News from TWU Local 100

Liberty Lines Members Vote “Yes” on New Contract; Pact Gives Raises of 11% Over Five Years

 MARCH 29 -- TWU Local 100 Members at Liberty Lines in Yonkers have approved a new five-year contract, announced TWU Local 100 Administrative Vice President Angel Giboyeaux. The vote was 162 to 70, and was certified by the American Arbitration Association this morning at its offices in lower Manhattan. Liberty Lines operates the Bee Line System which serves Yonkers and adjacent communities.

Under the agreement which runs through February of 2021, Liberty Lines Bus Operators, Mechanics, Cleaners and other workers will be getting 11% pay raises as well as other benefits including pension enhancements.

“I was optimistic that the contract would pass because it’s a good agreement that gives raises in every year,” said AVP Giboyeaux, the ranking officer on the negotiating committee. “Moving with the economy, the pension workers will earn is going up as well, and we have protected our health benefits. This is a solid win for workers.”

The raises are 1.75%, 2%, 2%, 2.25% and 3%, with the first increase effective on today’s ratification. Other benefits include better uniform allowances and nighttime differential pay. Local 100 represents approximately 600 members at Liberty Lines. Mr. Giboyeaux gave credit to the Union's negotiating committee, which included Private Lines VP Pete Rosconi, Division Chair Bill Mooney, Exec Board Member Manny Agosto, Carlos Bernabel, Janet Rosa, and Tom Monaco. The union's attorney at the table was Denis Engel.

Union Wins as Tour Bus Co. Must Give $52K in Back Pay to Workers

TWU Local 100 has forced a Manhattan-based sightseeing company to pay a total of $52,000 to a group of workers it illegally fired for union activities.

Under a signed settlement agreement with the National Labor Relations Board and Local 100, Go New York Tours must pay each former worker between $4,000 and $16,000 in backpay. “This is an important victory,” TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen said. “Go New York Tours arrogantly, callously and illegally fired workers for supporting the union. We fought back on their behalf and won.”

The workers – one mechanic, three tour guides, one boat captain and one engineer – were fired in 2015 as they organized employees to form a bargaining unit of TWU Local 100. The company provides bus and boat tours of the NYC. It has approximately 300 employees. The settlement came after the National Labor Relations Board formally charged Go New York Tours with unfair labor practices prohibited by federal law, including:

• interrogating employees about their union activities and sympathies;
• creating an impression among employees that their union activities were under surveillance;
• threatening employees with loss of bonuses if they selected the union as their bargaining representative;
• threatening employees with discharge if they selected the union as their bargaining representative.

Under the settlement, Go New York Tours must post worksite notices acknowledging workers have the right to join a union - and promising not to impose discipline on employees without first informing Local 100 so officers have an opportunity to intervene.

A Wake-Up Call For Sleeping Riders

BY PETE DONOHUE

“Ladies and Gentlemen: This is an important message from the New York City Police Department: Wake the hell up!!!”

That’s not an official NYCT announcement but maybe it should be. Approximately 50% of subway crime victims are sleeping - or awake but not paying attention to their surroundings - when a thief steals their iPhone, wallet or some other property, according to police. “They don’t even realize they were crime victims until hours later,” NYPD Transit Bureau Police Chief Joseph Fox said.

Career pickpockets and thieves of varying skill carried out many of these thefts, but police have spotted a new trend: riders without criminal records stealing from other riders - just because it’s so easy, Fox said. “They are opportunists who have never been arrested before,” Fox said.

And there are plenty of opportunities. The new generation of riders is less fearful and less vigilant. Maybe that’s because weren’t around when taking the subway was a much riskier endeavor. There were approximately 48 felonies a day committed in 1990. In January and February of this year the daily average was about six felonies. Liam, a high school senior, became one of the first crime victims of the year after hitting the punch bowl a bit too hard at the New Year’s Eve party. He made it to the subway but then fell into a deep, deep slumber. Every Mariachi band in the city could have crammed into the empty car and our young straphanger would have snored right through it.

He woke up in the wrong borough – without his cell phone and wallet.  A thief working the No. 1 line relieved him of his property. By the time Liam made it home to his very worried parents hours after his curfew the sun was rising. "I wanted to punch him in the face and hug him at the same time," his father said. “I told him he'd be punished by being grounded and by having me call him a rube every day for several weeks.”

So, don’t be a rube.  As transit workers know, riders still need some street smarts underground. “Just think long and hard about when you close eyes, where you keep your property and where you sit,” Fox said.

TWU to MTA: Expanded Subway Patrols Are Not Enough

At a competing press conference held outside the MTA's 130 Livingston Street building, TA Surface VP JP Patafio said that the Mayor's announced plan to increase police patrols on the subways doesn't go far enough. As Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton spoke inside, JP, standing before a crowd of Bus Operators, made it clear that TWU Local 100 needs more resources assigned to cope with the epidemic of assaults on Bus Operators.