.

School Bus Driver Alejandro Bustamante Is Victim of the Virus

The union sadly announces the passing of Alejandro Bustamante, a School Bus driver for the First Mile Square School Bus Company in Yonkers, NY. Brother Bustamante is the 11th Local 100 member, and first from our School Bus Division, to die of the Coronavirus plague. Brother Bustamante had been with Mile Square since 2014 and was a resident of Yonkers.

Sandra Claderon, a friend and co-worker whose own daughter was transported to school on Brother Bustamante’s bus, said: “Alejandro took my daughter to school safely every day. He was responsible, respectful and always smiling. He was a very religious person who was very involved with his church. He will be deeply missed by all at Mile Square.”

School Bus Division Chair Gus Moghrabi said that Brother Bustamante’s death “has hit our Division hard. We are all extremely upset about his passing, and extend our deepest condolences to his family and friends.”

Local 100 President Tony Utano echoed those sentiments, and add: “Alejandro’s death is a stark reminder that this blight affects every corner of America, and every segment of our society. We all mourn with his family and his co-workers at Mile Square.”

3 New Laws Provide Leave for COVID-19

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APRIL 2 -- At the Union's request, the MTA issued a memo and accompanying informational posters regarding leaves available for members who are ill or quarantined due to COVID-19. Click on the image for the main memo. Here are links to the informational posters.

New York State Paid Sick Leave for Employees

Rights Under the Families First Coronavirus Act

MTA Memo — New Federal and State COVID-19 Related Leave Laws

Congresswoman Grace Meng Donates 3,000 Masks & Hand Sanitizer

Local 100 Pres Tony Utano sends our sincere thanks to Congresswoman Grace Meng for her donation of 3,000 masks and hand sanitizers to Local 100 members. In the photo, TWU Int'l Rep Angelo Cucuzza accepts supplies from a staff members at the Congresswoman's Flushing field office. We're all in this together.

Utano: Passengers Need to Cover Noses and Mouths While Riding

APRIL 2 -- TWU Local 100 is urging the MTA to strongly recommend riders cover their noses and mouths with bandanas or scarfs while riding if they do not have masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Government officials should consider making this a requirement at some point if there isn’t voluntary complance.

“This is a common-sense move that will prevent the spread of the virus and could ease the concerns of both transit workers and riders,” TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano said

TEMM Robert Sarutto Succumbs to Virus, Tenth Member to Die in Pandemic

A ninth New York City Transit Worker, and tenth Local 100 member overall, has passed away of the dreaded Coronavirus. Robert Sarutto, 59, was one of several members at the TEMM Jay St. crew quarters who had called out sick from the virus. His condition worsened in recent days and he died at his home in Staten Island. Brother Sarutto had 23 years on the job in the Elevator and Escalator Department.

Ralph Arpaio, a close friend and co-worker said of Brother Sarutto: “He was dedicated and hard working. He was always the first one to jump in and help another. He had a great sense of humor and a big smile on his face all the time. He was a good hearted guy, loved by all and will be greatly missed.” He leaves behind his grieving wife, Roxanne, and a host of friends and co-workers in MOW.

MOW Vice President John Chiarello said, “this is a terrible blow to LE/S and all of our 8,000 workers in MOW. We are all praying for his wife, Roxanne, and will continue to be there for her and his loved ones."

Local 100 President Tony Utano said that Brother Sarutto’s passing “is another heartbreak for Maintenance of Way and all of Local 100. We are all devasted by the mounting losses in Local 100 and across our City and country. I ask that all in Local 100 pray for Brother Sarutto’s family and friends during their time of grief.”

TWU Mourns Phyllis Holley, Sister of Richard Holley

IB Image TWU Local 100 is mourning the passing of Phyllis Susan Holley, the older sister of Power Division Vice Chair Richard Holley. Phyllis has been a Conductor in the subways for the past four years after retiring from a career in the U.S. Post Office. Her husband, William had been caring for her at home as she battled virus-like symptoms. She passed away overnight at the age of 61.

Brother Holley said that the family is devastated by his sister’s passing. They are also praying for their brother, a Metro North employee, who is in the hospital with a confirmed case of the Coronavirus.

Vice President John Chiarello said that “all of MOW is praying for Richie’s family. Richie is a great union officer who has helped and supported this membership for years. Now, he needs our support to help him get through this time of grief for himself and his family,”

Local 100 President Tony Utano, himself a member of the Power Department and a close friend of Brother Holley, said: “Richie has a beautiful, closeknit family. I know this is a very difficult time for them, and we should all remember them in our thoughts and prayers.”

Richie Holley, 2nd from left, with his sister, Phyllis, and four brothers in a happy family photo. Phyllis, inset.

It’s the 40th Anniversary of TWU’s 1980 City-Wide Strike

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It was April Fools Day 1980, but the TWU Local 100 membership was not joking.

Thousands of New York City transit workers hit the picket lines on Tuesday morning, April 1, 1980, in the first City-wide transit strike in 15 years. The strike would last 11 tumultuous days.

New York City Mayor Ed Koch, who did more harm than good during the strike, lamented to the press: “The unthinkable has happened and now we have to figure out how to live with the unthinkable and we will.”

The man at the center of this watershed moment in TWU’s history was John Edward Lawe, a rugged Irish immigrant who had labored in a road repair crew and in Ireland’s peat bogs before arriving in America in 1949 at the age of 30.

Lawe, one of ten children to Luke and Kate Lawe from Strokestown, County Roscommon, Ireland, worked as an elevator operator in a Manhattan high-rise for one year before finding work as a Bus Cleaner for the old Fifth Avenue Coach Co. at the 132nd Street depot.

He became active in the union as a Shop Steward. During the 29-day bus strike in 1953, he served as a picket captain for maintenance. Later that year, Lawe switched to transportation and quickly rose up the union ladder. He was elected Transportation Section Chair in 1955 and then Chair for all of Fifth Ave. Coach Transportation. After the historic 1962 bus strike that led to the creation of MABSTOA, Lawe was elected Division 1 Recording Secretary immediately, and then Division 1 Chair in 1964.

Lawe served on the negotiating committee during the union’s first citywide transit strike in 1966. In 1968, he was elected Division 1 Vice President. Then in 1977, Lawe succeeded Ellis Van Riper as President of Local 100.

The decade of the 70’s was a turbulent financial period for New York City, which in 1975 teetered on the edge of bankruptcy. Who from that generation can forget the famous October 30, 1975 front page of the New York Daily News that blared “Ford to City: Drop Dead.” President Ford, the day before, had vowed to veto any Congressional bailout for the City.

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It's the 40th Anniversary of TWU's 1980 City-Wide Strike

Thousands of New York City transit workers hit the picket lines on Tuesday morning, April 1, 1980, in the first City-wide transit strike in 15 years. The strike would last 11 tumultuous days.