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TWU Tells Albany: #WEARENOTCRIMINALS

Capturing the anger of Bus Operators over the Vision Zero law that has criminalized their profession, Local 100 President John Samuelsen speaks to members who thronged the Empire State Plaza concourse for the Union’s Lobby Day event. Overturning the law – which has put Bus Operators under arrest even where no reckless or unlawful behavior has occurred – is a major objective of the Union for this legislative session both in Albany and at the New York City Council.

Working Families Party Endorses Bill to De-Criminalize Bus Operator Accidents

The New York State Working Families Party, an influential backer of Mayor de Blasio and other progressive elected officials, has issued a Memorandum of Support for City Council Bill Int. 663, "An amendment to Vision Zero law Int. No. 238, creating a new subdivision of the law clarifying exemption of City bus operators from right of way codification."

Read the Daily News story here.

The bill was introduced in the Council by Daneek Miller (D-Southeast Queens), a former Bus Driver, and has garnered significant support in the Council. It its Memorandum, the Working Families Party cites the "impossible situation" in which Bus Drivers are placed by the current Vision Zero law, which mandates an arrest for "failure to yield" at an intersection when there is a pedestrian accident. The impossible situation is created because mass transit Bus Operators, alone among public employees, must negotiate dozens of turns each day into busy pedestrian crosswalks where both the bus and the pedestrians have the right of way. When accidents occur, either through inadvertent carelessness on the part of the pedestrian, glare or lines of sight which prevent the Operator from seeing, the Operator is held culpable under Vision Zero even when no recklessness occurs.

The Bill would stop the automatic arrests of Bus Operators after "right of way" accidents, allowing the current MTA accident investigation system to take its course, assigning culpability, if warranted, following the investigation. Click "read more" for the complete text of the Memorandum of Support.

Eric Garner's Transit Family Comes to the Union's Black History Month Celebration

TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen and the rest of the Union's leadership greeted Alicia Flagg, the sister of Eric Garner, who died while being arrested by police officers on Staten Island seven months ago. Alicia is a New York City Transit Bus Operator, a member of TWU Local 100. Also on hand were Eric's mother, Gwen Carr, a retired Train Operator, and Eric and Alicia's Aunt, a Station Agent.

GCS workers on the MTA's in-house live camera feed at the Board Meeting.

Before MTA Board, GCS Workers Speak Truth to Power

Six courageous present and former employees of Global Contact Services (GCS), the MTA's call center operator for Access-A-Ride, came to the formal meeting of the MTA Board of Directors on February 25th to act out a four-minute presentation on just why GCS is an abusive employer. As Board Members and the press watched, the TWU Local 100 members (the union won a representation on the property, but GCS is refusing to negotiate) spoke of excessive firings, the practice of the company of outsourcing and off-shoring American jobs, unequal work distribution, lack of training, and unfair discipline. They outlined how workers at First Transit, the company that held the call center contract before GCS underbid them, were making $16 to $18 an hour. GCS took over and cut everyone's pay by $4 an hour, so that employees are now making $11 and $12 an hour, with the most senior worker now making just $12.61. The union has set up a website about GCS abuses at www.gcsstoptheabuse.com.