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A Memorial Day Message from President Samuelsen

Monday May 26, 2014 is Memorial Day, the day set aside each year to commemorate the service and sacrifices of our proud veterans, some of them TWU veterans, who died while on active service to our country.
Many of our work locations from 370 Jay Street to barns, depots and stations have memorials to those who died in World War I and World War II.
Memorial Day is commemorated by various services throughout the country, including the placing flowers and Flags on the graves of deceased Veterans. All over the world the graves of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines will be honored on this occasion, lest we forget their honor and bravery.
We hope that you all enjoy this holiday, but let us never forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to their country.

Sons of Italy Fete Int'l President Lombardo

On May 22, the Order Sons of Italy, the largest and oldest Italian-American fraternal organization in the U.S., presented TWU International President Harry Lombardo with its Humanitarian Award. (Photo: President Lombardo & family members)

Congratulations, Harry!

Pres. Samuelsen, in DC with the Rev. Al Sharpton and TWU Int'l President Harry Lombardo

TWU, ATU Join on Capitol Hill to Push Transit Funding

In Washington, the nation's major transit unions came together on a shared agenda of funding for mass transit. The TWU and the ATU were joined by civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton, who called mass transit advocates civil rights advocates. At noon on April 20, hundreds of TWU members marched arm in arm with our brothers and sisters at the ATU to Upper Senate Park in Washington, DC, calling on Congress to fund mass transit.

Those assembled — members of TWU and ATU, riders, public officials, advocates and allies — heard from Sen. Sherrod Brown, Rev. Al Sharpton, Rep. Marcia Fudge, Rep. Alan Grayson, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, ATU International President Larry Hanley, TWU International President Harry Lombardo and TWU Int'l Executive Vice President John Samuelsen.

TWU leadership and rank and file members, who are in Washington for the Union's 2014 Legislative and COPE Conference, carried the momentum of the march into dozens of meetings with their elected representatives, in a second day of targeted lobbying on Capitol Hill. Read more at the TWU International's coverage of the convention.

TWU/MTA Contract Wins Landslide Ratification Vote, 82 Percent YES!

MAY 19, 2014, BROOKLYN, NEW YORK – Transit workers -- members of Transport Workers Union Local 100 employed at NYC Transit and MaBSTOA -- have approved a contract negotiated between the TWU and the MTA in landslide fashion. The percentage voting yes was 82 percent. In all, 12,458 union members voted for, and 2,681 were against.

TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen, who led the union’s negotiating team, said that the contract marked the successful conclusion of a tough fight that lasted more than two years. The union’s last agreement expired on January 15, 2012.

“At a time when few workers see their paychecks growing, with a recovery that fails to take hold for so many, transit workers can hold their heads high by having won raises in every year of the five-year deal, resulting in an immediate 4 percent wage increase, full retroactive pay, and new benefits that reverse the trend of givebacks in health care that are all-too-familiar across our country,” he said.

He noted that the TWU contract broke a bargaining pattern that was set in 2011 and had held New York State workers to three years of zero wage increases and major health care givebacks.

Transit workers at the MTA now will not see any of that pain. Partly responsible, he said, was the universal acknowledgement of the outstanding job the workers did in restoring system-wide service just days after the devastation inflicted on New York by Hurricane Sandy.

“I want to thank the members of TWU Local 100 for recognizing that we achieved an excellent contract in trying times. I also want to thank Governor Cuomo for his intervention, at the union’s request, that resulted in an acceptable contract."

Click Read More to see votes by division

Missing: Aidan Norvez

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Citi Bike workers to join TWU 100

In a Monday, May 19 article in the New York Daily News, Pete Donohue reveals that more than 50% of Citi Bike staffers have signed authorization cards for TWU Local 100. Citi Bike dispatcher Dolly Winter told Donohue that the growing relationship of cycling to mass transit made Local 100 the union of choice. Plus, “It’s a strong union that seems to have good political connections.”

Read the entire story at http://nydn.us/S8xtbO

Strike Averted at Mile Square

Less than 48 hours before TWU members at Mile Square School Bus were to walk off the job in a long simmering contract dispute, the union and the company reached a tentative settlement that has been unanimously endorsed by the negotiating committee.

On Thursday the Mile Square membership had overwhelming voted to strike on Monday rather than consider the company’s “last and final” offer from earlier in the week.

Company owner, Harry Rodriguez, reached out to Local 100 President John Samuelsen and Administrative Vice President Angel Giboyeaux early this morning (Saturday, May 17, 2014) and asked for new talks.

Giboyeaux quickly assembled the negotiating committee and the two sides met at the union’s satellite office on Saw Mill River Rd. in Yonkers for several hours.

The announcement of a settlement came at noon.

On Friday afternoon, an emergency session of the Local 100 Executive Board convened to authorize the strike. The vote was 38-0 to approve the job action. Details on ratification will be announced early this week.

Photo: Local 100 Administrative VP Angel Giboyeaux shakes hands with Mile Square owner Harry Rodriguez, accompanied by the Mile Square negotiating committee, Division Chair Laura McLoughlin and organizer Frank McCann, Jr. Not pictured: Executive Board member Hector Cartagena, Union Rep Gus Moghrabi, and staffer Dylan Valle.

AAA to Conduct Ballot Count May 19, 2014 at Brooklyn Marriott Hotel: Observers Allowed

The American Arbitration Association (AAA) will conduct the count in the Local 100 TA/OA contract ratification vote on Monday, May 19, 2014, at the Marriott Hotel, 333 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201.

The count will be conducted in the Robinson and Whitman Rooms. It is expected to begin mid to late morning. TWU Local 100 representatives will be in the hotel lobby to direct members interested in observing the count to the correct location.

Members in good standing who wish to observe the count are welcome. Following are some basic rules for the count that AAA and TWU Local 100 will enforce to insure an orderly and democratic process:

1. Members will be permitted to observe the vote counting process, but they may not interfere with it. Any person who disrupts the vote count will be immediately ejected.
2. Members who are acting as observers will be permitted to be in the hotel room where the count is being held for no longer than thirty minutes at a time, so as to permit as many Members access to the room as possible.
3. Up to ten members at a time will be permitted in the hotel room on a first come first served basis. A sign up sheet will be set up outside the hotel room.
4. Local 100 Officers and Staff will be permitted access to the hotel room as well.
5. The use of cameras, cell phones, and other electronic devices etc., may be limited by AAA or as circumstances dictate. No use of any of the listed devices will be permitted if such use causes a disturbance or interferes in any way with the vote count.

TWU Local 100 Announces MAJOR DENTAL IMPROVEMENTS

TWU Local 100 has entered into an agreement with Healthplex, the largest dental benefits provider in New York State, to create a new dental plan that will go into effect in TA/OA under Local 100's administration approximately 90 days following contract ratification.

This plan is lightyears ahead what we have had until now and greatly exceeds the level of benefits of other unions' Healthplex plans. This dental benefit improvement has been made possible by winning significantly higher funding from from the MTA in this round of contract negotiations.

The TWU Local 100 Healthplex Plan will offer two options: Managed Care and a PPO. There will be NO co-pays, NO maximums and NO deductibles under Managed Care. There will be NO co-pays for in-network treatment under the PPO, NO deductibles, and NO maximum for dependents under the age of 19.

Under the managed care option, the TWU Local 100 Healthplex Plan will permit families to choose from among more than 2,400 dental locations. The PPO, specially customized for Local 100, will offer a choice of over 5,500 dental locations. The PPO will also offer an extensive menu of out-of-network benefits.

There are incredible new improvements in our dental plan, including, for the first time ever, dental coverage extended to full-time college students up to the age of 23!

Local 100 is working on restructuring the dental portion of the High-Option Rider in light of these substantial improvements.

This plan will also serve as the model for the membership in MTA Bus upon the upcoming settlement of their contract.

TWU Local 100 and Healthplex are now ironing out the final details to prepare the plan for launch approximately 90 days after ratification.

Click here for a detailed description of the TWU Local 100 Healthplex Plan.

Questions & Answers on the Proposed Contract

Here are definitive answers to several questions about the proposed contract for TA/OA members. It is also available as a flyer for print.