TWU Local 100 Endorses Eric Adams for Mayor of New York City

APRIL 29 -- TWU Local 100 overwhelmingly and enthusiastically endorsed Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams for mayor today.

The Local 100 Executive Board voted overwhelmingly after hearing from eight leading candidates at the Union Hall in Brooklyn.

“Our members and officers have known Eric for a long time,” TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano said. “He’s stood with us in many battles and has always been there for us. He’s earned this endorsement and richly deserves it.”

Working in the Heat

Working in hot environments is not safe. Your body builds up heat when you work and sweats to get rid of it. Too much heat can make you tired, hurt your job performance, and increase your chance of injury. When the temperature changes quickly, you need time for your body to get adjusted to the heat. Be extra careful early in the summer when hot spells begin.

You have a right to a safe & comfortable work environment:

Clean water provided through a fountain, cooler or bottled water at all locations
Cool Work areas and break rooms
Ventilation to bring in clean air and take out hot air
Make adequate water supplies part of your daily workplace inspection

Need relief? Follow up with supervision immediately:

Bus- Call console, request immediate medical assistance
RTO- command 212-712-4480
CED- call your Barn Chair or Local Union rep
MOW- control 212-712-4120

If needed, file a Safety Rule Dispute Resolution Form.

For Stations: To follow up with supervision, call your respective Field Office. If you are a CTA, you can also ask for a comfort by entering the booth to cool down. If you feel unwell, you must notify OSAC and inform them that you are going home. Doctor’s lines will be needed on your return. Field Office numbers are as follows: 125th Street: 212-712-3127 or 718-436-8421; 44th Street: 212-424-5407 or -5408; 7th Ave: 718-243-3903 or 243-3905; Parsons-Archer: 718-334-8106. OSAC is 347-694-6500. Sick Desk for CTA’s ext. 42.

Click here to download a printed version of this message. Print it out and post it in your workplace.

For Stations Department members, click here.

One good flyer deserves another.

London Calling! TWU Local 100 Glad to Help Out

London’s Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers Union (the RMT) – our brothers in arms across the pond – found inspiration in our recent graphic campaign to slow trains and prevent subway fatalities. We sent them our graphics files and they went to work, repurposing our graphic image of a chalk outline on the roadbed and making it the centerpiece of their campaign to bring back laid off workers who ensure safety on the Bakerloo line. The line’s management cut staffing, forcing train operators to drive out of service trains into stations or “sidings” in yards without checking for passengers who didn’t get off in time. The RMT points to the case of a 12-year old boy who found himself alone in a yard walking the tracks. Now the public is getting the message that this unsafe practice should end and that they should let London Underground management know they need to bring back the laid-off staff. See the RMT’s flyer here.

TWU Local 100 President John V. Chiarello Makes Labor Power 100 List

AUGUST 27—TWU Local 100 congratulates President John V. Chiarello for his inclusion in City & State’s 2025 Labor Power 100.

President Chiarello’s profile mentions his success in securing a commitment from the MTA to hire 300 more maintenance workers, his partnership with the NYPD’s Benevolent Association to increase transit safety and his demands for timely workers compensation payments.

The list, which consists of “New York’s most influential union chiefs and worker advocates”, also includes International President John Samuelsen and TWU Local 101 President Constance Bradley.

A Message Regarding Union Leadership

AUGUST 26—At today's Local 100 Executive Board meeting, J. P. Patafio was removed from office as a Vice President.

The Executive Board found that Patafio violated the constitution and placed him in bad standing for three years.

TWU Local 100 Rallies to Support Assaulted Train Operator at Court Hearing

AUGUST 25—Dozens of TWU Local 100 members gathered Monday at Brooklyn Criminal Supreme Court to support Myran Pollack, a Train Operator who was viciously attacked with a knife on October 8, 2024 at the Utica Ave. station.

Pollack, who was weeks away from retirement, was stabbed 11 times after he woke a passenger at the end of the line around 10:00 AM. Jonathan Davalos, 27, was arrested and charged with attempted murder.

Train Operator Bitten by Emotionally Disturbed Man After Intervening in Attack on Female Passenger

AUGUST 23—A Train Operator working the D line Friday night was bitten in the leg by an emotionally disturbed man after he intervened in an attack on a female passenger.

Train Operator Ellerbee, with seven years on the job, was quick to react when he heard a child’s cries and stepped out of his cab to see a crazed man yelling and lunging at straphangers while aboard the train near the Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn.

“I heard a kid say ‘Driver, driver’. I stopped the train outside Stillwell,” said Ellerbee. “When I came out, he had the girl on the wall,” said Ellerbee, who described a woman being cornered while the man yelled “zombie-like words”.

“He backed off her and he lunged at me but he didn’t do anything. I told the guy sit the f down and don’t move. He went and sat down and I thought it was over.”

UPDATE: Facebook page secured

AUGUST 22 — TWU Local 100 has regained control of our Facebook page.

We apologize for any inconvenience and thank law enforcement for their assistance in this matter.

TWU Local 100 Hosts Kick-off Reception for Cancer fundraiser

AUGUST 20—TWU Local 100 leadership and others hosted the 20th Anniversary Kick-off Reception for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of The Bronx on Tuesday evening.

The celebration, held at a Cuban restaurant on Grand Concourse, was the first of what will be a series of events sponsored by the American Cancer Society to raise awareness and funding for breast cancer research.

“We get a lot of requests for donations from different organizations, and I have to tell you, I have no problem signing this check for American Cancer Society,” TWU Local 100 President John V. Chiarello said to applause from the crowd. “This is a very worthwhile cause because like I said, everyone knows someone who has had cancer.”

TWU Carriage Drivers Fight Back

AUGUST 19—TWU Local 100 members from across the spectrum of buses and subways came out today to support their carriage driver siblings in a rally outside Council Member Erik Bottcher’s midtown office.

Bottcher has been targeting the welfare of both the Central Park carriage drivers and the horses with demands the carriages be banned and claims that the animals, who are loved and treasured by the drivers, are mistreated.

“Why ruin this industry? What, over rich, elite people who want the real estate from the stables? Give me a break. Tell Erik Bottcher to come off his high horse and get down here,” said TWU Local 100 President John V. Chiarello, standing alongside hundreds of Local 100 members.

Defending Our Horses -- and Their Drivers

AUGUST 14 -- TWU Local 100 is fighting to preserve a 167-year-old tradition—taking horse-carriage rides in Central Park—and  protecting hundreds of blue-collar jobs.

Carriage rides in the city’s most famous park began when the first section opened in 1858. The tradition faces opposition from some City Council members, animal rights extremists, and now the non-profit Central Park Conservancy, which ludicrously claimed earlier this week the horse-carriages pose a safety risk to the public. 

Appearing on Eyewitness News, shop steward and Carriage-Horse Driver Christina Hansen said the real danger in the park comes from the hordes of e-bikes, motorized scooters, and illegally motorized pedicabs.  

“[The Parks Conservancy] is more interested in making the park a place for anybody with an e-bike or e-vehicle to zoom around. It’s total chaos.”

Transit Workers Turn out for Dominican Celebration and Parade on 6th Avenue

AUGUST 10 – Transit Workers paraded up 6th Avenue for the 43rd Annual Dominican Day Parade, saluting the nearly three-quarters of a million New Yorkers of Dominican ancestry, including TWU Local 100 members. One of those – our own Carlos Bernabel, Secretary-Treasurer of TWU Local 100 – was honored as an Ambassador of Hope at an early morning breakfast in Inwood where unions and political leaders gathered.
 
TWU Local 100’s Political Action Director, Sharase Debouse, was also recognized. Warmly embraced by Adriano Espaillat, the first Dominican-American to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, she gave her remarks first in Spanish and then translated for the crowd.
 
“Thank you all so much for this honor,” she said. “I do this work because I love it. I love my community, I love my people, and I love labor.”
 

TWU Contingent at APRI Conference in Chicago

AUGUST 9 -- TWU Local 100 is participating in the A. Philip Randolph Institute's 54th annual National Educational Conference in Chicago, Illinois. The Conference was founded by noted civil rights and labor leaders A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin. You can read more about the history of the APRI here.

APRI unites action for civil rights and for labor. TWU Local 100 Training and Upgrading Director Charles Jenkins, who is also the Executive Chair of our Civil & Human Rights Committee, is attending along with Brothers and Sisters from TWU Local 291. In the photos Jenkins stands with TWU members along with APRI President Clayola Brown (along with Al Sharpton) and noted actor and activist Danny Glover.

Justine Randall: Accused in thefts of trains

Transit Must Move Faster to Prevent Train Thefts

AUGUST 8--An epidemic of youthful train thefts is rocking the system and the MTA is moving slower than molasses to address it.
 
Just two weeks ago, Justine Randall, 18, was arrested for allegedly using stolen keys to gain access to an N Train in Astoria, Queens, driving it one stop southbound. Randall – a serial train hijacker who also purloins MTA property and has attacked a Transit worker—was in court yesterday after previously jumping bail and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. Randall currently has cases in Queens, Bronx, and Brooklyn courts.
 
It’s not like this is news to the MTA. Over two years ago, in March of 2023, after two suspects stole a train in Brooklyn, the Transit Authority said that it was “exploring the possibility of adding biometric identification measures” to prevent thefts. Today, that solution is still covered in bureaucratic red tape. Stories broke earlier this year of groups of kids boarding and driving out-of-service or laid-up trains on joyrides, creating videos for social media and having the time of their young lives while they exploit the weaknesses of MTA’s security. Other reports found young people stealing train crew equipment.