Union Mourns Dr. Robin Gillespie; Scientist Dedicated Her Life to Worker Safety; Zoom Memorial Set for Sunday

Local 100 mourns the passing of Dr. Robin Mary Gillespie, an eminent expert on the occupational health and safety issues affecting transit workers. Sister Gillespie was the Union’s Research Director for Health and Safety from 2007 to 2010. President Utano praised her as a dedicated scientist who devoted her life to improving the lives of the rank and file.

She received her undergraduate degree in Biology from Harvard University in 1982, and went on to earn a Doctorate in Environmental Health Sciences and a Master’s in Public Health Education. For the past decade she worked (full and part time) as the Transportation Learning Center’s Director for Health and Safety.

Greg Mastios, Dean of the CUNY School of Urban and Labor Studies, said: “What set her apart was her incredible hard work and devotion to make sure that our jobs would not cripple, sicken or kill workers.”

Nationally, Sister Gillespie led research and education projects at the National Science Foundation’s Transportation Research Board and its Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP). Dr. Gillespie was the lead author of the groundbreaking 2016 TCRP report, Bus Operator Workstation Design for Improving Occupational Health and Safety, and the principal investigator on the TCRP Project on Improving Transit Bus Operator Health, Wellness, and Retention . She also worked on TCRP A-35 Improving Safety Culture in Public Transportation .

She also was a university-affiliated author and researcher at Hunter College in New York and the Mount Sinai Hospital Selikoff Center for Occupational/Environmental Medicine, the site of many ground-breaking improvements for transit workers and other union members.

Since 2015, she had taught occupational health and safety to TWU Local 100 members at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies in the Transit Certificate Program.  A virtual memorial service is planned for Sunday, February 14th.

Please attend our Zoom memorial service this Sunday, February 14th at 5:30pm, Eastern Time. Robin made a strong impression on many people. We are preparing a memory book and hope you will send us contributions that express what Robin meant to you.
 
We are asking people who would like to speak at the memorial service to let Richard Khan know (rkahn33@gmail.com) in advance, and we'll give that opportunity to as many people as we can.
 
Here is the link to the Zoom event: