News from TWU Local 100

Danny's youngest daughter, Valerie, receives a wreath honoring her late father from Track Division Chairman Paul Navarro

We Remember Danny Boggs; Track Worker Died in the Line of Duty

A memorial service for Track Worker Danny Boggs, who was killed by a train nine years ago, was held at the 59^th St. Columbus Circle station on Monday. “Danny was a veteran,” Paul Navarro, Chairman of TWU Local 100 Track Division said, standing next to a wreath of flowers brought to the hub by the union. “He knew the job inside out. But on that day nine years ago it didn’t matter.”

Boggs, 41, the married father of three children, was hit by a train April 27, 2007 as he set up perimeter lighting for an overnight construction job on an express track at the station. The track was scheduled to be closed to train traffic at 11 p.m. for the construction project but implementation of the General Order was delayed – a development not conveyed to Boggs. He was struck at 11:20 p.m. by a No. 3 train sent through the area.

“The passage of time doesn’t make these memorials any easier,” Navarro said at the memorial service. “They certainly are not easier for Bernadette and her children."

"Some might ask, ‘Why do we keep coming back here every year?” asked Navarro. We do so because the day we stop is the day we all start taking our safety for granted. It will be the day we begin to be indifferent about the safety of our co-workers. We cannot let that happen. We can not let down our guard.” After Rabbi Harry Berkowitz said a prayer, Bernadette Boggs thanked those who came out to remember her husband. “He was a wonderful man,” she said. Bernadette was flanked by the couple’s children: Kristen, 22; Danny Jr., 18; and Valerie, 14.

Local 100 will hold another memorial 11 a.m. Friday at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station in Brooklyn where trackworker Marvin Franklin was fatally struck by a train on April 29, 2007, just five days after Boggs’ tragic death. Franklin was 55 years old.

In photo: MTA Chaplain Rabbi Harry Berkowitz talks to family members about the events of Danny's death and his legacy.

TWU Local 100 Stands With Verizon Strikers

Verizon is taking out full-page ads in major newspapers insisting that Verizon workers have nothing to strike about -- but the reality is, of course, different. TWU Local 100 members are joining CWA workers on the picket line at the Verizon store just down the block from the Union Hall on Montague Street in downtown Brooklyn. We're also sending provisions to the strikers.

Here's what the CWA has to say:

Yesterday, nearly 40,000 brave working people from Massachusetts to Virginia went on strike to protect good jobs and ensure quality service. It is the largest national strike in recent years. Verizon workers are striking for more than a fair contract; they’re fighting to protect middle class jobs. As workers in Massachusetts told The Boston Globe

“Without the union, 'these jobs would be off-shored in a heartbeat,' said Bonasoro, 44, of Weymouth. 'Nobody chooses this. What we’re doing here is we’re protecting American jobs. They [Verizon] want to constantly off-shore, outsource good middle-class jobs that support our community. There’s growing public sentiment against corporate greed.'

Bryan Phillips, a third generation Verizon worker from Pembroke, said he fears for his job every time a contract is up. 'I didn’t want to go on strike, none of us did, but at the same time, enough’s enough. Not just for Verizon but everywhere,' said Phillips, 38, who has been a technician for 18 years. 'You don’t see anyone [in other companies] go on strike, because they’re all afraid. They’re afraid they’re going to lose their jobs. But if we don’t fight for these jobs, these jobs won’t be here.'"

Verizon workers not only got the attention of the company, customers and local communities; they have prompted important discussions about Verizon's problematic business decisions, support for unions and what the Washington Post calls a "sense of empowerment among workers who struggled for years to reap the gains of the economic recovery and which could mark a political and economic shift in the balance between employers and their employees."

Let's stand with Verizon workers until the strike is settled. Make a point of visiting your local strike line and showing your support.

TWU Local 100 Endorses Bernie Sanders for President

TWU Endorses Bernie Sanders

FeelTheBern

TWU Local 100 – representing 42,000 workers – endorsed Sen. Bernie Sanders for president Wednesday at the Union Hall in Brooklyn.

“In Bernie Sanders, we see a kindred spirit,” TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen said to an enthusiastic crowd of about 300 transit workers.  “Bernie Sanders has been fighting against the ‘powers that be’ in this country on behalf of all American workers his entire life. That’s what this country needs.  That’s what American workers need. A true champion of our cause!”

TWU Local 100 represents 42,000 members in the NYC area, including about 38,000 who operate, maintain and repair the NYC Transit bus and subway network.

Sanders told transit workers that he opposed the “disastrous” trade agreements that resulted in millions of jobs being exported to other countries. “When I grew up in Brooklyn, as a kid, you could go out and get a job,” Sanders said. “There were a lot of manufacturing plants. You didn’t get rich but you made a middle class living.  You could take care of your family. We got to reverse the disastrous set of trade policies.”

Local 100 members safely move more than 8 million New Yorkers a day. The vast majorityf live in the city’s five boroughs. “We are blue collar New York,” Samuelsen said. “Transit workers are the backbone of New York’s communities. We work here and we live here. America needs a jolt. New York needs a jolt. Working families need a jolt. ‘Business as usual’ is not about to give us the jolt we need.”

TWU Local 100’s Executive Board voted 42-1 to endorse Sanders.

Governor's Win on $15/hour is Also a Win for TWU Local 100

A large turnout by TWU officers and rank and file at the Javits Center on Monday gave credit to Governor Cuomo for his successful passage of a law making $15 an hour the minimum wage in New York City by the end of 2018. It was also a reflection of the Union's long and ongoing fight for better wages for our members toiling as Call Agents at GCS/Access-A-Ride, who will see their wages -- now at $12 and less -- rise in tandem, unless we notch a higher figure in contract negotiations.

TWU Local 100 Secretary-Treasurer Earl Phillips was joined by other officers including MABSTOA VP Richard Davis. Also present were GCS workers including longtime employees and Shop Stewards Sandra Lennon and Patricia Edwards. Cuomo's bill makes $15 an hour mandatory first for businesses with more than ten employees, and then phases in that rate for smaller businesses in 2019 and for Long Island and Westchester County in 2021. In the rest of the state, the minimum will increase to $12.50 by the end of 2020, mainly because of wage scales for agricultural laborers upstate. Read Governor Cuomo's letter to Sec-Treasurer Earl Phillips here. Sent back in October, it highlights our continuing fight for $15.