With less than six weeks to go before the expiration of the union’s contracts with the MTA, more than 1,700 TWU Local 100 members turned out for our Mass Membership Meeting on Dec. 3 at Roseland Ballroom for an update on bargaining and other important union issues.
Local 100 President John Samuelsen greeted the membership at A.M. and P.M. sessions, and delivered a comprehensive report on the union’s bargaining goals and strategies. Samuelsen also reported on the union’s initial contract meeting with top MTA bosses, including new Chair Joseph Lhota, on Nov. 15, 2011 at the Sheraton Hotel. That meeting was open to all members in good standing. (Every member attending the Dec. 3 Mass Membership Meeting received a DVD of the Nov. 15, 2011 presentation to the MTA.)
Samuelsen received a rousing ovation when he made it clear that Local 100 would not accept the so-called “pattern” of a three-year wage freeze and other big givebacks accepted by the state’s two biggest public sector unions, CSEA and PEF.
Samuelsen declared: “We need and deserve a fair wage increase. Let the MTA be on notice, the TWU will not be bullied or blackmailed into accepting a contract that degrades our ability to take care of our families. We don’t care what other unions have done. We are not other unions. We are the TWU.”
Samuelsen endorsed the Executive Board’s decision not to make the January 15, 2012 expiration of the contract “a hard, fast deadline.” But he promised that he would “make every effort” to secure a negotiated settlement by that date.
Samuelsen implored members to turn out in big numbers at the union’s next important event, a rally outside 2 Broadway on Thursday Dec. 15, 2011 at 4 P.M. “Turn out and show the MTA that we’re united and willing to fight,” said Samuelsen. “Let’s fill the streets of lower Manhattan with TWU blue. Your union needs you to be there. You need to be there.”
Secretary-Treasurer Earl Phillips reviewed the Local’s finances and the state of the COPE, Building and Solidarity Funds. He also reported the good news that over the last two years the number of members in good standing has climbed from under 19,000 to over 25,000.
Members also heard from an impressive list of union leaders from the International Union, TWU Local 208 in Columbus, Ohio and the CWA, which is facing its own contract crisis at Verizon.
TWU of America International Executive Vice President Harry Lombardo vigorously defended unions as the bulwark of the middle class, and pledged the International Union’s full support for our fight with the MTA. Other International officers present included Transit Director Jeff Brooks.
Andrew Jordan, President of TWU Local 208 in Columbus, told how his union took part in gathering over a million petition signatures to successfully overturn anti-worker legislation in Ohio. He was accompanied by Local 208 Secretary Treasurer Dwayne Marbury.
CWA Vice President Chris Shelton, who is leading his union’s negotiations with Verizon, thanked transit workers for the powerful support coming from TWU Local 100 members who attend CWA rallies.
The membership passed two resolutions at the meetings. Following the first, introduced by Station Division member Marty Goodman, the Union will demand that all laid-off Station Agents still out of work be brought back upon settlement of the agreement. The membership also unanimously endorsed a resolution supporting our Brothers and Sisters at American Airlines and American Eagle as they fight for their jobs and benefits in bankruptcy proceedings.
