“This is obviously a great win for the thousands of transit workers whose jobs are directly impacted by the MTA Capital Plan, and for the millions of New York’s working families who use the bus and subway system every day. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Gov. Cuomo for pressing this issue so hard and bringing it to a conclusion so that the MTA would not be forced to scale back the capital plan. Over three thousand TWU members earn their livelihoods keeping our transit system in a state of good repair, and if the failure to properly fund continued, it would have hurt workers and riders alike, to say nothing of the long term negative impact on the region’s economy.
The TWU's aggressive media campaign that targeted the Mayor, who was on the wrong side of this issue, had to be done to get the public involved and raise the level of attention being given to this terribly important issue. NYC Transit Workers provide the most vital public service to New York’s working families day in and day out. In the end, there needs to be a more permanent solution to the MTA’s funding needs instead of nasty battles every five years to modernize the system and insure access to safe, reliable and affordable public transit for New Yorkers. At the moment, however, I am happy its over and our members and the riding public can rest easy that at least this issue is behind us."
TWU Local 100's campaign included full-page newspaper ads featuring the mayor operating a graffiti covered subway train and jumping a turnstile, making the case that the city was not contributing its fair share. Local 100 represents about 41,000 transit workers with more than 3,000 performing tasks related to the capital plan, including rehabilitating stations, replacing tracks and driving shuttle buses when stations and line segments are temporarily closed.
