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.

Remember the Black Founders of Memorial Day

Brothers and Sisters,

This holiday weekend people around the country will celebrate the official beginning of summer. The school year is almost over, and trips can be made to beaches, theme parks or to see family members who haven’t been visited nearly enough this past year. For others, it is a weekend that calls for remembrance. A time to reflect on the space no longer occupied by those who were called to serve. Like America itself, this day is a mixed bag of ideas and emotions. It’s joy and pain that sit side by side at your table and demand attention.

It is also a time for us to recall the exploits of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our nation. It allows them to stay with us regardless of tangible monuments or political declarations. It also gives us time to recognize those who paved the way that we’ve forgotten. Those who had their history concealed or overlooked entirely. Like the black residents of Charleston, S.C., who decided to give proper burials to union soldiers who had been placed in unmarked graves. Unbeknownst to them, their tribute and May 1st celebration would eventually become what we now know as Memorial Day. You can read about this history here.

As you are sitting with your family and friends this weekend, I ask you to remember these founders along with our fellow veterans. Selfless acts of dedication and service shouldn’t be overlooked. We must take a pause and breathe them in. Bask in the light of their memory, for they are the reason the light still shines.

In Solidarity,

D’Artagnan Magana
Veterans Committee Chair
United States Marine Corps
 

First Contract at Haddam-Killingworth Brings Raises of 25%

May 23 – A new contract for 60 school bus drivers and monitors in the Haddam-Killingworth school district in Connecticut has brought major improvements for workers.

“They contacted us, asking for representation,” said School Bus Division Chair Gus Moghrabi, who oversees the Union’s school bus operations. Employees at the company, which is run by the massive school bus firm Student Transportation of America, began meeting last April with Director of Organizing Frank McCann and his associate Karla Kozak to discuss what the Union could offer.

After the Union was recognized on the property as the workers’ representative, negotiations began, with a rank-and-file negotiating committee headed up by Gus, Departmental Vice President Danny D’Amato, and attorney Damian Treffs.

The new, five-year agreement, which is retroactive to September of last year, vaults Haddam-Killingworth to the top in wages and benefits in the region, with average pay hikes for workers of 25%. The agreement guarantees a 25-hour work week, going up to 35 by the end of the contract. A 42-week school year guarantee assures that, even if schools are closed, members get paid.

In the photo, negotiating committee members Donald Frederick and Barbara Lopez hold the contract vote tally, where 43 voted in favor with only one against.

Five Years Later, We Remember AVP Nelson Rivera

MAY 23 — Five years ago today, Nelson Rivera, a great champion of Union rights and an unrelenting fighter for transit workers, passed away. He was only 53. Diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer shortly after Labor Day in 2018 and given only months to live, Nelson didn't break stride. He never missed a day of work until he passed, sometimes working from home or even from his hospital room.

He intervened to save hundreds of jobs during his tenure as a union officer. He spearheaded TWU Local 100’s relief effort for Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, and personally led three aid missions to the Island’s hardest hit areas. He oversaw the union’s “Trash Train” campaign which succeeded in forcing the MTA to hire dozens of additional terminal Cleaners.

Brother Rivera joined New York City Transit in 1989 at the age of 23 as a Car Maintainer Helper at the 207th Street Overhaul Shop.  He earned a promotion to Car Maintainer in 1990.  He also worked at the Concourse Barn and Coney Island Overhaul shops, repairing and rebuilding subway cars. He was elected TWU Local 100 shop steward at 207th Street in 2000 and then Shop Chair in 2004.  He was then elected Vice President for the Local 100 Car Equipment Department in 2007, and was reelected in three subsequent elections.  He was named Administrative Vice President in 2017, and was elected to a full-three year term to that office in 2018. He was also a member of the National Executive Board of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA).

He graduated from Automotive High School, as did his dad, in Brooklyn and found work doing quality assurance and warranty work for MTA vendors Kawasaki, Alstom and CLRT, before joining New York City Transit. In 2019, he was presented with the Community Service Leadership Award by New York City Transit at 2 Broadway. You can see his remarks here. 

Local 100 President John V. Chiarello said: "Nelson was unmatched in his dedication to the transit workforce. For him, a Union Brother or Sister was always right, always worth of defending. His commitment was legendary, and he will be remembered that way as long as this union endures."

Local 100 Quill Scholarship Winners Announced; 7 Other Awards Also Given

MTA Bus Div. Chair Mike Capocci with PBL/MTA Bus/School Bus VP Danny D'Amato

Union Gains Back Work in Queens Redesign Grievance

MAY 21 -- An April decision by Arbitrator Martin Scheinman restored work to three MTA Bus depots which stood to lose routes under the plan.

After being informed by management in November of 2023 of major changes to bus routes in the Borough of Queens, MTA Bus Division Chair Mike Capocci filed a grievance challenging the Redesign on the grounds that moving bus routes outside of the MTA Bus bargaining unit was prohibited by the contract.

Standing in Solidarity with S/A Baboo Singh (center left) are Pres. Chiarello, Station VP Robert Kelley, and other officers

Chiarello: Five Year Prison Term for Station Agent Assault is Not Enough

MAY 16 – TWU Local 100 President John V. Chiarello said a five-year sentence handed down against a 30 year-old man who assaulted NYC Transit Station Agent Baboo Singh was still not enough, considering the suffering the Agent went through.
 
Union members and officers crowded the courtroom on the 6th Floor of the Bronx County Hall of Justice as they waited for the sentence to be handed down against Anthony Williams by Judge Ralph A. Fabrizio. Williams' sentence also included five years' supervised release, psych evaluations, fines and a protective order.

TWU Stands in Solidarity With BLET -- On Strike Against NJ Transit

A Joint statement from Transport Workers Union Local 100 President John V. Chiarello and TWU International President John Samuelsen:
 
MAY 16 -- We stand with the NJ Transit engineers, our brothers and sisters in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, who are on strike for a fair contract. These are the workers who power the system every day, and they deserve to be treated with respect and paid what they are worth.
 

Station Agent Baboo Singh after being assaulted in 2023

Sentencing to Take Place Friday for Assault on 74 Year-Old Station Agent

MAY 14 -- Tomorrow is the day when transit workers, the victim, and his family may finally receive justice for the 2023 assault on Station Agent Baboo Singh, who was beaten on the job at the Nereid Avenue Station on the 2/5 lines in the Bronx. Singh, 74 at the time, had his nose and facial bones broken in the attack. Police apprehended his assailant and trial proceedings have just concluded.

Now a sentence will be handed down by the judge at the Bronx County Hall of Justice, 265 East 161st Street, at 2 PM on Friday, May 16th. All union members are urged to attend. The sentencing takes place at the Courthouse at Part 18, Room 620.

Dept. of Subways Issues Hygiene Bulletin

MAY 14 -- The Department of Subways has issued a safety bulletin directing employees to comply with specific hygiene requirements in order to ensure safety in the workplace. They include proper handwashing, cleaning of garments worn in the field, infection control, and other ways to prevent illness and disinfect surfaces and materials. Members are asked to review it here. -- Celeste Kirkland, Safety Director.

Stations VP Robert Kelley Interviewed on News 12; Condemns Attack on CTA

MAY 9 -- Stations VP Robert Kelley, at the Myrtle/Wyckoff Avenue stop on the L train, talked to News 12 Brooklyn about the beating of CTA Marva Simms Jones, last Sunday. He described how the CTA was working in a desolate underground area near to the refuse room when she was confronted by a stranger wielding an umbrella handle against her. The NYPD has released surveillance footage and is seeking her apprehension. Kelley made the point that this is an area of the station not covered by any human presence -- despite a row of entry gates.

You can watch the interview here.

New OA Truck Shop Opens at Zerega Avenue; Goal is to Bring Work In-House

MAY 7 -- The MTA’s newest maintenance facility opened up inside the Zerega Bus Maintenance and Training Facility today, a Truck Shop that will compete with outside vendors for Transit Authority work.