The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is on the cutting edge of delaying, wasting time and provoking a strike. In response to a Congressional letter to the MTA telling the Authority to accept the recommendations of the Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) for LIRR workers – which amounts to raises of 2.5% per year over six years – the MTA did the only thing it could do to avert a threatened March strike: it took its last remaining option to call for another PEB to study the situation.
In response, TWU Local 100 and LIRR unions gathered for a summit at the Local 100 union hall in Brooklyn Heights, so that we could – in unity – brief legislators and the press on next steps. With Local 100 President John Samuelsen hosting the press event, LIRR SMART President Anthony Simon thanked Congressional leaders for “standing up to protect this system and avert a strike.” He took the MTA to task for pitting the public against workers. “They have the ability to pay without raising fares, and we don’t want to go on strike,” he said.
Joel Parker, National Vice President of the Transportation Communications Union, which also represents LIRR workers, explained the findings of the Presidential Emergency Board, which is a respected panel of arbitrators who have a record of impartiality in labor disputes. In its recommendation, released two months ago, the PEB did not give labor everything it wanted, but also spurned MTA demands to re-examine work rules. It recommended high health care contributions which take away half a percentage point from worker raises. Yet the MTA is determined not to say yes to the package, even though historically second PEB panels have not departed from the recommendations of the first.
On the first winter day that felt like spring, uniformed transit workers and police officers gathered to say goodbye with formal ceremony to Bus Operator William Peña. His large family, most prominently widow Nancy and daughter Gabriela, marched up the stairs to the entrance of St. Paul the Apostle Church near Lincoln Center in Manhattan, following Brother Peña’s casket which was carried by NYPD pallbearers, piped in by the NYCT Pipers, and honored by the NYCT Color Guard.
Eight NYCT buses brought mourners, union sisters and brothers, who stood in formation as the coffin made its way to the church and up the steps. TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen spoke at the church pulpit after a bilingual Mass was celebrated, along with NYCT President Carmen Bianco and members of the Peña family, including his brother, Alex, who told of William’s great generosity to a bus passenger. Regulars on Peña’s M14 bus, like Millie Ortiz, were in the audience.
Peña’s sister, Police Officer Denise Bueno, spoke movingly about getting the heartbreaking call on the morning of February 12th. An MTA Chaplain spoke of feeling “a type of love I hadn’t experienced in the 35 years I’ve been with the MTA” at the Quill Depot as members there remembered their fallen Brother. Samuelsen paid tribute to Peña’s memory by assuring his family that they will never be forgotten and that TWU Local 100 will do everything possible to ease their path forward.
FEBRUARY 19 -- Newly-elected New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio came to the wake for slain Bus Operator William Pena at the United Nations Chapel on First Avenue and 44th Street this evening. He arrived at about 6:30 with his security detail and quickly entered the chapel, taking no questions from the press. Once inside, he joined a room packed full of mourners, both family and transit workers. He joined the line in front of the casket and spoke in low tones to Brother Pena's widow, Nancy, and to his daughter, Gabriela, and then stood in silence for a time before the open coffin where Pena rested. It was the first time in memory that a sitting Mayor has visited a transit worker's wake. TWU Local 100 President Samuelsen and other top officers spent hours at the wake, speaking to many of the approximately 700 TWU and ATU members who came, most brought in by buses detailed from depots. Also in attendance was ATU Local 726 President Danny Cassella, bringing fraternal greetings from our brothers and sisters on Staten Island. A number of uniformed police also attended, along with William Pena's sister, who is a police officer.
Domonic Whilby, 23, who was drunkenly driving a stolen truck that crashed into Bus Operator William Pena's crosstown M14 bus, avoided a court hearing Tuesday that would have brought him into contact with the grieving Pena family and TWU Local 100 members wanting to see justice done in the case. Instead, Whilby's attorney managed to have the case remanded to State Supreme Court, where he will enter pleas on March 12th, in Part 32. Bus drivers, who donned black arm bands, waited in the courtroom until the end of the day, when the change of venue was granted by the presiding judge. The case has taken on wider interest in the media because Whilby is the nephew of actor/model Tyson Beckford, who was partying with Whilby before the events that led to Pena's death. TWU Local 100 encourages all members to be present to hear Mr. Whilby's plea to the charges preferred against him. The counts include vehicular manslaughter, grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and felony assault. More will be added because Mr. Whilby was driving with a blood alcohol level that is twice the legal limit.
At the request of Mrs. Nancy Rodriguez-Peña, TWU Local 100 MABSTOA Division 1 Chairman Richard Davis is organizing donations and vigils for fallen Bus Operator William Pena. The family has not yet announced the arrangements for his memorial services. Local 100 is asking that any who wish to participate and organize remembrances contact Brother Davis at (646) 323-5553 Cell or (212) 712-5001 Office. You can also email him at rdavis@twulocal100.org.
Eriberto Pena, William's brother, has established a fund in Brother Pena's honor for his daughter, Gabriela, 17, who is currently a senior in High School.
TWU Local 100 members have been joined in mourning with members of the riding public – our customers – and union members in transit all over the world. The internet was filled with grief in the ways people express it now – tweets on Twitter, and comments on Facebook and news sites. One regular customer on William Pena’s M14 bus identifying herself as “Lady Di” on DNA Info spoke for many when she wrote:
“This really affected me as I take this bus so many times during the week - and I do remember Mr. Pena - friendly, helpful - everything you'd want, but don't often get, from a driver. I hope it helps his family to know that his riders (at least this one) took notice of his kindness and appreciated it so very much. please, let’s not let the truck driver get off with a typically light sentence. This was an out and out homicide or at the very least involuntary manslaughter.”
ATU Canada’s Mike Mahar sent thoughts and prayers “with a heavy heart” and said, “once again, we are reminded of the vulnerability and risk our members experience every day when they put on a uniform and go to work.” Transport for London RMT driver Pakie Baker said: “My thoughts and prayers are with Mr. Pena and bereaved family and friends. May he Rest in Peace.” The New York State AFL-CIO tweeted thoughts and prayers, and TWU Local 556 expressed sadness “over the loss of a brother.” Local Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-Brooklyn/Staten Island) tweeted: “Heartbreaking. Please keep his family and @twulocal100 colleagues in your prayers.”
FEBRUARY 12 -- TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen expressed the Union's grief at the needless death today of Bus Operator William Pena, a 17-year veteran Bus Operator. He talked about the constant danger that transit workers face in large cities, noting that an average of one TWU Local 100 member dies each year on the job. "The Mike Quill Depot (where Brother Pena drove from) is in a real state of mourning right now," he added. "A lot of tears are being shed." Richard Davis, Union Chair of Brother Pena's division, said, "It’s such a terrible tragedy. Everyone around here is in a deep depression. Brother Pena was such a good person, a good family man, husband and father. He was a great worker, great record on the job, really well liked. I’ve never seen the depot this quiet.”
TWU Local 100 member Theresa Green, a Station Agent with 24 years of service, was interviewed by the British Broadcasting Corporation's business news unit, for a story that talks about U.S. inequality and workers getting by on less. She reflects the reality that wages are stagnant for transit workers, who have not seen a contractual raise since 2011. (Story by Michelle Fleury)
London was tied up in knots as members of the RMT, aiming to save 950 ticket office jobs, launched a 24-hour system-wide strike Tuesday night.
While some lines were halted entirely, London Underground management tried to run limited service on others despite the lack of station and maintenance of way employees (the RMT does not represent operating personnel on the Tube). As a consequence, riders have been subjected to hazardous conditions of overcrowding.
FEBRUARY 5 -- TWU Local 100 Transit crews operated with great professionalism when a sudden failure of power to the signal system between 96th Street and 72nd Street on the Upper West Side brought all service on the 1, 2, and 3 trains to a halt at 8:40 AM, the height of rush hour. As a fully loaded ten-car No. 2 train came to a dead stop south of 96th Street, Conductor Tyler Croft kept passengers' spirits up as they waited in the tunnel for 35 minutes, by making frequent announcements informing them about the MTA's progress in assessing and fixing the outage. When he mentioned the news coverage that was most likely accompanying the incident, passengers exchanged smiles. Croft advised passengers of the presence of MTA crews on the tracks, and then conducted an orderly evacuation of all passengers once the last two cars were backed up into the station, allowing egress. Signal crews wearing their yellow hardhats were on the scene along with FDNY within minutes. The outage was fixed and service was restored at approximately 10:30.
