Union Inspects UV Light Designed to Kill Virus on Trains

Thursday, Aug. 13, 2020 -- TWU Local 100 Secretary-Treasurer Earl Phillips and CED Vice President Shirley Martin this morning inspected subway cars with air-purification technology designed to kill COVID-19.

The technology, which features ultra-violet lights installed in the air-circulation system, creates a low dose of airborne hydrogen peroxide in the air, giving the subway car a disinfected smell reminiscent of a hospital room or doctor’s office.

The question is whether the low dose of airborne hydrogen peroxide is strong enough to kill COVID-19. An outside laboratory has taken air samples and running tests, management officials said. “We are trying to do some new and positive things,” Secretary-Treasurer Phillips said. “The virus does not discriminate. We have to work together on this.”

NYC Transit’s vice president of CMO, John Santamaria, gave Phillips, Martin and Local 100 Safety Officer Dennis Jones a tour of the technology at the Corona Barn in Queens. The NYCT Office of System Safety and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are also participating in the tests.

About 75% of the air in a subway car at any given time is recycling through the interior network of vents, ducts and filters, management officials said. About 25% has just been drawn into that network from outside the train car. Each subway car in the test has two sets of ultra-violet lights in the ceiling air-circulation ducts. The lights produce an undetectable dose of hydrogen peroxide in the air at a level that is far below the safety threshold established by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, management officials said.

All of the air in a subway car is replaced with air from outside 18 times an hour, or once every three minutes, Santamaria said. All the air in a car will go through filters inside the duct every 60 seconds, he said. The air-circulation system includes vents pumping air from ceiling vents in cabs used by Train Operator and Conductors, he said. NYC Transit also is testing higher-grade filters as a possible means to reduce the transmission of the virus by riders.  The New York Times recently published an explanation of the air circulation inside subway cars and you can read it here.
 

Apprentices Graduate from 3-Year Program; Join MOW

JULY 29 -- 17 Transit Workers, formerly Traffic Checkers and Cleaners, have completed three years training as Carpenters, Masons, and Plumbers. They were congratulated in a ceremony at the Union Hall by TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano and Training and Upgrading Fund Director Charles Jenkins.

Samuelsen, Schumer Discuss Transit Funding on Zoom Teleconference

AUGUST 6 -- TWU International President John Samuelsen joined Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and other political and labor leaders to discuss this critical moment in mass transit. In order for us to allow our mass transit systems to recover from the brutal economic impact of low ridership due to COVID-19, we have to ensure that Congress passes the latest relief bill. That bill provides $32 billion for mass transit funding across the nation, as well as funding for hazard pay. The take-away is for transit workers to call their Senators to urge them to pass the bill. For those of us with family or friends in Red States, this is especiallly crucial, as those Senators may be voting against. This is an all-hands-on-deck effort to save our mass transit systems.

Coming Soon: New Crew Quarters for 2/5 Line Workers

AUGUST 6 -- Local 100 officers did a walkthrough today with management to inspect new crew quarters for train crews on the 2/5 lines at the corner of Nostrand Avenue.  This much needed new facility features air conditioning, heat, TV, refrigerator, microwave, restroom and other amenities for a comfortable break area.  The space will replace the current crew quarters at Flatbush Avenue, which is among the smallest in the system. 

Union Asks FL Retirees to Get Involved in Transit Funding, Hazard Pay Fight

Union Honors Ulmer Park Depot Chair Nat Jenkins

Members and officers, including President Tony Utano, gathered Friday at Ulmer Park Depot in Brooklyn to wish Depot Chair Nat Jenkins good luck in his forthcoming retirement. Among those joining the event, from the left, are: Division Chair Armando Serrano, Sal Ferrera, former Ulmer Park Chair James “Momo” Manzella, Nat Jenkins, President Utano, Vice Chair Rhonda Hopkins, Drew Ramirez and Elston Morris.

Utano, Schumer Discuss Hazard Pay, Aid to MTA

JUNE 29 -- TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano and U.S. Senator Charles Schumer discussed efforts to secure federal funding for mass transit and hazard pay during a meeting Wednesday afternoon. Schumer (D-NY) and Utano spoke for about 25-minutes via Zoom: Utano from the Union Hall on Montague St., and Schumer from his office in Washington, D.C.

The Democrat-controlled House of Representatives in May passed a second proposed coronavirus relief package. It includes a $3.9 billion bailout for the MTA – and money to provide individual bonuses up to $10,000 each for essential workers for their work during the pandemic.

NYU Conducting Major Health Study of COVID-19's Impact on Transit Workers

TWU Local 100 has engaged public health experts from New York University to research the infection risks transit workers have faced during the pandemic, COVID-19’s impact on the membership and the MTA’s management of the crisis.

This is an intense effort by independent scientists, who have no affiliation with the authority, to gain a better understanding of how the virus spread through the workforce. They will then recommend what additional steps are needed to protect transit workers.

“This will be the first time outside medical experts gather information from transit workers about their experiences during the pandemic and put the MTA’s actions under the microscope,” Local 100 President Tony Utano said. “We can’t bring back our fallen heroes. But we can keep working to improve safety on the job and that’s what this is all about. Local 100 has been consulting with experts from the NYU School of Global Public Health for months as we faced this unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. This is an important next step not just for NY transit workers but transit workers everywhere.”

You can read the NYU press release here.

Pass The Heroes Act!

It’s hard to believe. Coronavirus cases, unemployment numbers are climbing and TWU workers are still on the frontlines, but Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sent the Senate home without debating the HEROES Act, the next coronavirus economic relief package. Despite the health risks, thousands of TWU frontline workers continue to do their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s time for the Senate to do theirs.

Wanted for Assault on Bus Operator

The NYPD is seeking the public's assistance identifying the male in the attached photos and video wanted for questioning in connection to an assault within the confines of the 13th Precinct. The following has been reported to police:

On Monday, July 20, 2020 at approximately 0230, in the vicinity of Madison Avenue and East 29th Street, an unidentified male attempted to board a northbound M2 MTA bus without a mandatory face covering, when he was stopped by the 62-year old male bus driver. The male punched the driver in the face and fled the bus in unknown direction. The victim suffered pain and swelling and was transported to NYU Langone Hospital by EMS in stable condition.

MTA Deploying Law Enforcement Officers to Buses

JULY 20 -- The MTA announced today that it is deploying law enforcement officers to buses and will distribute free masks to bus riders – two safety initiatives TWU Local 100 has been urging the authority to enact.

In a press release today, the MTA said:

The MTA has deployed approximately 160 Bridge and Tunnel Officers to perform spot checks of mask compliance on buses. Bridge and Tunnel Officers will be encouraging customers to wear a mask and will be instructing those who are out of compliance to leave the system. Bridge and Tunnel Officers will also have masks on hand to provide to customers.

Union Mourns Passing of Civil Rights Icon John Lewis

JULY 18 -- Long-serving US Congressman John Lewis, the last of the civil rights leaders who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., died yesterday. He was 80 years old.

Lewis was an original Freedom Rider in 1961, a speaker at the 1963 March on Washington where Dr. King delivered his I Have a Dream speech, and a leader of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Commitee in the 1960's. Unafraid to stand up to racism, Lewis was beaten and arrested many times at protest marches and demonstrations. He described these as "getting into good trouble," a phrase which mirrors our union activism.

On March 7, 1965, Mr. Lewis was beaten while marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Alabama. TWU Local 100 President Matthew Guinan was also on that bridge marching with the demonstrators. He committed union resources to that march and to Dr. King's cause.

In 2011, Lewis was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama. TWU Local 100 mourns the loss of this courageous leader in the struggle for equality and against bigotry.

$25,000 in Scholarship Grants is Awarded to Local 100 Members and their Families

JULY 10 — $25,000 in scholarship grants was awarded today at the Union Hall. On July 10 at the Union Hall, $25,000 in scholarship money was awarded to union members and their families in the TWU RGLZ Tech Scholarship Awards. The Awards were announced by Assistant to the President and Scholarship Coordinator Shannon Poland as they were drawn at random from a barrel.

A complete list will be posted on the Union's website at www.twulocal100.org.

WANTED BY NYPD

Police need our help in finding the criminal who assaulted our Union brother, Bus Operator

Anthony Reid, out of Fresh Pond Depot. Why was Brother Reid attacked? He reminded his attacker that MTA rules require passengers to wear a mask on buses. If you see the man shown on the Security Alert below, call MTA Department of Security Command Center at 718-694-4278. We need to get this person off the street and prosecuted.

NY 1 Report: Transit Union Demands Masks Enforcement on City Buses as Ridership Returns

JULY 9 — NY1 Reporter Dan Rivoli reports on the MTA's refusal to enforce rules on mask wearing on buses. You can watch the report here.

Here's the text of the report:

NEW YORK - Bus drivers are seeing too many faces of passengers not wearing a face covering. It’s unnerving bus drivers who either radio to their command center to report violators or make announcements reminding passengers that masks are mandatory.