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We Remember Brooklyn DA Ken Thompson, a Powerful Fighter for Human Rights

20161010

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TWU Local 100 mourns the passing of Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson, at the age of 50, from cancer. DA Thompson was a shining star in Brooklyn, an outspoken leader in the criminal justice arena, and a solid supporter of transit workers. DA Thompson attended TWU Local 100’s rally in support of a good contract in October of 2013 on the anniversary of Super Storm Sandy and spoke powerfully at our Black History Celebration on February 25, 2015. His speech at our event is a fitting commemoration of Ken Thompson’s values and what he stood for.

Samuelsen Op Ed in the Daily News: The raise transit workers deserve: The state and MTA, which have the money, must pay bus and subway professionals more.

They can't really protect us. So they damn well should pay us. The unique stresses and perils that come with being a transit worker have been on full display in recent months.

On Sept. 14, a rider with a chip on his shoulder and some screws loose in his head slammed a female conductor against a wall on a J train. The next day, someone smacked a B-train conductor with a bag. Weeks earlier, another miscreant set fire to a station booth while an agent was inside.

You can find an example every single day of a bus or subway worker being assaulted or abused: punched, spat upon, threatened, knocked to the ground or worse.

Members Pack Brooklyn Courtroom in Arson Case

Dozens of TWU Local 100 members went to Brooklyn Supreme Court Thursday to face down a lowlife who tried to set a token booth on fire during a failed robbery. About 30 union officers and members filled the public rows behind the prosecutor’s table as Everett Robinson was arraigned on attempted murder, attempted assault in the first degree and other charges. Robinson briefly turned and took notice of the TWU Local 100 contingent glaring at him. He was then led shackled back to jail on Rikers Island. Justice William Harrington continued Robinson’s bail requirement: $50,000 cash or $75,000 bond.

Local 100 members then marched down the hallway with their fists in the air as photographers from the New York Daily News and New York Post snapped away.

Stations Vice President Derick Echevarria and Stations Chairman Joe Bermudez told the reporters they were pleased the Brooklyn district attorney’s office jacked up the charges against Robinson to attempted murder and first-degree assault. Robinson was initially charge by police with attempted arson and second-degree assault, which carry significantly lower maximum prison sentences. He now faces a minimum five years behind bars and a maximum 25 years upstate. But Echevarria and Bermudez were angered that Justice Harrington denied - without explanation - a media request to take photographs of Robinson in the courtroom. “Why is he coddling someone who tried to kill one of our members, a Station Agent who was simply doing her job serving the riders?,” Bermudez said.

Station Agent Percilla Augustine-Soverall, 44, told police that she was in the booth at about 10:45 p.m. on Aug. 12 when Robinson doused the aperture with a liquid that smelled like gasoline. “He said that if I didn’t give him the money, he would light me up,” Augustine-Soverall said. Robinson then held up a shirt or rag and lit it on fire, according to the criminal complaint filed by NYPD Det. Daniel Artega. The fire apparently spread more quickly than Robinson anticipated, forcing him to drop it to the floor before he could stuff it into the booth’s opening, according to a law enforcement source.

Still, the smoke from the burning cloth filled the mezzanine and booth, triggering the Halon fire-suppression system. “Everything was just cloudy in the booth,” Augustine-Soverall told the New York Daily News. “I couldn’t do anything…I just started crying. I was in shock.” Agent Augustine-Soverall was not physically injured but remains traumatized.

Indian Day a Festive Night

On September 24, at the IBEW Local 3 hall in Queens, we held our annual day celebrating transit workers of Indian heritage. Enjoy the slide show!

Our Annual Chinese Day -- Mid Autumn Festival -- a Roaring Success!

With a festive lion dance, great food, and entertainment by vocalist Winne Huang, the TWU's second annual mid-Autumn festival, celebrating Chinese Heritage, got underway in mid-September in Brooklyn. For those who missed it, enjoy the slide show!

News Report: Hero Conductor Brought Girl, Suicidal Mom to Safety

In a copyrighted story in Wednesday's edition, Daily News Reporter Dan Rivoli reports on Conductor Warren Cox, who noticed something very wrong at the station where he was assigned. He intervened to stop a likely suicidal plunge of a woman, clutching her nine year old daughter, into the path of a train. Read the story here. TWU Local 100 President told the news: “Saving lives is not in the job description, but that's what transit workers regularly do, sometimes at great risk to their own safety,” said John Samuelsen, Transport Workers Union Local 100 chief. “We're proud of Conductor Cox for intervening until the police arrived.”

Health Benefits: Aetna Wins the Contract to Administer Local 100 Health Benefits

The right to unilaterally change health carriers was given to the MTA by the union in the 2002 contract negotiations. The MTA has once again exercised this contractual right to bring in a new health care provider.

Starting on January 1, 2017, Aetna will be responsible for administering all the different medical plans for Local 100 members and retirees at TA/OA/MTA Bus. Each of these plans will remain distinct with the benefits and terms set in prior collective bargaining between the Union and the Authority. There will be NO change in the level of benefits due to this changeover. This change does not affect the prescription, optical and dental plans.

Some members – much fewer than in 2012 -- will see their doctor go out of network and may want to find a new one. Later this year, any member facing such a disruption will be notified by letter. Additionally, during the Open Enrollment period members will be provided with all the information they need to check for themselves. On the plus side, several thousand doctors who were out of network will now be in-network. Transitional arrangements will be made for members in special circumstances; for example, pregnant women and members undergoing chemotherapy.

This year’s Open Enrollment period will run from October 15 to December 5 for active members, and from November 1 to December 5 for retirees. Open Enrollment packs will be mailed out at the beginning of those periods. Open Enrollment informational meetings will be held at locations throughout the system, starting October 11. The schedule of meetings will be published shortly.

Active members who do not receive their Open Enrollment pack by October 15 can contact the BSC at that time. Retirees who do not receive their Open Enrollment pack by November 1 can contact the BSC at that time. However, if you do not want to change your plan you do not need to file anything during Open Enrollment, unless you want to add a dependent or if you are a retiree turning 65.

The 2012 changeover was accompanied by too much disruption and confusion. The Union is working to make sure that this time is different.

TWU Wins Standoff with MTA to Honor a Fallen New York Hero

With the City still in mourning over the death of FDNY Battalion Chief Michael Fahy, a dedicated firefighter, husband and dad who coached little league baseball and basketball, TWU Local 100 P&E workers at Kingsbridge Depot lowered the depot’s huge flag to half mast Wednesday morning as at every public building in New York City. The veteran firefighter died just blocks from the Kingsbridge Depot the day before, at the Allen Pavilion of the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center. He was killed by falling debris from the now notorious house explosion in the Bronx.

But the “brainless bureaucrats” at MTA-NYCT incredibly ordered the workers to raise the flag back up to full mast. Why? Because, they said, they didn’t get a go-ahead to do so from higher-ups. They also threatened to suspend the workers if they didn’t comply with a “direct order.”

With the backing of TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen, OA Maintenance Director Tom Lenane and Division Chair Mike Rehn, the workers refused to raise the flag back up. A tense stand-off ensued between the workers and the bosses. As word of the threatened suspension filtered out to the media and other TWU depots and TWU Locals, our brothers and sisters throughout the city and throughout the country demonstrated incredible solidarity. Local 100 members at depots across the city began lowering flags to half mast in solidarity with Kingsbridge and in defiance of the MTA threat. Then our brothers and sisters at ATU Local 726 on Staten Island joined in by lowering their flags to half mast at the Yukon and Castleton depots in respect to the fallen FDNY hero.

TWU Local 101 members employed by National Grid in Brooklyn did likewise at the company’s Greenpoint facility. TWU Local 501 (JFK Airport) and 513 (Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas) American Airlines workers joined in. So did TWU Local 525 members at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Despite the growing swell of opposition to the MTA’s idiotic and disrespectful position, bosses at Kingsbridge raised the flag back up to full mast IN FRONT OF ASSEMBLED NEWS MEDIA. TWU’s Lenane, under direct authority of President Samuelsen, told workers to lower it back to half mast. Lenane and Division Chair Mike Rehn then stood guard to make sure bosses wouldn’t try to raise it again. After several hours of this stand off, the MTA finally backed down blaming the controversy on a “miscommunication” at the depot level.

TWU’s Lenane thinks differently. He told the press: "I’m happy that it got done, but I’m really disheartened that the transit authority would have taken this position in the beginning. I mean, why did it have to go to this length in order to honor someone?" President Samuelsen agreed. He said: “This incident was the result of the disrespectful decisions of brainless bureaucrats at NYC Transit, but when workers stand shoulder to shoulder we win.”

Flags now rest at half mast on all MTA buildings in New York in honor a firefighter who gave his life in service to the City of New York and New York’s working families. Rest in peace, Battalion Chief Michael Fahy.

Contract Kickoff Rally Set for November 15th

Our contracts with the MTA expire on January 15, 2017. Local 100 President John Samuelsen has called for a mass mobilization at 2 Broadway for November 15th -- two months before contract expiration. We're putting a major presence on the street right in front of 2 Broadway to set the tone for negotiations: that transit workers will do whatever it takes to get a good contract.

The rally is set for 5pm on Tuesday, November 15th. Plan to arrive early. March with your Department and Division -- show your union pride and our determination to win. Download, print and distribute our flyer here.

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