A Grand Central Shuttle train was taken out of service Wednesday morning after the Train Operator – acting on advice from RTO leadership – reported that his cab’s air-conditioning wasn’t working and it was unsafe to operate due the excessive heat.
RTO departmental officers have been instructing train crews to put safety first during this heat wave. The message: If temperatures spike, and the cab's air-conditioning system is broken, tell the RCC it's unsafe to operate.
The Train Operator on the Shuttle called RCC after being advised to do so by B-Division Vice Chair Kenneth Rivera, who went to the Grand Central Shuttle to investigate a report to RTO from Train Operator Patricia Phillip that a T/O was assigned a hot cab.
JULY 8 -- Bus Operator Giselle Martinez – a published author, an active union member, and the former president of a non-profit childcare provider – is the new Working Women’s Committee and Family Assistance Coordinator, President Tony Utano and Secretary-Treasurer Richard Davis announced Friday.
A Bus Operator in the TA Surface Division for seven years, Martinez penned an autobiography, “The Lady of the Miracle” (La Dama del Milagro) which chronicles the struggles she faced in her life and how she overcame them.
Friday, July 8, 2022 -- Mayor Eric Adams met with Local 100 President Tony Utano and Secretary-Treasurer Richard Davis at the Quill Depot to discuss ways to combat the assaults and abuse being inflicted on Bus Operators and our members working in the subway.
ATU Local 1179 President Jose DeJesus and ATU Local 1056 President Mark Henry also joined the meeting focused on improving workplace safety and better protecting transit workers on the job.
“This is just so important to come here and sit down and speak with the union reps that represent the members on the front line,” the mayor said after the sit-down. “You can’t deal with crime sitting behind your desk in City Hall. You have to speak with those who are impacted, hear their ideas, and that’s what we did today.”
The Mayoral meeting came a day after Utano and Davis, also the Local 100 Safety Director, announced that teams of MTA police are now riding some bus routes. “I believe we are making real progress,” Utano said Thursday. “We’ve made a big push to get police on buses, but we need more, and we need involvement from the NYPD.”
JULY 7 -- Teams of MTA police officers are now riding local buses – potentially providing a much-needed uniformed presence that will deter some of the assaults being inflicted on Bus Operators, TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano and Secretary-Treasurer Richard Davis announced today, Thursday, July 7, 2022.
Local 100, meanwhile, has formed an Employee Safety Committee of Surface Transportation with the Amalgamated Transit Union leadership and NYC Transit to develop additional recommendations to reduce assaults and the risk of injury from other hazards – and to monitor and give input on police deployment, Utano and Davis announced.
Rank-and-file Bus Operators also will have a seat at the table, Utano and Davis said. The task force will include a committee that has a Bus Operator from each depot. Victims of assaults themselves also will be on the committee.
“I believe we are making real progress,” Utano said. “We’ve made a big push to get police on buses, but we need more, and we need involvement from the NYPD.” Davis, who also serves as Local 100 Safety Director, said the MTA police teams and task force builds upon his initiative to restructure and reinvigorate the Safety Department, which will also be involved in this task force.
The MTA has told the union that the MTA police officers are being deployed to “hot spot” segments of bus routes where assaults have been particularly problematic. The targeted areas are identified by MTA Security, which has also directed some of its Eagle Teams to pay attention to local buses.
With the devastating war in Ukraine entering its fifth month, union members have stepped up to render humanitarian assistance. Organized by CED Exec Board Member Grigoryi Dunichev, who hails from Ukraine, the charity drive for TAPS, the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, raised $9,600 from the membership. Local 100 contributed an additional $10,000, making the total nearly $20,000.
Congratulations to Liberty Lines Bus Operator Anthony A. McCaffrey on his retirement – after 44 years of uninterrupted service in Westchester.
McCaffrey started as an office worker in 1978 right out of high school before switching over eight years later to Bus Operator, a job he did to perfection without an accident on his record, said TWU Local 100 Private Operations Division Chair Carlos Bernabel. He is retiring out of the Valhalla Depot.
TWU Local 100 emphatically supports state legislation declaring our mass transit system a “sensitive location” where concealed firearms will be prohibited along with other locations like courts, hospitals, and schools.
“The last thing we need in the transit system is more riders with guns on their hips,” Local 100 President Tony Utano said. “It’s a crowded and confined space where tempers can flare. Only a pro-gun zealot could be against common-sense gun restrictions that include our bus and subway system.”
Gov. Hochul called the state Legislature back into session on Thursday to respond to a Supreme Court ruling that declared unconstitutional a New York law that strictly limited who could carry weapons outside of their homes.
Celebrating Gov. Hochul and Lt. Gov. Delgado’s primary victory: Local 100 Pres. Tony Utano, NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, L100 PAC Director Sharase DeBouse, L100 Secretary-Treasurer Richard Davis and Queens Borough Pres. Donovan Richards. Go Kathy Go!
TWU Local 100 with NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards
