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Teamwork in Westchester

TWU's PAC Department works with School Bus Drivers and Monitors to push a bill that would give them due process in disciplinary situations.

TWU Local 100 Political Action Staffer Raybblin Vargas with Ramona and Sen. Latimer

Legislators Line Up Behind School Bus Fair Discipline Bill

APRIL 14 -- State Senator George Latimer (D-Westchester) threw his support behind a bill that would give school bus drivers working for private employers the right to a hearing in the event of discipline preferred by a school district. Right now, school districts can order the dismissal of a driver or matron for any reason or no reason, and the employee and his or her union have no right of due process, because the contractual relationship exists between the bus company and the employee, not the school board. Senator Latimer heard the story of Ramona, who was disqualified by the Yonkers School District and then terminated from Mile Square. She was fired for not driving down a street without clearance for her bus. An insistent driver who demanded that she drive nevertheless turned out to be the spouse of a school board official, who ordered her termination without a hearing. Senator Latimer was also joined in support by Senator Tony Avella (D-Queens), who also said he felt the current situation was unjust and that employees "deserve their day in court."

Video: Mile Square Workers Say, "¡Ya Basta!"

APRIL 11 – TWU Local 100 negotiators, led by Administrative VP Angel Giboyeaux, met today with Mile Square Transportation owner Harry Rodriguez in a continuing effort to negotiate a contract. The sticking point is management’s determination to put in place a “two-tier” wage structure, in which new hires will make dramatically less than current employees, setting them up for raises that never reach current levels. Because our members at Mile Square, who take kids to and from school, work only 25 hours per week and not throughout the year, their wages are less than poverty level.

After meeting at our new union hall at 347 Saw Mill River Parkway, over 100 school bus drivers and monitors represented by TWU Local 100 headed to the Ramada Inn, where negotiations were taking place.

In Photos: Negotiations with Mile Square Management

TWU Local 100 members at Mile Square Transportation are energized to fight for a good contract. United, Invincible!

Local 100 members were in the crowd protesting at City Hall

Pressure Pays Off as UPS Drivers Return to Work

APRIL 10 -- After a 10-hour bargaining session, 250 UPS drivers facing termination have been restored to employment. The breakthrough came after top Teamster officials intervened early this week. TWU Local 100 was one of several unions in the forefront of supporting our brothers and sisters at Local 804 after management announced plans to fire 250 members after a 90-minute on walk-out on February 26 to protest the firing of a union brother. They had fired 35 when the settlement was announced last night. TWU Local 100 Recording Secretary LaTonya Crisp-Sauray took the lead in protesting the firings for Local 100. Her husband, Ronald, was one of the UPS workers fired.

Here is the statement from the Teamsters: [April 9, 2014] UPS is rescinding the terminations of all 250 drivers and reinstating Jairo Reyes under an agreement reached today between Teamsters Local 804 and UPS. Under the agreement hammered out over a ten-hour marathon bargaining session, all terminations will be reduced to a 10-day suspension. Local 804 also agreed to pay monetary damages to UPS.

Stedmund Dawson, 58, Is Remembered by Overflow Crowd at Bronx Church

Conductor Stedmund Dawson, who passed away on March 24 while in the cab of his D train, was mourned by an overflow crowd of parishioners at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in the Bronx on April 8^th. Dawson only had two years on the job in transit, but he was a union man with many years of service at Verizon before coming to work for the MTA.

At the Church, he was remembered as “the big teddy bear,” and “a gentle giant,” before the Eucharistic service. Father Pierre-Andre Duvert, the minister, said “Stedmund did not simply read about the Good Shepherd. He knew the Good Shepherd. He lived life lovingly. When he gave you a hug, you knew it was from the heart.”

Our Founder Mike Quill, seen in 1941

FAQ's About the TWU International's Mike Quill Scholarships

Applications for the 2014 Michael J. Quill Scholarship are available on line on the TWU International Union website at: http://twu.org/Members/QuillScholarship.aspx

Since 1969, the TWU International has awarded 15 four-year college scholarships each year to college-bound dependents of TWU members. Each award recipient receives $1,200 annually, for a total of $4,800 over the four-year college period. Quill Scholarship awards have benefited hundreds of families throughout the TWU, including scores from Local 100. l

Frequently Asked Questions on the Quill Scholarship

Who is eligible? Sons and daughters and dependent brothers and sisters (claimed with IRS) of present, retired, or deceased TWU members who are High School Seniors and who will enter an accredited college of their own choice beginning with the Fall term are eligible. Sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters of full-time, paid officers of the Union are not eligible.

When is the deadline? All applications must be received by the Michael J. Quill Scholarship Fund by May 5, 2014.

How is the scholarship paid? The scholarship money is paid directly to the college or university that the successful applicant attends.

How does a person apply? Fill out and send in the application, that can be found on the International Union’s website.

How are the winners decided? By a random drawing held in May of each year at TWU headquarters in Washington, D.C. Winners will be notified immediately thereafter.

Lawmakers, union leaders call for $40 million to be restored to MTA budget

by Tanique Williams, reprinted from the Legislative Gazette

Elected officials stood in solidarity on Tuesday with the Transport Workers Union Local 100 chapter — representing 38,000 active transportation workers and about 26,000 retirees — to demand a restoration of funds to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority budget, instead of the $40 million deduction Gov. Andrew Cuomo has proposed. State lawmakers, those primarly with New York City constituency, spoke at a press conference in the Legislative Office Building to denounce Cuomo's proposed $40 million cut to MTA. The funds should instead be used to restore critical bus and subway services and put the breaks on fair hikes, advocates said.

"The MTA's position is that they do not have the money to restore the service yet New York state government believes they're flush enough with cash to take $40 million out of the dedicated revenues that the MTA has," said John Samuelsen, TWU Local 100 president. "TWU lives within the five boroughs of New York City, our families constitute the riding public," he said. "We come here today to stand with our friends in the Legislature [and the riding] public of New York City; the folks that use this system, not the bureaucrats that make the decisions to defund the system and to cut services."

"They deserve every ounce of the service that was cut back in 2010 restored — the $40 million should be earmarked for that. The MTA cannot have its cake and eat it too. New York state government cannot have its cake and eat it too. You can't defund the MTA by $40 million that's rightfully theirs and rightfully belongs to the people of New York City that ride this system," Samuelsen continued.

On the "million dollar stairs."

Lobby Day 2014 Pushes Partitions, Attacks 'Sweeps', and Ramps Up Contract Fight

Some 1,200 TWU members thronged the halls of Albany on March 25th, wearing green t-shirts that proclaimed zero tolerance for "net zero," and "the MTA MUST pay." State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the most prominent politician to address TWU at the capitol's convention center, got the largest round of applause for scoring the MTA on $1.9 billion in savings that they don't want to pass along to workers. President Samuelsen was joined by two dozen lawmakers at a 1 PM press conference pushing back against the Governor's recent $40 million 'sweep' of dedicated transit funds from the MTA's budget. Bus partitions to prevent assaults were also high on the agenda, with one politician after another vowing to enact A7424/S5684, which would mandate their installation. After a lively program at the convention center and the press conference, where a group photo was taken, TWU Local 100 members staged a sit-in demanding a "fair contract now" on the 'million dollar staircase' leading up to the State Senate chambers in the capitol building. President Samuelsen briefed members on the day's accomplishments while other top officers held the union's "no concessions" banner.

Remembering Bob Crow

This video in memory of Bob Crow, the dynamic and militant leader of London’s bus and subway workers union who died this week of a massive heart attack at age 52, was first shown at the Quill-Connolly commemoration on March 15.

Since his death, accolades for Crow have poured in from labor and other sectors in Britain and throughout the world.

TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen said: “Bob’s death is a crushing blow to Britain’s and the world’s labor movements. He was without question the most important and profound voice for industrial unionism and the working class in the world.”