Since 1969, the TWU International has awarded 15 four-year college scholarships each year to college-bound dependents of TWU members. Each award recipient receives $1,200 annually, for a total of $4,800 over the four-year college period. Quill Scholarship awards have benefited hundreds of families throughout the TWU, including scores from Local 100. l
Frequently Asked Questions on the Quill Scholarship
Who is eligible? Sons and daughters and dependent brothers and sisters (claimed with IRS) of present, retired, or deceased TWU members who are High School Seniors and who will enter an accredited college of their own choice beginning with the Fall term are eligible. Sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters of full-time, paid officers of the Union are not eligible.
When is the deadline? All applications must be received by the Michael J. Quill Scholarship Fund by May 5, 2014.
How is the scholarship paid? The scholarship money is paid directly to the college or university that the successful applicant attends.
How does a person apply? Fill out and send in the application, that can be found on the International Union’s website.
How are the winners decided? By a random drawing held in May of each year at TWU headquarters in Washington, D.C. Winners will be notified immediately thereafter.
by Tanique Williams, reprinted from the Legislative Gazette
Elected officials stood in solidarity on Tuesday with the Transport Workers Union Local 100 chapter — representing 38,000 active transportation workers and about 26,000 retirees — to demand a restoration of funds to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority budget, instead of the $40 million deduction Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed. State lawmakers, those primarly with New York City constituency, spoke at a press conference in the Legislative Office Building to denounce Cuomo's proposed $40 million cut to MTA. The funds should instead be used to restore critical bus and subway services and put the breaks on fair hikes, advocates said.
"The MTA's position is that they do not have the money to restore the service yet New York state government believes they're flush enough with cash to take $40 million out of the dedicated revenues that the MTA has," said John Samuelsen, TWU Local 100 president. "TWU lives within the five boroughs of New York City, our families constitute the riding public," he said. "We come here today to stand with our friends in the Legislature [and the riding] public of New York City; the folks that use this system, not the bureaucrats that make the decisions to defund the system and to cut services."
"They deserve every ounce of the service that was cut back in 2010 restored — the $40 million should be earmarked for that. The MTA cannot have its cake and eat it too. New York state government cannot have its cake and eat it too. You can't defund the MTA by $40 million that's rightfully theirs and rightfully belongs to the people of New York City that ride this system," Samuelsen continued.
Some 1,200 TWU members thronged the halls of Albany on March 25th, wearing green t-shirts that proclaimed zero tolerance for "net zero," and "the MTA MUST pay." State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the most prominent politician to address TWU at the capitol's convention center, got the largest round of applause for scoring the MTA on $1.9 billion in savings that they don't want to pass along to workers. President Samuelsen was joined by two dozen lawmakers at a 1 PM press conference pushing back against the Governor's recent $40 million 'sweep' of dedicated transit funds from the MTA's budget. Bus partitions to prevent assaults were also high on the agenda, with one politician after another vowing to enact A7424/S5684, which would mandate their installation. After a lively program at the convention center and the press conference, where a group photo was taken, TWU Local 100 members staged a sit-in demanding a "fair contract now" on the 'million dollar staircase' leading up to the State Senate chambers in the capitol building. President Samuelsen briefed members on the day's accomplishments while other top officers held the union's "no concessions" banner.
This video in memory of Bob Crow, the dynamic and militant leader of London’s bus and subway workers union who died this week of a massive heart attack at age 52, was first shown at the Quill-Connolly commemoration on March 15.
Since his death, accolades for Crow have poured in from labor and other sectors in Britain and throughout the world.
TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen said: “Bob’s death is a crushing blow to Britain’s and the world’s labor movements. He was without question the most important and profound voice for industrial unionism and the working class in the world.”
Standing by our statue of Mike Quill are (l-r) TWU Local 100 Sec-Treasurer Earl Phillips, Rita O'Hare, Sinn Fein's representative to the United States, Dublin MP Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams, and President Samuelsen
TWU Local 100 members and invited guests from other TWU locals turned out on Saturday to mark the Union's annual Quill-Connolly day, which honors the legacy of TWU founder Mike Quill and Irish labor leader and patriot James Connolly, who was executed by the British for his role in the Easter Rising of 1916. This year, attendees included Gerry Adams, President of Ireland's Sinn Fein, and Mary Lou McDonald, a Member of the Irish Parliament representing Sinn Fein. Also at the Hall and speaking about working class solidarity and the fight for fair wages were Joe O'Flynn, General Secretary of SIPTU, Ireland's largest union, and Eddie Glackin, former chief executive of SIPTU's Irish Trade Union Trust. A pall was cast over the gathering by the untimely demise last week of UK labor leader Bob Crow, General Secretary of the Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers, who has been mourned on both sides of the Atlantic. A stalwart friend of TWU Local 100 and champion of the working class and socialism, Bob was remembered by all who spoke including President John Samuelsen as a fighter for the common worker who can truly stand in the pantheon along with Quill and Connolly. We will post our tribute to Bob Crow on our website, as well as videos from the event, shortly.
MARCH 14 -- TWU Local 100 today became the first union in the City to jump into the hotly contested Democratic primary in the 13th Congressional District by endorsing State Sen. Adriano Espaillat. Local 100 President John Samuelsen made the announcement at a press conference at union headquarters in Brooklyn, with a beaming Espaillat at his side. Samuelsen said that more than 3,000 Local 100 members live in the 13th CD, which straddles Manhattan and the Bronx.
The Local 100 Executive Committee earlier voted unanimously to support Espaillat over long-time incumbent Charles Rangel and a second challenger, Rev. Michael Walrond. Samuelsen said that the union’s endorsement is based on Espaillat’s long record of support for fair contracts for transit workers as well as safe and clean working conditions. Espaillat said that TWU’s endorsement is “extremely important to me” because it comes from the “men and women who move this city, who get us to work and home safely every day.” He also said that transit workers contribute mightily to the City’s economic vitality. Espaillat added that he would be a “champion” for workers in Congress.
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Metro-North has allowed its emphasis on trains’ on-time performance to “routinely” overshadow its safety operations, according to a Federal Railroad Administration review.
Case 6 on the calendar for NYS Supreme Court Part 32 was called at 11:45, and the young defendant, Domonic Whilby, 22, was brought into court before a divided audience: transit workers and family of slain Bus Operator William Pena on the one side, Whilby’s relatives on the other. News cameras rolled as an Assistant District Attorney Randolph Clarke, Jr. detailed the commission of the crime: How Whilby, drunk, stole an 18,000 pound truck from the loading bay of the Dream Hotel at 5:22 in the morning, barreled down 16th street, ran a red light, struck a light vehicle, ran another red light, struck a coffee vendor’s stand, then hit an M-14 Bus that was proceeding on a green light down 14th Street causing the death of the driver.
Bob Crow, the dynamic and militant leader of London’s bus and subway workers union, and a frequent speaker at TWU events here in New York, has died of a massive heart attack at age 52. He had been the elected General Secretary of the Railway, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) since 2002.
The RMT's assistant general secretary Steve Hedley said: “The RMT has lost a great leader and a great man and the whole working class has lost a true leader.”
TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen said: “Bob’s death is a crushing blow to Britain’s and the world’s labor movements. He was without question the most important and profound voice for industrial unionism and the working class in the world.”
At a celebration for International Women's Day, our own Recording Secretary spoke out not only for the women on the job who the public sees every day, but for the women who are behind the scenes in the transit system. She represented women in transit at the March 7th event at CUNY's Murphy Insitute along with other prominent women in the NYC labor movement. Also attending were Public Advocate Letitia James and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito. Other women from labor included DC 37's Barbara Edmonds and Yolanda Pumarejo, the UFT's Evelyn de Jesus, Helen Schaub of 1199, and Elly Spicer of the NYC District Council of Carpenters.
On February 26, UPS fired a driver and longtime union activist at its Maspeth depot without the fair hearing he was contractually entitled to. In response, 250 drivers, members of Teamster Local 804, walked out in solidarity with their Brother and to defend their rights.
In retaliation, UPS has now notified all 250 drivers who participated in the protest that they are on notice of termination. UPS is threatening the jobs of its employees in order to defend management’s unilateral breach of the contract and stifle protest.
TWU Local 100 condemns this attack on the rights of hard-working men and women.
Join Teamster 804 members citywide, the Working Families Party, Public Advocate Tish James and TWU Local 100 in demanding justice at Maspeth. Sign the petition here to add your voice.
MARCH 6 -- A hundred angry school bus drivers, matrons and mechanics rallied in bitter cold outside the Mile Square school bus company's main depot on Nepperhan Avenue in Yonkers to urge owner Harry Rodriguez to bring hourly pay up to other comparable companies and improve safety conditions at his facilities. The crowd of workers told the news media that a contract with decent raises is long overdue at Mile Square. TWU Local 100 Administrative Vice President Angel Giboyeaux, who has been negotiating with Mr. Rodriguez, said that workers haven't seen a raise for years. Local 100 Secretary-Treasurer Earl Phillips, former Director of Local 100's Safety Department, said that sanitary facilities were grossly inadequate. Just last week, union reps placed a dozen buses out of service for mechanical or other safety defects.
A February 21 press conference at the Union Hall afforded Long Island Railroad unions the opportunity to speak out about how the MTA is provoking a strike at the railroad that could have dire consequences for New York City and the entire tri-state region. These videos give an overview of the situation and detailed answers, which are often missing from the clips on the evening news. This is what union solidarity is all about – TWU joining with our brothers and sisters on the LIRR and providing the workers’ assessment of what the MTA is doing and what needs to be done.
Guests packed the third floor of Local 100’s new union hall at 195 Montague Street in Brooklyn for TWU’s 2014 Black History Celebration on Saturday Feb. 22, 2014.
For the first time, the union’s Black History event was co-sponsored by the New York Chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) alongside TWU Local 100. Special guests included Bill Lucy, the founder and first President of the national CBTU, and John Bland, TWU’s International Administrative Vice President and a stalwart of the civil rights movement in Houston, TX. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, New York City Public Advocate Letitia “Tish” James and City Council member Robert Cornegy also attended.
Local 100 President John Samuelsen, Secretary Treasurer Earl Phillips, Recording Secretary Latonya Crisp Sauray, Administrative Vice President Angel Giboyeaux and Vice Presidents Maurice Jenkins and Tony Utano attended, as did TWU International President Harry Lombardo and International Vice President and Transit Division Director Jerome Lafragola. Current CBTU national President Terry Melvin, who is also Secretary Treasurer of the New York State AFL-CIO, was on hand as well.
Newly elected CBTU/New York Chapter President Charles Jenkins, an elected Local 100 officer from MOW/LES and a member of the Local 100 staff, served as emcee. Co-hosts were TWU Local 100 VP for Stations Maurice Jenkins and TWU Local 100 Senior Director of Operations Curtis Tate.
Jackie Roe-Adams, a Local DC 37 President, began the program with a beautiful rendition of the Negro National Anthem.
Bill Lucy, the retired Executive Vice President of national AFSCME, spoke about the founding of CBTU in 1972 as a means to insure that the concerns of black workers were being heard at the highest levels of the labor movement. Lucy said that his frustration over the AFL-CIO’s decision to remain neutral in the 1972 presidential election prompted his decision to form the organization. Over the past four decades, CBTU has served as a springboard for advancement of black labor leaders in the movement.
Texas native John Bland spoke about his involvement in helping to found the Martin Luther King-inspired Progressive Youth Association during his days as a student at Texas Southern University. That movement effectively battled Jim Crow through peaceful demonstrations in the early 1960’s. John’s activism played a key role in facilitating the racial integration of lunch counters, movie theaters and other community establishments in Houston.
