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William's brother Alex, center, stands with family including widow Nancy Rodriguez, far right.
William's brother Alex, center, stands with family including widow Nancy Rodriguez, far right.

Pena Case Delayed Again as Family Waits for Justice

At about 2:15 on Wednesday defendant Domonic Whilby was let by court officers into Part 32 of New York State Supreme Court at 100 Centre Street. No lawyer was there to argue his case. Justice Gregory Carro asked Whilby if he had counsel, and Whilby replied that he thought he did. Noting the lack of anyone stepping up to represent the accused killer of Bus Operator William Pena, Carro told Whilby to "make some phone calls," and be back in his court in one week, on October 29th to defend himself. This latest delay added to the frustration being felt by Pena's widow, Nancy Rodriguez, and her family, who were in court. TWU Local 100 Recording Secretary LaTonya Crisp-Sauray attended court for the union, along with OA Division 1 Chair Richie Davis and Vice Chair Don Yates. Rank and file members also showed  up to support the family. We're doing it again next week.

Transit Hits Ridership Record

 

Take a bow, brothers and sisters. NYC Transit carried a record 149 million subway passengers in September. They couldn't do it without you.

See Pete Donohue's Daily News story here.

Train Operator Omar Velez is recognized by Chief of Subways Joe Leader and Local 100 RTO Chair Joe Costales
Train Operator Omar Velez is recognized by Chief of Subways Joe Leader and Local 100 RTO Chair Joe Costales

Train Operators Who Prevented Accidents Get Special Call to Rail HQ

OCTOBER 17 -- Five veteran TWU Local 100 Train Operators were summoned to NYCT's Rail Control Center this morning without explanation -- and were relieved to find themselves honored for preventing accidents in the subway system. Each of the five -- Omar Velez, Schneider Francois, Jason Vrahatis, Emeterio Rodriguez, and Vance Greaves -- got breakfast, a nice certificate presented by Chief of Subways Joe Leader, a pin, and a rare opportunity to spend an hour in a relaxed way talking with top MTA brass. TWU Local 100 RTO  Chair Joe Costales also recognized the men on behalf of the Union. Subways VP for Service Delivery John Gaul lauded the men for their "free exchange of information" about hazards they noticed. Said Vice President and Chief Officer of MOW Wynton Habersham: "You know your lines. You know what's right and what's not quite right. You know what doesn't feel right. You know what doesn't sound right." Typical of the stories was that of Train Operator Omar Velez, who heard a thump that didn't sound right, stopped his #7 train, and called the Rail Control Center. A crew went out on the tracks and found a defect on the rail that could have caused a serious accident.

Ebola Guidance

The New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health (NYCOSH), has released a three-page guidance document on Ebola Virus Disease and how workers can protect themselves. TWU Local 100 considers this reliable and effective information for our members. A NYCOSH staff member was present for the union at a recent briefing on Ebola with MTA management. Members are advised to download and review the information in this document and contact the TWU Health and Safety Department if you have additional questions. On Thursday, NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that there will be random drills in the subway system to anticipate response in the event of an infected person. Read more about that here. The Governor also praised transit workers for being ready to respond to the threat, saying "This is not in their job description. It's not what you sign up for when you're a transit worker."

TWU Represents at Breast Cancer Walk 2014

The TWU Local 100 Women's Committee and supporters met on October 19th at Flatbush Avenue and Empire Blvd to support this important cause. There's still time to contribute to the TWU Local 100 Team. Thank you.

Globe Article Supports Our BikeShare Efforts in Boston

A prominent article in the Boston Globe says the city's bikeshare program -- called Hubway -- is great for riders and the community -- but urges that management support a better deal for their own workers. The column by Derrick Z. Jackson touts Hubway's "good green jobs" but is a straightforward appeal to fix the one thing that's broken -- worker complaints about "unpredictable and disruptive last-minute scheduling, being told they’re not needed after being called in, too many repairs for too few mechanics, unsafe rental vans when the company vans are out of service, and $15 wages that often seem low given the precision, organization, and safety required in some of the company’s jobs." Funny, those are exactly the same complaints that New York City Bike Share workers, who just unionized with TWU Local 100, are making! We're looking forward to making the lives of Hubway workers better, and expanding into other bikeshares as well.

Local 100 Celebrates Its 2014 Russian American Heritage Day

TWU Local 100’s annual celebration of Russian heritage brought a capacity crowd on Saturday to Tatiana Restaurant in Brighton Beach. Over 700 union members enjoyed a festive evening with dancing, entertainment, and speeches from key political figures. TWU’s Russian Day is becoming a must-attend for much of the City’s political establishment, showing the power of the union. Enjoy these photos from the event.

Winners of the Raffle Drawings

  • First Prize, a tablet: Ticket #1005, held by Merkin
  • Second Prize, a spa day for 2 at Sandoony Bana: Ticket #427, held by Mark
  • Third Prize, dinner for 2 at Tatiana Restaurant: Ticket #623, held by E. Sokolovich

Bloomberg Labor Report Profiles TWU's National BikeShare Presence

In a copyrighted story by reporter Ben Penn, the influential Bloomberg BNA Labor Report profiled TWU Local 100's national agenda for organizing bike shares. We're reprinting the story below for our readership.

Reproduced with permission from Daily Labor Report, 197 DLR A-3 (Oct. 10, 2014). Copyright 2014 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) <http://www.bna.com>

After Representation Win in New York,
TWU Targets National Bike Share Presence

By Ben Penn

Oct. 10 — Propelled by a September voluntary recognition agreement with Citi Bike to represent 249 employees in New York, the Transport Workers Union now seeks to give bicycle share workers across the nation a voice on the job, TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen told Bloomberg BNA Oct. 10. TWU, which represents public and private transit workers including at New York City's subway and bus systems, views the rapidly expanding bike share industry as a “perfect fit” considering the union's primary mission

Read more

Local 100 Celebrates Indian Day 2014

TWU Local 100 members and officers filled the Electrical Industry Center in Queens on Saturday to celebrate our Indian Day. The program featured music and dancing, and greetings from prominent politicians including Congresswoman Grace Meng and the Indian Consulate’s Head of Chancery, L. T. Ngaihte. Top Local 100 officials including TWU Local 100 Secretary-Treasurer Earl Phillips and Recording Secretary LaTonya Crisp-Sauray were also in attendance and enjoyed the delicious Indian food. After the singing of the Indian National Anthem and the Star Spangled Banner, a moment of silence for fallen transit workers was followed by the ceremonial lighting of the lamp to begin the festivities.

NYC Bike Share Workers Needed a Union -- Now They Have One!

Bike Share worker Edwin Aviles created this video to celebrate NYC Bike Share becoming a union operation! We had our first union meeting with our newest members on October 2nd. Now, it's time to dig in, understand what our members want, and negotiate a first-time contract. We move New York!

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