TWU Local 100 Endorses Eric Adams for Mayor of New York City

APRIL 29 -- TWU Local 100 overwhelmingly and enthusiastically endorsed Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams for mayor today.

The Local 100 Executive Board voted overwhelmingly after hearing from eight leading candidates at the Union Hall in Brooklyn.

“Our members and officers have known Eric for a long time,” TWU Local 100 President Tony Utano said. “He’s stood with us in many battles and has always been there for us. He’s earned this endorsement and richly deserves it.”

Working in the Heat

Working in hot environments is not safe. Your body builds up heat when you work and sweats to get rid of it. Too much heat can make you tired, hurt your job performance, and increase your chance of injury. When the temperature changes quickly, you need time for your body to get adjusted to the heat. Be extra careful early in the summer when hot spells begin.

You have a right to a safe & comfortable work environment:

Clean water provided through a fountain, cooler or bottled water at all locations
Cool Work areas and break rooms
Ventilation to bring in clean air and take out hot air
Make adequate water supplies part of your daily workplace inspection

Need relief? Follow up with supervision immediately:

Bus- Call console, request immediate medical assistance
RTO- command 212-712-4480
CED- call your Barn Chair or Local Union rep
MOW- control 212-712-4120

If needed, file a Safety Rule Dispute Resolution Form.

For Stations: To follow up with supervision, call your respective Field Office. If you are a CTA, you can also ask for a comfort by entering the booth to cool down. If you feel unwell, you must notify OSAC and inform them that you are going home. Doctor’s lines will be needed on your return. Field Office numbers are as follows: 125th Street: 212-712-3127 or 718-436-8421; 44th Street: 212-424-5407 or -5408; 7th Ave: 718-243-3903 or 243-3905; Parsons-Archer: 718-334-8106. OSAC is 347-694-6500. Sick Desk for CTA’s ext. 42.

Click here to download a printed version of this message. Print it out and post it in your workplace.

For Stations Department members, click here.

One good flyer deserves another.

London Calling! TWU Local 100 Glad to Help Out

London’s Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers Union (the RMT) – our brothers in arms across the pond – found inspiration in our recent graphic campaign to slow trains and prevent subway fatalities. We sent them our graphics files and they went to work, repurposing our graphic image of a chalk outline on the roadbed and making it the centerpiece of their campaign to bring back laid off workers who ensure safety on the Bakerloo line. The line’s management cut staffing, forcing train operators to drive out of service trains into stations or “sidings” in yards without checking for passengers who didn’t get off in time. The RMT points to the case of a 12-year old boy who found himself alone in a yard walking the tracks. Now the public is getting the message that this unsafe practice should end and that they should let London Underground management know they need to bring back the laid-off staff. See the RMT’s flyer here.

Safety Team Responds to Bus Crash Over Henry Hudson Parkway

JANUARY 17 -- TWU Local 100 MTA Bus Vice President Danny D'Amato, Division Chair Mike Capocci, Yonkers Depot Chair Marcus Soler and TWU Safety Team members Joseph DiPaola and Jamie Ayuso responded to a bus incident in Riverdale today involving a BXM1 which had impinged on the stone wall over the Henry Hudson Parkway at approximately 8:40 AM.

 

They found that the 26-year veteran Operator at the wheel was attempting to pass a poorly parked vehicle obstructing a narrow single lane service road. The bus slid on black ice into a ditch, and the front wheel hit a guardrail, damaging a stone wall abuting the Henry Hudson Parkway.

 

The Bus was safely removed by TWU Local 100 road service crew with the help of FDNY. Vice President D’Amato said the operator is shaken up by this unfortunate incident but thankfully nobody got injured.

 

Here are more photos from the scene:

Union Mourns Former Women's Committee Co-Chair Brander White, 76

JANUARY 16 -- Union members are mourning the passing of Bus Operator Brander White-Jenkins, 76. She passed away in retirement in hospice in South Carolina. She had 34 years of service with New York City Transit, beginning in 1985.

Brander was elected to the TWU Local 100 Executive Board in 2009. She served as co-Chair of the Womens and Family Assistance Committee along with Bus Operator Elizabeth Wilson. She was credited by then-President John Samuelsen with playing an important role in the organizing campaign at Global Paratransit, which succeeded in September of 2014, adding hundreds of new members to TWU Local 100.

Funeral arrangements are as follows: There will be a wake on Friday, January 24th, 2025  from 3PM to 7PM at Walker’s Mortuary Chapel of Peace at 3407 Old Pond Rd, Johns Island SC 29455. A Home Going Service will follow on Saturday, January 25th, 2025 at 11:00AM at the Bethlehem St James United Methodist Church at 1539 Main Rd, John’s Island SC. The famly asks that mourners wear pink as "a reminder of her gentle spirit and her unwavering compassion for others."

Live online viewing of the service will be available at the time of the service via website link.

Gleason Bus Operator & Family Burned Out of Her Home

A January 13th fire in Sunset Park consumed the home of Bus Operator Janai Lopez, a 5-year veteran of NYC Transit working at the Gleason Depot. Janai has been displaced from her home along with her four children and her 1 year-old Doberman pinscher. There are photos of the devastation in this post.

Michelle Ramirez of the Women's and Family Assistance Committee and Robert Martinez, Depot Chair and Gleason, are asking for your support.

A GoFundMe link is here:

We are also asking for women’s clothing, size S and Xs
Men’s clothing size S
Kids size 14 female

Donations can be brought to the Union Hall at 195 Montague Street, Brooklyn NY 11201 3rd floor, as well as to the Jackie Gleason Bus Depot in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

Tower Operator and Son Burned Out of Apartment; Asking for Support

JANUARY 15 -- A roaring fire in the Bronx destroyed all of the possessions of Tower Operator Jewelene Scott-Fernandez and her 19 year-old son, Shane, and his little sister. The January 10 early morning fire in Allerton engulfed her apartment building in flames, forcing everyone out into the cold.

Our Women's and Family Assistance Committee is asking union members to help the family by providing clothing for Ms. Scott: large in tops, 10 in pants, 10 in shoes. For Shane, 2XL in tops, 11.5 in shoes. Shane also lost his favorite gaming system, a PS5,a nd his TV. Donations can be dropped off at the Union Hall, 195 Montague Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201, 3rd Floor. An additional location is 130 Livingston Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201,5th Floor.

Nathania Scott, who is our Tower Operator's daughter, has started a Go Fund Me, and you can find that link here.

Statement by Pres. Richard Davis on Gov. Hochul's new Subway Safety Initiatives

Statement from President Davis on the Death of Track Worker Ricardo Louis

JANUARY 8 -- A tragedy has struck the TWU family. At approximately 3:10 this morning, Track Worker Ricardo Louis, 44, collapsed on an L Train at Morgan Avenue while performing the duties of his job. Co-workers attempted to revive him and called 911.

EMS responded and took Brother Louis to Woodhull Hospital, but he could not be saved. Union reps responded to the scene and notified Brother Louis’s family, who met them at the hospital.

Transit work on the subway tracks is hazardous because of constant train traffic and because medical attention is not immediately available. TWU Local 100 has always fought for better working conditions and we will determine whether any avoidable hazard contributed to this tragic death.

On behalf of our membership of 44,000 transit workers, I convey deep condolences to the family of Brother Louis and offer them all the resources of the Union as they go forward at this difficult time.

Once we have details of the final arrangements for Brother Louis we will post them on our website.

 

Welcome New Members!

JANUARY 7 -- New York City Transit’s newest hires – and our newest members – were welcomed today at the Union Hall in downtown Brooklyn. Over 100 new union members about to go into the system include Traffic Checkers, Transit Property Protection Agents, Station Agents and CTA’s, Signal Helper Maintainers, and others.

They were welcomed into our Union family by Vice Presidents and Division officers, who explained the progress we have made over 90 years of struggle which have turned a job into a real career, and a mainstay for working class families. Our newest members also heard about the benefits that come with their new jobs and got a glimpse of union history in an opening video narrated by President Richard Davis.

New Union Leadership is Sworn In

JANUARY 6, 2025 -- TWU Local 100 President Richard Davis stands with his newly-elected Executive Board at the Union Hall after the swearing-in ceremony. President Davis was first sworn in by Local 100 Legal Director Deirdre Feerick, then he in turn administered the oath of office to the Executive Board under the TWU Constitution. Officers serve for a term of three years beginning now. From left to right, the new top four leaders of the Union are Recording Secretary Shirley Martin, Secretary-Treasurer John V. Chiarello, President Richard Davis, and Administrative Vice President Carlos Bernabel. The Members of the Executive Board also include the Union's seven Vice Presidents.

Safety Director Celeste Kirkland points to burned power panel with melted meter at the site of Dec 11 explosion

Union Raised Safety Concerns at Transformer Fire Site

DECEMBER 31 – Power to four Brooklyn subway lines went out for several hours on December 11th when an explosion tore through an underground substation in downtown Brooklyn. 3,500 passengers were stranded between stations as union members worked quickly to re-direct power from another substation and put the lines back in service.

Our disaster response crews were called to stop any further damage, to assess the damage, and to start repairs, said Safety Director Celeste Kirkland. But she said that management originally overlooked some safety protocols that should have been in place, forcing the Union to shut the job down several times. Management responded quickly to the demands of the Chairman and we resolved our complaints, resulting in a Safe Return to Work. Maintenance of Way Structure Division Chair Ken Bachoo and Power Division Chair Steve Higgins both stepped in to stop unsafe operations which included no survey for underground utility lines at the site. While some safety violations may seem minor, they represent an unacceptable hazard at a worksite such as an NYC Transit power substation.

Three weeks later, Kirkland said the cause of the explosion, which is still under investigation, could be traced to shortfalls in maintenance caused by lack of staffing. She said NYC transit is reviewing the status of similar transformers in the system.

The repair work was entirely done by Local 100 members, with no contractors on the job except Bay Crane to handle the heavy lifting. Maintenance of Way Structure Division removed three feet of concrete to allow crane operators to remove the damaged equipment. Safety reps on the scene included Chris Lake of TA Surface, William Bolar, Vice Chair of Line Equipment/Signals, Power Division Vice Chair Sacha Sapp, and Duvet Williams of LES.

TWU Local 100 President Richard Davis

Davis Elected as Local 100 President; Members First Slate Comes Out on Top

NEW YORK, DECEMBER 12 – The 2024 election for top leadership at Transport Workers Union Local 100 has been decided, with most wins going to incumbent President Richard Davis and his Members First slate. Davis, 55, won by a vote of 6848. His rivals for the top spot, Evangeline Byars and Mike Cordero, received 2289 and 1855 votes respectively. These are unofficial numbers but we expect them to hold when the complete tallies are released tomorrow.

Also winning in the contest for the top four positions – President, Secretary-Treasurer, Recording Secretary, and Administrative Vice President, were incumbent Secretary-Treasurer John Chiarello, Shirley Martin, formerly Vice President of the Car Equipment Department, who ran for Recording Secretary, and Carlos Bernabel, formerly Division Chair for Liberty Lines in Westchester, who ran for Administrative Vice President. Chiarello received 6941 votes, Martin received 6996 votes, and Bernabel received 6844 votes.

Vice Presidential contests were won by JP Patafio in TA Surface, Donald Yates in MaBSTOA, Richie Rocco in Maintenance of Way, Robert Kelley in Station, Matthew Ahern in Car Equipment, Danny D'Amato in Private Bus Lines, and Tramell Thompson in Rapid Transit Operations.

Under the TWU Constitution, the candidate who receives a plurality of the votes cast is declared elected. The newly-elected officers take their official positions on the first business day of the New Year.

The vote tally was conducted by the American Arbitration Association and was held at the Brooklyn Marriott, with observers allowed in from each competing ticket. 11,411 union members cast ballots in the election.

The complete vote count, including vote tallies for all contested positions, will be released as soon as it is officially verified by the AAA.

Richard Davis, a Bus Operator by trade, started with New York City  Transit in 1996, and worked his way up the ranks, beginning his career at the Mother Clara Hale Bus Depot in  Manhattan, where he became Chief Line Steward. Other promotions followed, leading to election as Vice President for MABSTOA where he served two terms. He was elevated to Secretary-Treasurer in May of 2022 and then to the Presidency of Local 100 in December of 2022 by the union’s Executive Board. He negotiated the current contract between TWU Local 100 and the MTA which took effect in May of 2023.

The second Caribbean-American after Roger Toussaint to win election to the Union’s top post, Davis came to the United States from Guyana as a child. His father worked for NYC Transit as a Bus Mechanic.

"This is a bright day for TWU Local 100 and I look forward to leading this great union into the future," he said.

Secretary-Treasurer John Chiarello, 57, a Signal Maintainer by trade, joined New York City Transit in 2001. He was previously Vice President of Maintenance of Way.

Newly-elected Recording Secretary Shirley Martin, 66, started with New York City Transit in 1991 as a Car Inspector. She was previously a Machinist in her native Jamaica.

Newly-elected Administrative Vice President Carlos Bernabel, 55, is a Bus Operator with Liberty Lines Transit in Westchester.

Veteran's Night Shows Appreciation of our Members' Military Service

NOVEMBER 15 -- Our Annual Veteran's Day dinner was the last formal union event of the calendar year, featuring presentations by MC Dart Magana and a speech by President Richard Davis. We extended and invitation to all Local 100 veterans of the armed forces, and appreciate this opportunity to thank them for their service.

Indian Heritage Takes Center Stage in Elmont

NOVEMBER 2 -- Transit Workers and their families of Indian heritage packed our 18th annual celebration in  Elmont, Queens. Enjoy the photos of the event, which capture the excitement.