Local 100 Mourns the Line of Duty Death of Train Operator Garrett Goble; $52,500 Reward Offered
TWU Local 100 on Twitter
Pres Utano addresses the media at 111 & Malcolm X on the tragic death of Train Operator Garrett Goble in a fire on the 2 Train @NYSAFLCIO @CentralLaborNYC @transportworker @AFLCIO @TTDAFLCIO https://t.co/uvLyopfi2e
TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano issued the following statement regarding the tragic death of a Train Operator Garrett Goble this morning:
“This is a terrible tragedy for this young Train Operator, his family, and for the entire transit workforce. A young man serving the public during a national crisis was killed at just 36 years of age. For this to happen, after we lost two of our union brothers to the Coronavirus, is hard to comprehend. Our Conductor acted heroically to move passengers to the platform out of danger, and deserves our deepest thanks and support for his bravery. This incident once again points out many life-threatening dangers that await transit workers across the city when the go to their jobs every day, 24 hours a day. This is a sad day for our entire City. We’re devastated.”
Eric Loegel, the Local 100 Vice President representing Train Operators and Conductors, said:
“This is an unspeakable tragedy. I’m in stunned disbelief. The Train Operator was my age and had about the same number of years on the job. It’s a nightmare. My deepest condolences to his family and friends during this extremely sad time. The train conductor is a real hero. Safely evacuating people from the burning train— he did an incredible job and deserves our honor and praise.”
President Utano is sending this message to the approximately 40,000 bus and subway workers in TWU Local 100:
“These may be the darkest days that TWU Local 100 has gone through. We’ve been some tough times together. We’ve had more than our share of tragedies. This is different. We can’t grieve together. We can’t mourn together, at least not physically, as we have done in the past. But we remain a family. We are united by our history and our public service. We are members of TWU Local 100 – that mighty, mighty union. Call each other. Console each other. Help each other any way that you can. We can weather any storm. Stay strong.”
A $52,500 reward has been offered for information leading to the arrest of the suspected arsonist who started the blaze.
