SEPTEMBER 9 -- The awesome power of transit's response to the attack on America was on display at the Union Hall last night, as two hundred Local 100 members who worked at Ground Zero gathered to remember 9/11 and receive medals and commemorative pins. President John Samuelsen, himself a 9/11 responder, keynoted the evening by vowing that the union would fight to achieve the public recognition our members so clearly deserve. Medals for those with documented 9/11 injuries and participation pins for all who were part of the effort will continue to be awarded from this day forward, he said. It's the union's intent that everyone who served should be recognized as we build to a major commemoration on the 15th anniversary of 9/11 next year.
Transit's central role in the 9/11 rescue and recovery effort took center stage in a documentary produced by filmmaker Winston Mitchell, who was in the audience, as well as in a display of over 50 images from 9/11 that showed TWU Local 100 members carrying covered stretchers from the rubble, cutting beams, hauling cars and heavy debris and evaluating damage to subway tunnels at the site.
Working off a 14-year old MTA list of Ground Zero responders, the Union sent letters to over 1600 or our members who responded to 9/11. Many others were also assigned and hundreds more volunteered, serving without pay. The full complement of transit workers at Ground Zero was over 3,000. Eleven members were awarded a medal of special recognition for those who suffered injuries or illness from their work at Ground Zero and were compensated by the Victim's Compensation Fund, the City of New York, or Workers' Compensation. Three of those awards were given posthumously to friends of family members because those union members died of their 9/11-caused ailments.
Maintenance of Way VP Tony Utano gives Participation Pins to members who served at Ground Zero.
For the two hundred plus members who attended, it was an emotional evening. Old friends embraced having not seen each other for years. Young children brought to the event watched as the documentary unfolded on large screens showing the blazing towers and the determined work of transit as we cut metal, lifted cars an debris, explored destroyed subway tunnels, and received words of praise from then-Governor George Pataki and former MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow soon after the event. Public Advocate Leticia James and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, himself a former transit worker, spoke movingly of their pride in New York City transit and our determination to rush in and help without regard to personal safety. The medal for those injured or made ill, designed by TWU Local 100 Executive Board Member and 9/11 responder Mario Galvet is inscribed with a Latin motto translated as "above the call of duty." The smaller participation pin is being made available to every union member who responded to 9/11, documented by the MTA/FEMA list and backed up by a signed affidavit of service.
For a great Facebook photo essay on the event from videographer and photographer Phil Fiumano, click here. Log in with your Facebook account and view the photos.
