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At TWU Breakfast, State Comptroller DiNapoli Renews Commitment to Working People

At an educational breakfast hosted by TWU Local 100 at our union hall in downtown Brooklyn, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli re-emphasized his commitment to keeping State pension money in defined benefit plans and said his office is exploring new ways to increase retirement security for all New Yorkers. The event, coordinated by TWU Political Action Director Marvin Holland and his team, brought together Brooklyn clergy and small business owners to hear DiNapoli and other leaders including TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen, Treasurer Earl Phillips, and NYC Central Labor Council head Vinnie Alvarez. In remarks to the audience, DiNapoli said that New York State's retirement system, of which he is the sole trustee, had a 13% rate of return on investments last year. "When people say that public pensions are unsustainable, it's just not true," he said. He received big applause for fighting to keep the retirement system's pension funds paying out defined benefits to pensioners, rather than converting them to 401 (k) type plans in 2012. He noted that defined benefit plans help retirees cope with market downturns, whereas 401 (k)'s can get wiped out by market fluctuations.

Secretary Treasurer Earl Phillips Addresses PEF Leadership Conference

Local 100 Secretary Treasurer Earl Phillips delivered a message of support and solidarity from TWU to the Region 10 Public Employees Federation (PEF) Leadership Conference on June 7, 2014.

Region 10 covers thousands of state workers in Manhattan and the Bronx.  PEF represents 54,000 employees in 12 regions across New York State.

The conference drew scores of local PEF leaders, executive board members, stewards, and statewide officers including PEF President Susan Kent.

Region 10 Director Jennifer Faucher had requested that Phillips present details on the recently concluded Local 100 contract campaign with the MTA.  PEF is preparing to go into negotiations on a new contract with the State of New York.

In his remarks, Phillips outlined the key strategy moves during TWU’s two-plus years of negotiations with the MTA.  He discussed the union’s two major public campaigns in 2012 – MTA Can Pay and MTA, Money Thrown Away – that utilized free media to get the union’s message out. 

 

Espaillat, with City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, refuses to concede in Hamilton Heights

Espaillat, Not Conceding, Facing Uphill Fight to Count Absentee Ballots

After the polls closed last night in Hamilton Heights, State Senator Adriano Espaillat gave a defiant speech saying he would not concede to longtime Congressman Charles Rangel until all the ballots were counted. The New York Times reported: "With 100 percent of precincts reporting after 1 a.m., Mr. Rangel led by just over 1,800 votes, or 47.4 percent to 43.6 percent." But there are 2,834 absentee ballots outstanding, which still must be counted. Unlikely as a reversal would be, those ballots could still swing the race for Espaillat. TWU Local 100's Political Action Committee helped shave Rangel's victory margin. The smart money had Rangel up by ten points in late polling, but his final percentage spread over Espaillat was less than half that.

The Union's PAC team phonebanked our members heavily and distributed over 20,000 pieces of literature. We estimated that phone calls alone added 300 votes to Espaillat's total, which only counts direct conversations with members. Messages left and literature distributed likely brought in hundreds more. TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen and Secretary-Treasurer Earl Phillips campaigned with Espaillat, and Brother Philllips was present at the 809 Restaurant on Dyckman Street in Hamilton Heights where supporters gathered to await the outcome of the vote. Local 100 pushed Mr. Espaillat's record in defending mass transit against cuts and supporting union jobs as our main argument for why he should succeed Rangel in Congress.

$469K in past medical claims won for members

When the TA moved our health coverage from GHI to Empire in 2011, our contract said they had to keep our benefits the same or better. But, some parts of our coverage were not the same. One by one, Local 100 has been fighting to ensure our full benefits are maintained — and we’re winning.

An important win is coverage for clinic visits. We  had always been covered for care in a hospital clinic. Under Empire, however, claims for clinic visits had been denied.

As a result of a contract grievance brought last year by Local 100, the  TA has instructed Empire to cover services provided at clinics and to reprocess all previous claims which were previously denied for this reason. They have also provided the Union with a full report.

The bottom line? 655 members have been saved bills totaling $469 thousand. Did you have a claim for clinic service denied by Empire BC/BS? If so, has it been reprocessed and covered by Empire? If not, contact the Union’s Member Services Department at 347-643-8065.