Italian-American Celebration Focused on Family, Tradition and a Contract

OCTOBER 12, 2026—Hundreds of TWU Local 100 officers and members packed El Caribe Country Club Caterers in Mill Basin Friday night for our annual Italian American Celebration event.

Dinner, dancing, laughter and solidarity contributed to the lively atmosphere, but there was another focus to the evening: honoring Italian heritage and culture.

MaBSTOA Division I Chair Sean Battaglia hosted the evening once again and likened Local 100 to a closeknit family. “Just like in a strong Italian family, a union is built on tradition, trust and respect. We may not always agree on everything, and we may come from different backgrounds, but when it matters the most, we stand together.”

International President John Samuelsen was the first speaker and echoed the family theme.

“It’s the same with every ethnicity in the room—we’re all here to take care of our families. We’re all working these jobs to take care of our families,” said Samuelsen. “This is why we come to work every day, and this is why we fight back and organize against these bosses every single day.”

TWU Local 100 President John V. Chiarello spoke next, remembering that he had hosted the event for many years.

Chiarello spoke about how his great-grandparents emigrated from Italy for the American Dream and remarked on how the attitude towards immigrants has changed, before bringing the topic to our contract.

“We have a contract that is not settled, and there’s a reason why,” said Chiarello, referencing “diabolical people”.

“Diabolical Janno Lieber is a guy that loves contractors, that loves giving away work, loves putting up signs for congestion pricing, but do you know what he doesn’t love? MTA workers,” said Chiarello.

“But rest assured we are going to keep fighting, I am going to keep fighting, I know I have John Samuelsen behind me and the international, and the officers and everyone in this room,” said Chiarello. "I will fight until we win.”

Click below to view the full gallery on Flickr.

Italian-American Celebration 2026