Sen Schumer, in TWU Zoom Call, Pledges Action on Hazard Pay

One of the most powerful elected officials in the country told TWU that he remains committed to securing hazard pay.

During a Zoom meeting exclusively for Transport Workers Union leaders and members in New York on Friday, Jan. 29, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said hazard pay is a top priority for him as he works with the House of Representatives and the Biden-Harris administration to address the ongoing health crisis and economic damage it is causing. “It’s not in the new Biden plan, but we’re going to continue fighting for it in the next big transportation bill, and we will need your alliance all the way,” Schumer said. “We [need to] get the money for transit, first and foremost, so they don’t shut down anything, but priority number two is hazard pay. You folks who put yourself on the line, exposed yourself, you deserve that."

Schumer originally proposed hazard pay in April 2020. The House of Representatives adopted it but the Senate, then controlled by Rep. Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky, refused to adopt it. The senator was instrumental in securing $8 billion for the MTA during the pandemic, helping to shelve MTA doomsday plans to lay off thousands of transit workers.

“Senator Schumer has always been a fighter for working men and working women,” Utano said. “He listens to labor. When he sets his sights on something he doesn’t give up.”

International President Samuelsen praised Schumer for securing billions of dollars for transit systems all across the country, and funding that stopped the layoffs for tens of thousands of airline workers also represented by TWU. “We worked very closely with the senator and we were able to deliver collectively and I think that’s how it ought to be,” Samuelsen said. “It ought to be with our elected officials in Washington working hand in hand with the trade labor movement to advance the interests of working people, and this is prime example of how that plays out when it’s clicking the right way.”

Samuelsen added: “The level of interaction and level of access that we had with Senator Schumer is just unprecedented and unparalleled.”