News from TWU Local 100

CVS Caremark to be Prescription Benefits Manager for NYC Transit on June 1

On Saturday, June 1, CVS Caremark will become the new prescription benefits manager for the NYC Transit prescription plans. Although the manager is changing, our benefits remain the same. Starting Saturday, new prescriptions and refills on existing prescriptions will be covered by CVS Caremark or, for Medicare-aged retirees enrolled in SilverScript, by SilverScript. Mail order refills must be ordered from the CVS Caremark mail order pharmacy, not from the Express Scripts mail order pharmacy. CVS Caremark mailed out ID cards for both the CVS Caremark and SilverScript plans on May 22-24. They were sent to members’ addresses on record with the MTA BSC. The cards were supposed to arrive by May 31.

The next time you go to the pharmacy to pick up a prescription you will need to show your new CVS Caremark or SilverScript ID card. The next time you get a prescription for a mail order maintenance drug your doctor will need to know that you are using the CVS Caremark mail order pharmacy. If you have not received your new ID card: First make sure the BSC has your address right. Call the BSC at 646-376-0123 or go online to the My MTA portal to check. Next call customer care: at SilverScript if you are enrolled in SilverScript, or else at CVS Caremark.

SilverScript customer care: 855-212-0921 (24/7)
CVS Caremark customer care: 855-296-7683 (24/7)

Alternatively, you can get an image of your card right away. Download the CVS Caremark app to your mobile device and register on the app. The app will show an image of your ID card. The app is available on the Apple App Store and on Google Play. If any problem with your prescription benefits does not get fixed promptly, contact TWU Local 100 Member Services: 347-643-8060.

In a Win for Transit Women, Pods Are Opened for Nursing Mothers

MAY 30 -- TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano and NYCT President Andy Byford came to the subway station at Brooklyn's Boro Hall to announce the opening of a "pod" for transit women who are nursing mothers. The union won contract language in 2017 setting up a committee to find locations for working transit women to express breast milk for their infants. There are currently two pods in the system, one at Boro Hall and the other at the Parsons Archer Station in Jamaica, Queens. In his remarks, NYCT President Byford reiterated his commitment to improve crew quarters and facilities for transit workers throughout the system.

Announcing our TUF Summer Classes

TA/OA/MTA Bus members can now register for a wide array of classes offered by the TWU Local 100/NYCT Training & Upgrading Fund. We also offer up to $4,000 in tuition reimbursement for a variety of courses. There is also a tutoring program for members and their families. For more information on all the programs, click here.

Arrest Made in May 6 Attack on Train Operator

Police have made an arrest in the May 6 attack on a female Train Operator in Coney Island who was brutally punched in the face.

“This is good news,” Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Tony Utano said. “Transit workers and riders can rest easier knowing that an arrest has been made in this brutal attack on a transit worker who was just doing her job.

TWU Local 100 handed out ‘Wanted” flyers with a photograph of the suspect to riders and transit workers to help get this guy behind bars where he belongs. We will keep up the pressure and do all we can to bring to justice anyone who attacks one of our members.”

IB Image

Utano Issues Update on MTA Contract Negotiations

IB Image

Local 100 President Tony Utano released the following report to the membership after main table discussions with the MTA:

“We met with the MTA today (May 15, 2019) on main table discussions. We did not reach an agreement on a new contract, and quite frankly we are not close to a negotiated settlement. Our agreement with the MTA expires at midnight tonight. I have scheduled a Local 100 Executive Board meeting for tomorrow to present a full report. Under New York State law, our current agreement remains in effect. Management cannot change it in any way.

To date, MTA Chair and CEO Pat Foye has not attended any meetings. My message to him is to get serious and start bargaining in good faith. This isn’t that complicated. Transit workers are on the job under the worst of conditions. We have contributed mightily to better service and more reliable on time performance as a result of the Subway Action Plan.

We are increasingly the target of criminal assault in the subways and on the buses. Through it all, we continue to deliver New York City’s most essential public service, and we do it 24 hours a day 7 days a week. We expect to be recognized for our efforts with a fair contract.”

In the photo: Taken at the Union Hall in the Quill Room, management (on the left) faces labor. At the table for TWU Local 100 are our top 11 officers and attorneys. Representatives from ATU Locals 726 and 1056 are also on the right. NYCT President Andy Byford and MTA Managing Director Ronnie Hakim are seated with the MTA management team.

Local 100 President Tony Utano and elected officers leaving the Bronx courtroom Monday

Update on Court Case: Stabbing of Conductor Denaul Jenkins

MAY 13 -- A Bronx judge on Monday continued the $150,000 bail imposed on a man charged with stabbing Conductor Denaul Jenkins on Easter Sunday. During the court proceeding, authorities said the defendant, Walter Rivera, remains incarcerated on attempted murder, assault and other charges in connection with the attack at the 149th Street/Grand Concourse station.

“It’s good to hear this man remains behind bars,” TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano said outside the River Street courtroom. “He doesn’t belong on the streets or in the subway.” Utano, Maintenance of Way Vice President John Chiarello and RTO Train Operators Division Chair Zachary Arcidiacono attended the court proceeding in order to get a status report on the case, and to emphasize its importance to Local 100.

Rivera himself did not appear. Rivera’s lawyer waived his client's right to be present for the hearing. Local 100 expects Bronx prosecutors will secure a Grand Jury indictment against Rivera, which would move the case into a pre-trial stage. Jenkins, 33, was waiting on the platform for his train when Rivera punched and stabbed him several times for no reason. Jenkins, despite his serious injuries, managed to hold Rivera until police arrived and arrested him. “I had to hold him down because you can’t let somebody like that get away,” he later said.

Become a Member of the TWU International Veterans Committee -- Join Up Today

Just click on the image to go to the site -- Thank you for your Service.

Utano Takes on Vicious Attacks, Contract in New Radio Spot

APRIL 29 - A new 60-second radio spot, focusing on the latest rash of vicious attacks on transit workers and the union's current contract negotiations with the MTA, began running this morning on 1010 WINS. In the spot, Local 100 President Tony Utano decries the Easter Sunday stabbing and the two urine assaults. He states that "no workforce in New York has to put up this type of disgusting abuse and disrespect." Utano also emphatically states that "TWU will not be stopped" from winning a fair contract for transit workers.

Suspect in Urine Attacks in Custody

(null)

Police have a suspect in custody in connection with the urine attacks on two female transit workers in the Bronx.

The man is suspected of tossing urine into the face of a Conductor and a Bus Operator in separate incidents on April 12th.

“This is great news for transit workers,” Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Tony Utano said. “A twisted individual targeted two of our members and committed these vile attacks while they were simply doing their jobs. He needed to be caught and locked up.

But the larger problem remains. Transit workers are getting assaulted, harassed and abused, physically and verbally, all the time. The city has to do much more to protect us.

In the subway, it seems like there are more and more people with serious problems on the trains and in the stations, and some of them pose a threat, not just to workers but our riders. This has to be addressed by City Hall.”

The first attack happened at about 10:30 a.m. on a No. 6 train as it idled at the platform. The second attack happened about an hour later nearby as the bus was halted at an intersection.

The police released video images of the suspect and TWU Local 100 distributed wanted posters in the area where the vile attacks took place.

Charges against the suspect are pending.

Police nab suspect in urine attacks on Bronx MTA workers

The pee-petrator splattered a 43-year-old female train conductor on an uptown No. 6 train at the Brook Ave.-E. 138th St. station. He struck again about 45 minutes later, dumping urine on MTA bus driver Trellis Robinson as she sat behind the wheel of a Bx1 bus at the Grand Concourse and 138th St., about 15 blocks from where the first incident occurred.

Attacker Charged with Attempted Murder

The man arrested for repeatedly stabbing a Conductor in the Bronx on Easter Sunday has been charged with attempted murder, TWU Local 100 has learned.

Initial press reports after the attack said suspect Walter Rivera was arrested for assault and possessing a weapon.

But a police complaint that was signed late Sunday night charged Rivera with the more severe attempted murder charge, along with felony assault and weapons possession.

Prosecutors from Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark’s office asked a judge on Thursday to impose $150,000 bail on Rivera – and the judge agreed. Rivera remains in custody in a hospital psychiatric ward where he was taken for evaluation after his arrest.

TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano met with DA Clark earlier this year and urged her to aggressively prosecute criminals who attack transit workers.

“This was a horrific, unprovoked attack,” Utano said. “I’m glad to see that the police and prosecutors appear to be taking this case extremely seriously, as they should.”

Clark had her first Town Hall meeting since her election in the Bronx Wednesday night. Conductor-Tower Chair Raul Lugo and other elected RTO officers asked about the case and demonstrated Local 100’s intense interest in it.

“We need to send a clear message that if you assault a NYC Transit worker you will get caught and face the consequences,” RTO Vice President Eric Loegel said. “We recognize there are underlying social issues plaguing our city and we need to fix them. But in the meantime, frontline transit workers can not be victimized just for doing their jobs.”

Conductor Denaul Jenkins was waiting for his train at 149thSt.-Grand Concourse hub when attacked. He is now at home recuperating from his injuries.