MARCH 14 -- TWU Local 100 today became the first union in the City to jump into the hotly contested Democratic primary in the 13th Congressional District by endorsing State Sen. Adriano Espaillat. Local 100 President John Samuelsen made the announcement at a press conference at union headquarters in Brooklyn, with a beaming Espaillat at his side. Samuelsen said that more than 3,000 Local 100 members live in the 13th CD, which straddles Manhattan and the Bronx.
The Local 100 Executive Committee earlier voted unanimously to support Espaillat over long-time incumbent Charles Rangel and a second challenger, Rev. Michael Walrond. Samuelsen said that the union’s endorsement is based on Espaillat’s long record of support for fair contracts for transit workers as well as safe and clean working conditions. Espaillat said that TWU’s endorsement is “extremely important to me” because it comes from the “men and women who move this city, who get us to work and home safely every day.” He also said that transit workers contribute mightily to the City’s economic vitality. Espaillat added that he would be a “champion” for workers in Congress.
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Metro-North has allowed its emphasis on trains’ on-time performance to “routinely” overshadow its safety operations, according to a Federal Railroad Administration review.
Case 6 on the calendar for NYS Supreme Court Part 32 was called at 11:45, and the young defendant, Domonic Whilby, 22, was brought into court before a divided audience: transit workers and family of slain Bus Operator William Pena on the one side, Whilby’s relatives on the other. News cameras rolled as an Assistant District Attorney Randolph Clarke, Jr. detailed the commission of the crime: How Whilby, drunk, stole an 18,000 pound truck from the loading bay of the Dream Hotel at 5:22 in the morning, barreled down 16th street, ran a red light, struck a light vehicle, ran another red light, struck a coffee vendor’s stand, then hit an M-14 Bus that was proceeding on a green light down 14th Street causing the death of the driver.
Bob Crow, the dynamic and militant leader of London’s bus and subway workers union, and a frequent speaker at TWU events here in New York, has died of a massive heart attack at age 52. He had been the elected General Secretary of the Railway, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) since 2002.
The RMT's assistant general secretary Steve Hedley said: “The RMT has lost a great leader and a great man and the whole working class has lost a true leader.”
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.”
At a celebration for International Women's Day, our own Recording Secretary spoke out not only for the women on the job who the public sees every day, but for the women who are behind the scenes in the transit system. She represented women in transit at the March 7th event at CUNY's Murphy Insitute along with other prominent women in the NYC labor movement. Also attending were Public Advocate Letitia James and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito. Other women from labor included DC 37's Barbara Edmonds and Yolanda Pumarejo, the UFT's Evelyn de Jesus, Helen Schaub of 1199, and Elly Spicer of the NYC District Council of Carpenters.
On February 26, UPS fired a driver and longtime union activist at its Maspeth depot without the fair hearing he was contractually entitled to. In response, 250 drivers, members of Teamster Local 804, walked out in solidarity with their Brother and to defend their rights.
In retaliation, UPS has now notified all 250 drivers who participated in the protest that they are on notice of termination. UPS is threatening the jobs of its employees in order to defend management’s unilateral breach of the contract and stifle protest.
TWU Local 100 condemns this attack on the rights of hard-working men and women.
Join Teamster 804 members citywide, the Working Families Party, Public Advocate Tish James and TWU Local 100 in demanding justice at Maspeth. Sign the petition here to add your voice.
MARCH 6 -- A hundred angry school bus drivers, matrons and mechanics rallied in bitter cold outside the Mile Square school bus company's main depot on Nepperhan Avenue in Yonkers to urge owner Harry Rodriguez to bring hourly pay up to other comparable companies and improve safety conditions at his facilities. The crowd of workers told the news media that a contract with decent raises is long overdue at Mile Square. TWU Local 100 Administrative Vice President Angel Giboyeaux, who has been negotiating with Mr. Rodriguez, said that workers haven't seen a raise for years. Local 100 Secretary-Treasurer Earl Phillips, former Director of Local 100's Safety Department, said that sanitary facilities were grossly inadequate. Just last week, union reps placed a dozen buses out of service for mechanical or other safety defects.
A February 21 press conference at the Union Hall afforded Long Island Railroad unions the opportunity to speak out about how the MTA is provoking a strike at the railroad that could have dire consequences for New York City and the entire tri-state region. These videos give an overview of the situation and detailed answers, which are often missing from the clips on the evening news. This is what union solidarity is all about – TWU joining with our brothers and sisters on the LIRR and providing the workers’ assessment of what the MTA is doing and what needs to be done.
Guests packed the third floor of Local 100’s new union hall at 195 Montague Street in Brooklyn for TWU’s 2014 Black History Celebration on Saturday Feb. 22, 2014.
For the first time, the union’s Black History event was co-sponsored by the New York Chapter of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) alongside TWU Local 100. Special guests included Bill Lucy, the founder and first President of the national CBTU, and John Bland, TWU’s International Administrative Vice President and a stalwart of the civil rights movement in Houston, TX. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, New York City Public Advocate Letitia “Tish” James and City Council member Robert Cornegy also attended.
Local 100 President John Samuelsen, Secretary Treasurer Earl Phillips, Recording Secretary Latonya Crisp Sauray, Administrative Vice President Angel Giboyeaux and Vice Presidents Maurice Jenkins and Tony Utano attended, as did TWU International President Harry Lombardo and International Vice President and Transit Division Director Jerome Lafragola. Current CBTU national President Terry Melvin, who is also Secretary Treasurer of the New York State AFL-CIO, was on hand as well.
Newly elected CBTU/New York Chapter President Charles Jenkins, an elected Local 100 officer from MOW/LES and a member of the Local 100 staff, served as emcee. Co-hosts were TWU Local 100 VP for Stations Maurice Jenkins and TWU Local 100 Senior Director of Operations Curtis Tate.
Jackie Roe-Adams, a Local DC 37 President, began the program with a beautiful rendition of the Negro National Anthem.
Bill Lucy, the retired Executive Vice President of national AFSCME, spoke about the founding of CBTU in 1972 as a means to insure that the concerns of black workers were being heard at the highest levels of the labor movement. Lucy said that his frustration over the AFL-CIO’s decision to remain neutral in the 1972 presidential election prompted his decision to form the organization. Over the past four decades, CBTU has served as a springboard for advancement of black labor leaders in the movement.
Texas native John Bland spoke about his involvement in helping to found the Martin Luther King-inspired Progressive Youth Association during his days as a student at Texas Southern University. That movement effectively battled Jim Crow through peaceful demonstrations in the early 1960’s. John’s activism played a key role in facilitating the racial integration of lunch counters, movie theaters and other community establishments in Houston.