Update

Harbus for News

Update on bus operator status

Now is the time!

The trial of Horace Moore the murderer of Bus Operator Edwin Thomas who was murdered on December 1, 2008 began Monday 9/27/10

At Kings County Supreme 

Criminal Division

320 Jay street,

Brooklyn NY 11201

19 Floor Part 27

Thursday trial time 10:00 AM

Samuelsen should lean on those politicians who have benefitted from the Local 100 at a minimum to show the court and show support. It is very important to impress upon the judge with a huge number of members to show up, we need to fill the court to it's capacity.

We must show solidarity to the family of the late bus operator Edwin Thomas - who has paid ultimate sacrifice while doing his work.

Screwing retirees

Local 100 should not screw its retirees. Rather than employ staff from the street we recommend that the retirees be employed. They should be afforded preferential status, due to the fact that they were once members.

It is rumored that some of the staff who were employed from the street have no knowledge of the issues that face the rank and file. The central question is why retirees are not afforded that courtesy by Samuelsen and TBOU?

The retirees have worked their whole life in the transit system, and have been good members who are familiar with the issues that face the current membership. Therefore we feel that they should be welcomed in the union hall and be given staff positions.

Those staffing decisions made by Samuelsen are a surprise because they only further lend credibility to the fact that morale is on a downward spiral among the membership. Retirees who are willing to serve and render their public service in the Local 100 in an uncompensated manner should be able to do so. We see that as an appropriate way to move forward. With the current load of the staff that was employed from the street who get their compensation packages which don’t justify or enhance the benefit to the membership.

We demand that the staff regardless of their ranking, position or level who were hired from the street that their compensation package be based on this formula: 

1. their hourly pay rate should be based on the lowest pay of a member title 

2. work a 40 hour week 

3. be paid for 20 hours 

4. 20 hours as uncompensated public service

5. contribute to their health benefit

6. contribute to their pension

7. no wage increase

It is rumored that those staff are pulling hefty paychecks and we demand that Samuelsen and TBOU do the right thing. Do not screw the retirees, afford them a preferential status and let them play a role in the future of Local 100 as uncompensated public service.

We wish the bus operator speedy recovery

In your prayers remember our fellow member NYC bus operator out of Kingsbridge depot, we wish the bus operator speedy recovery. 

Recipe for a light sentence

The trial of Horace Moore the murderer of New York City Bus Operator Edwin Thomas who was murdered on December 1, 2008 began Monday 9/27/10

At Kings County Supreme 

Criminal Division

320 Jay street, 

Brooklyn NY 11201

19 Floor Part 27

Wednesday trial time 2:00 PM

Liberal judge, not hard hitting assistant district attorney and weak first state witness at the end of the day all lead to a light sentence, we would have loved if this was a jury trial however the coward murderer chose judge trial.

It is very important for the membership to show up and fill the courtroom to its capacity, to impress on the judge so as to mete out a maximum penalty allowed before we even reach the plea bargaining stage.

If you despise JP Patafio that is not a valid reason for not to showing up - the murder issue is much deeper than that. It is so obvious JP Patafio does not have the ability to bring out or drum up his so called Brooklyn base to pack the courtroom clearly others who do not want to come out and do not want to aid in his myth and mirages that he sold to the current leadership that he is a mover and shaker in Brooklyn which they have swallowed hook line and sinker.

Pacifying rhetoric

Is Samuelsen pacifying the membership with the lawsuit rhetoric? What if we lose those lawsuit then what happens? Clearly we have no strategies or tactics of anticipating all the possible outcomes whether they be positive or negative. Instead of leading the membership to believe on the exclusivity of a positive outcome of the lawsuits we need to be given all possible outcomes.

What if our employer won those lawsuits? What are the trade-offs? Samuelsen has the duty to keep the membership informed, and explain the basis of lawsuits in a clear manner to allow the membership to make informed decisions about them.

Samuelsen has failed so far to promptly notify the membership on the status of the lawsuits. We need to know clearly what the lawsuits are based on. We should not be in the dark. The rank and file are not young children thus the lawsuit information should not be hidden.

Samuelsen must report the status of the lawsuit regularly and seek the membership’s input with a proper discussion. Political survival of the union under Samuelsen requires that he adopt a transparent policy that has support of the majority of the rank and file. The more that he pursues those pacifying policies the further that the union becomes divided. That behavior may have been utilized in the past but using them now hinders our union instead of allowing for growth. We are at a crossroads in our struggle and we here in why did you join the union, recommend that you let your voice be heard.

All hands on deck!

The trial of Horace Moore the murderer of New York City Bus Operator Edwin Thomas who was murdered on December 1, 2008 began Monday 9/27/10

At Kings County Supreme 

Criminal Division

320 Jay street, 

Brooklyn NY 11201

19 Floor Part 27

Time 1030 AM

It is very important to impress upon the judge with a huge number of members to show up, we need to fill the court to it's capacity. 

We need to face the evil and send a clear message no member of Local 100 will be a prey - as you are all aware New York does not have capital punishment thus a huge showing is necessary to avenge the murder of member of Local 100 we should demand that he get 1000 years sentence and we mean it.

We must show solidarity to the family of the late bus operator Edwin Thomas - who has paid ultimate sacrifice while doing his work.

Safety 19A

It has been concluded by Samuelsen and TBOU that the depot chairman and their underlings are overwhelmed with a great workload and they are unable to cover the 19A safety issues. They are also unable to be out on the field to observe and aid the membership so we recommend that there should be an additional steward added for specific duties of 19A. As a result there should be no more excuses for blaming the bus operator about the bus whether it does not meet the 19A safety standards.

It is not practical for a bus operator to do a proper 19A pre trip inspection  from the report time till pull out which is ten (10) minutes. Lets assume the bus operator reports at 1200 then he prints the schedule, that is a minute, so we are at 1201. After s/he walks to the yard dispatcher for a minute, thus bringing us at 1202. Addressing the yard dispatcher and getting assigned to a bus, that is two minutes, so we are at 1204. Walking to the bus, that is two minutes, so we are at 1206. Thus leaving four minutes remaining for the bus operator. Can the bus operator do a detailed and required 19A, the obvious answer is no and a blind man can see that.

There is no question there will be things that are overlooked, however blaming a member is not the way to go especially from Samuelsen and TBOU. Lets assume you are an en route relief driver on the road and the bus is full of passengers, can anyone do a detailed 19A safety check? For example verifying that the fire extinguisher is present? Also verifying that the arrow on the extinguisher is in the green area? Check the rear door interlock for proper holding operation? Therefore blaming a member is not the right thing.

We recommend in the contract of 2012 that a change of the ten-minute reporting period be altered to a twenty-minute period. In addition assigning additional stewards to do the 19A safety checks and to be out on the field.

Contract 6

Sick Leave, Sick Leave Rules, Sick Leave Control List, Sick Control Cash Out, 30-70 rule

Imagine a person being given a $100 and being told that they can only use $30 while having to save $70. What is the point of being given the $100 to begin with if the person is only entitled to $30 of that $100? The other question is if this person is entitled to get $100 then why is that person not given the right to use it as they like? Those are the questions that have baffled the membership and this mess must be cleared up in our 2012 contract.

This huge web appears to trap a majority of members during illness and deprives the members of their pay. One wonders why go along with such practices if they are of no benefit? Therefore Samuelsen must do the right thing in the 2012 contract for the common good of the membership.

We recommend the following: if a member is entitled to sick days then they should be able to use them whenever the need arises. The burden of establishing illness falls unto the employee as illustrated in section 2.6 Sick Leave subsection I.

It is unfathomable why Samuelsen, TBOU and the current leadership would act as pseudo management. That violates a basic principle of the union, which is an injury to one is an injury to all. 

As a union we should view Sick Leave from the rank and file point of view only and not from the management kaleidoscope views. If a member calls in sick, he gets paid because the work is covered by an extra list. However going along with the management views, and trying to crucify the member is unacceptable from the current leadership at the Union Hall.

Is it impossible for a member to get sick before or after an RDO in a repeated fashion? union hall must wake up on this issue and it must be rebuked. Clearly management views are null and void. Obviously a member can get ill before and after a regular day off - RDO in a repeated manner that is not a pattern of abuse and does not rise to the level of excessive or chronic. It is members sick days that are there to ameliorate their illness.

We demand that those who are on the extra list and in the event they are sick they should be paid the highest regular work schedule and not average of what the division pays. That is non sense from the section 2.6 Sick Leave subsection E should be striken

We demand that no member of the Local 100 be subjected to ‘call in‘ and ‘call out‘ ‘home visits‘ as illustrated in the attachment C. In addition why lump together absenteeism with sick and why agree to give the employer the right to determine so. We say the employer must be denied those rights. In theory it may be a good idea to cash out sick leave however in practice it is ill defined, and we here in why did you join the union recommend that every member preserve those sick days.

Negotiating collective bargaining

The structure of bargaining and haggling plays an important role in determining the haggling powers of the employer against the workers in the negotiating process for the contract of 2012.

We are aware that the employer will have their bargaining unit, however it is not known what our side will do. Whether we will form a single unit or multi unit. Specifically whether we would have one master agreement that covers all the union or if it would be better for the rank and file to have multiple agreements that cover each department.

It would be great if each department is allowed to structure their own contract. For example if one department is entitled to certain awards that could not be afforded to others such as stress positions which would require a premium award. For instance it is a known and proven fact that the bus operator title is a stressful position than other titles. However due to the haggling and bargaining bus operators lose out for the sake of solidarity.

We recommend that each department negotiate exclusively. For bus operators there are many factors such as how to operate a bus in traffic, deal with people, deal with revenue, and observe traffic and vehicular laws whereas other titles do not encounter those stresses. In addition bus operators are the face of TWU Local 100 in the eyes of the public.

Katrina

Samuelsen and TBOU dissed New Orleans and what a new low TWU Local 100 has reached. Numerous members who responded and drove to New Orleans to aid the poor and evacuate them feel betrayed.

Samuelsen and TBOU care for the department of subways but New Orleans was aided by members from the department of buses. It is a shame to deny or sweep it under the rug the work of the honest, brave, decent and industrious members from the department of buses who worked on important humanitarian work. However, the attempt by Samuelsen and TBOU  to set themselves up as masters of the universe cannot go unnoticed. In fact Samuelsen and TBOU should be ashamed of themselves.

We here in the why did you join the union appreciate the members from the department of buses which has come together to help in the relief and evacuation effort of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005. In the annals of New Orleans history members of TWU Local 100 from the department of buses are seen as heroes.      

As one bus operator who was a member of the evacuation team that headed to New Orleans observed this neglect maybe Samuelsen only cared about what went on in the train tracks. We here in why did you join the union appreciate and applaud those members who went to New Orleans. We appreciate your bravery in leaving your family, your home and heading out to help New Orleans.

Solidarity Fund deductions begin

Management has started taking the payroll deductions for the Solidarity Fund. The deductions will be seen in checks issued September 15 at OA, September 16 at TA, and September 22 at MTA Bus. These deductions will be $5 per week for 26 weeks. Most members will see this as $10 deductions from their bi-weekly checks.

The Solidarity Fund was established following a membership vote to help laid-off members maintain medical coverage for themselves and their families. Management laid off these members when we refused to give up our third-year raise. During the next six months, that raise will yield members who remain on the job five times what the Solidarity Fund is costing us.

Probably now in addition to the above you have received the communiqué dated September 14, 2010 in the mail with mischaracterizations such as those in accordance with the Constitution and By-Laws of TWU Local 100. The executive board and its membership have approved an additional dues assessment of $10 biweekly. 

It was forced upon us without discussion and input from the membership. Samuelsen will be heading to P.J. Clarkes & Peter Luger Steakhouse for prime Kobe steak. Just imagine what Samuelsen and his chums would talk about while they gnaw the fine kobe beef steak. They will definitely enjoy the long wooden bar, and the dining rooms with exposed wooden beams, burnished oak wainscoting, brass chandeliers and weathered beer-hall tables. The Brooklyn location now boasts a coveted Michelin star rating which Samuelsen considers that apple of his eyes.

Remember that while you work under petty abusive supervisors that you must not despair because the future is ours and remember to vote them out send them back to work. Remember Samuelsen has been extending his fat sticky fingers into your paycheck, first with $10 for Haiti Earthquake Relief Funds, now with $5 for the solidarity fund. Did Samuelsen provide Enron accounting for Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund? You can answer that.

Contract 5

Medical knockdown

Section 2.6 - Sick Leave, subsection Q should be removed, deleted or stricken and we demand the following should replace it. 

Any member of Local 100 who was medically disqualified and who is in pending status for reclassification of a title will be entitled to a 40 hour week pay for one year. In the event that there is no opening in a reclassification title the member will be entitled to 40 hours a week pay for the second year.

If a member has exhausted his sick days, this nonsense in the subsection Q sixty percent pay based on years of service is ridiculous. For 20 years of service you will get 90 days and at 60% pay after that nothing. Then you have to wait for a year in an unpaid status - if there is no opening in the reclassification then you are out of the door. Hell no there has to be a new award and we propose two years based on 40 hours at 100% pay of the title regardless of years of service.

We demand that in the contract of 2012 no member of Local 100 while waiting for a year for reclassification should lose their 40 hour pay a week till the reclassification position becomes available. The reason being that this is not the member’s fault, however we have to remember that Samuelsen and TBOU who are cozy with the management care less for the membership. They will provide excuses for the management instead of fighting for the rank and file. 

Haiti money

By laws of the Transport Workers Union of Greater New York Local 100, AFL-CIO section XIX Obligation of Members subsection (c) No member shall take up a collection in the name of Union and any Section or Division of the Union, regardless of its purpose, without prior approval of the Section, Division and the Executive Board...

Section XVI Finances subsection (e)...Records of collection from members and expenditures from such collections must be kept by those officers, representatives and/or staff organizing a collection among the membership, and such records must be available for review by any member who makes a contribution...

Now Samuelsen and TBOU can not use prior presidents as the scape goats or talk on both sides of the mouth that this situation was inherited from previous administrations. Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund was Samuelsen’s project.

It is a known fact that the membership was generous in contributing to this important cause however Samuelsen and TBOU have not provided accounting of the showing how much was raked in, after collecting $10, water and non perishable items.

It is rumored that the water and non perishable items ended up in  a whole seller ware house. There is no accounting, how much was given to the Haitians with verification or whether those monies were pocketed. Samuelsen now has no excuse to blame anyone  because there are no scape goats.

For the future of our Local 100, Samuelsen and TBOU must provide accounting and verification of Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund and where they it went? To preserve the membership’s confidence in an honest and independent leader, Samuelsen should adhere to the above by laws. He should maintain and enforce high standards of conduct and shall personally observe those standards himself.

Accounting should be provided for the funds, water and the non perishable items in a manner that is clear of ambiguity. First the fund needs to be discussed in how it was transmitted to Haiti whether thru the department of state, financial institute or charity organization such as USAID. Second how the water and non perishable items were  shipped whether thru the US Navy [since Haiti at that time had the airport and the harbor out of commission]. Third how the aid was distributed in Haiti and by whom.

Samuelsen should respect and comply with the by laws and should act in a way that promotes membership confidence. Samuelsen should be subjected to constant membership scrutiny.

Flexible benefit or fixed benefit

As employee compensation has evolved, we need to take a new look at our wages or salary. Also a fixed package of fringe benefits such as our employer sponsored health insurance plan, a certain number of vacation days, and so on.

Rather than one fixed package of benefits paid by our employer a flexible benefit package would be great, if the plan provides each employee with an amount of money with which they can purchase the mix of fringe benefits desired. Maybe employees can even choose to take money in the form of additional cash compensation rather than fringe benefits.

It is a known fact that the flexible benefit plans are primarily for white collar workers that allowed choice over the mix and level of health, life and retirement benefits. We demand that blue collar workers be afforded the same. We have gained bits which are not good enough.

We do not want to pay more for healthcare which is expected to cost our employer less. Rather than defining the benefits it will pay for, the employer must state how much it will contribute towards the cost of benefits without any cap. It should then allocate monies to employees who buy the benefit they want, thus the membership would not be shortchanged or have to choose what cover to have for their family members.

There are different needs for the memberships whether cost of child care or medical expenses or a worker who is unmarried or a family of four who may need dental benefits or childless employees.

Why Brooklyn

The building at 80 West End Avenue, has been sold as all are aware, and the current lease is expiring at the end of this year. So where will the Local 100 be housed?

It is rumored that TWU Local 100 would move to Brooklyn, here we find ourselves in a pickle, why move to Brooklyn? Why leave Manhattan? Are there no real estate properties suitable for our Local 100 in Manhattan? We here in why did you join the union found advertisement on all local papers and there are tons of properties for sale. Well lets try to understand why Brooklyn? Why not the Bronx, Queens or even Staten Island so we can enjoy the ride on the ferry. The more you take a look at this building issue the more that the picture becomes clearer.

Samuelsen has political ambition for a New York City council seat in Brooklyn so this is the natural progression beyond the Local 100. The proposed site has to be in his district and close to his home so he could walk. In addition it will give him an edge so he could press the flesh and be known locally. The proposed site of the future TWU Local 100 home would also be close to Blarney Stone Bar and Grill so after the hard day of work Samuelsen can down a couple of schnapps, malt and ale.

Well everything has to be in his advantage but wait a minute, Samuelsen is supposed to work for the benefit of the rank and file not the other way around. Now we can see clearly that Samuelsen -Toussaint protege and loyalist is repeating Toussaint’s behavior of no discussion and input from the membership and everything must go his way. 

We here in why did you join the union wonder why Brooklyn? Also how Brooklyn would help the membership? So rank and file from the bronx, Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island welcome to Samuelsen and TBOU Blarney Stone Bar and Grill.

Membership voice

Do Local 100 membership have a voice under Samuelsen and TBOU? Does the membership have an input and is there room for discussion? You can answer that according to how Samuelsen and TBOU are behaving. They are just like Toussaint, now you may wonder is this the democracy that you envisioned? Probably not, maybe the membership was tired of Toussaint thus they voted for an incompetent.

Samuelsen and TBOU promised a lot that as a member you will gain protection from the unilateral authority of management. The management system is a hierarchical chain of command with management at the top as order givers and we workers at the bottom as order takers. As the order givers management has a wide degree of discretion in our work in matters related to discipline and discharge. 

We the workers should have a say in the work, and we do not accept this status of order takers. We must be able to dictate that no runs should be cut in a route, and run hours are reduced significantly, runs are moved from one depot to another and then chopped to bits and pieces. In addition the ultimate sacrifice the membership paid in lay offs. We can see clearly now that Samuelsen and TBOU are incompetent and the membership is left to fend for themselves. Management decisions are unchallenged by Samuelsen and TBOU on these matters except they resort to meaningless rhetoric.

We expect Local 100 to restrict the management or prohibit management practices of cutting runs, shrinking run hours, moving runs out of depots. It is clear that the management is practicing arbitrary job reassignment and discharging workers without cause. You members do not feel hopeless or despair by Samuelsen and TBOU going along with the management. Remember the future is ours remember to vote them out.

In our future we believe you the member would have an avenue to challenge management practices such as the above. In addition you would have an input into management decisions and a check on the management authority. It will be a union run by the membership voice.

Organizing new members

This is one of the most important activities for the survival of any labor union, however TWU Local 100 under Samuelsen and TBOU are neglecting this vital activity. 

Samuelsen’s propaganda machine would blame the rank and file for that, instead of holding the employers’ feet to the fire which the local needs in order to replenish its ranks. We have become a subpar union from the once mighty and desirable union in the nation that we were.

That’s what others think of us, the others who choose not to join us. After all why join and do 25 years while you can go to other civil service positions and do 20 years. We will never be apologists for the sorry state of the union here, we will be critical of Samuelsen and TBOU. We would move heaven and earth to try to fix this situation and in the future we will succeed.

We will attack the status quo and the membership is behind us. Since Samuelsen took control, our local membership has declined with lay offs. No one is fooled anymore by the wild claims of Samuelsen’s unimaginable tales. Local 100 now has lost its national allure even those tales from Samuelsen’s propaganda machine are meaningless. When the lay offs came anyone who was smart would hedge his bets.

Moreover our boss’s intransigent behavior has made it clear that he does not believe in Local 100. That’s why he has undermined the stability of the Local 100. Disgracefully  Samuelsen has facilitated this outrage with his acquiesce. Our employer must hire new employees for optimal level of employment instead of having an abundance of overtime. In addition our boss cannot talk on both sides of his mouth about excessive overtime while the level of labor is low in the short run and the long run.

But something needs to be done, and done now. Subpar is not good enough. Not for our membership. We call on the membership to help us develop a plan to extricate ourselves from this disaster. It may be a tough road ahead, but it is one that we cannot turn away from. We need new members to bolster the Local 100.

Contract 4

Bus operators should have their full terminal recovery time, if a schedule has 14 minutes terminal recovery time then the bus operator must have those full 14 minutes of terminal recovery time.

Bus operators who arrive at the end of the line late should not suffer and lose the full terminal recovery time before turning around. Maintaining the schedule may be in the interest of the management however the bus operator is entitled to his full recovery time.

The management should adjust the schedule accordingly, by this following example:

schedule the bus is suppose to arrive at the end of the line 1200 with 14 minutes terminal recovery time and the departing time is 1214 however actual arrival time at the end of the line is 1210 then the bus operator should be entitled to their 14 minutes of recovery time thus the new departing time should be 1224 based on the actual arrival time.

Bus operators should not lose their full recovery time due to the fact that the management is interested in maintaining the schedule. Clearly in the above example it demonstrates that the bus operator lost 10 minutes thus the bus operator is forced to ask for personal time to counter the management. 

We demand that in the contract of 2012 there should be an award to bus operators for their full recovery time without any contention. Do not hold your breath, remember it is Samuelsen and TBOU who are cozy with the management.

Boulwarism

We here in why did you join the union and all workers are ready to stand up to our boss with his intransigent attitude. However our problem is Samuelsen and TBOU have made numerous errors to the cost of the membership paying the ultimate price of lay offs.

It appears our boss is using Boulwarism both in strategic terms and tactical terms. However our problem with Samuelsen and TBOU are unable to counter Boulwarism due to incompetency.

TWU Local 100 have to counter those strategies which are being deployed. In strategy terms the management tries to convince the employees that the employer is responsive to their needs. Well we can say our boss has won on that end with this economic downturn and cost cutting rhetoric coupled with low morale among the membership caused by Samuelsen and TBOU.

Workers have to be ready, due to the fact that the tactical terms are coming our way when our employer would offer a contract as ‘final and best’. We are also aware Samuelsen and TBOU’s flawed leadership may exploit us by having a solidarity fund without any discussion. Samuelsen and TBOU have been going along with the management and they will deny us any role in the wage determination process in the contract of 2012.

We here in why did you join the union strongly oppose our current leadership due to the fact they are phonies and we recommend that the current contract  be left to expire in order to let the Triborough Amendment kick in. As a result this will guarantee us a pay increase that would nullify our boss’s economic downturn and cost cutting rhetoric.

The second alternative would be to strike. Our ace card has to be considered and its benefit must outweigh the two for one penalty. All options should be on the table we here in why did you join the union want our boss to be aware that we want change  that can benefit us as a whole.

Employers and workers adversaries? Yes

Employers and workers enter into the employment relationship with different goals and objectives just like us in the TWU Local 100. Generally the primary concern for the employer is profits and the survival and growth of the firm. However this principle does not fit with our employer which is a public sector.

Workers on the other hand enter into the employment relationship for two reasons. The first one is to obtain as high of a wage or salary income as possible, and the second is a sense of accomplishment and an outlet for goal directed behavior.

Are the objectives of our employer and us workers in conflict? Yes. That may be a simple observation, but there are a range of reasons that show this observation to be true.

In a capitalist economic system as ours the employment relationship combines elements  of both cooperation and conflict. The incentive for cooperation between us workers and our employer comes from the fact that each side needs the other. Without a work force our employer cannot operate or provide a transportation service. In addition it will not be able to exist without providing wages and jobs for the workers.

A recent illustration of this principle can be seen in the profession of doctors. Traditionally doctors have been self employed giving them little interest in unions. An increasing number of doctors however are being employed by health maintenance organizations (HMOs) as salaried workers. The competitive pressure on HMOs to hold down costs is forcing management to reduce physician’s  fees and increase each doctor patient load. The result is an increasingly adversarial relationship between doctors and HMOs and a new found interest on the part of doctors in unionizing.

We are aware our employer is a high conflict employer and our current boss loves to run business in a way that breeds conflict with an adversarial relationship between management and labor by attempting to obtain glory at the expense of labor. Our boss considers us as a source of labor that should be purchased as cheaply as possible and used only as long as management deems it fit. This type of behavior from our employer tries to keep labor cost down by paying wages and benefits as low as the market would allow. Also our employer provides little training  for workers by neglecting working conditions to hold down labor cost. Lastly  our employer is working employees for long hours or at an unreasonable speed thus allowing for workers to be laid off at the management’s discretion.

We here in why did you join the union must stand strong. We workers must not despair because we can clearly see that Samuelsen is getting along with the management and exploiting us. We must not allow this behavior to occur any longer. Remember the future is ours, use your power of voting to send Samuelsen and TBOU back to work.

Disaster policy without preferential treatment

TWU Local 100 is heading up the cause to send assistance to Haiti and needs our members to donate as much as they can. We are asking for donations of at least $10 dollars to the important cause of the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund.

It was our recommendation then that there should be a disaster policy without preferential treatment to any race or national origin. However Samuelsen and TBOU forged ahead with the above.

We would like to take this opportunity and remind all of the Desmond Tutu fairness principle to relieve distress and suffering which states that if you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.

Local 100 must have a common sense policy and an approach in dealing with ‘disasters all over the world’ in a measured way instead of preferential treatment to a certain country or region [like any other charity organization in the US does] there was a severe 8.8 earthquake that hit Chile http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/world/americas/28chile.html?hp and now Pakistan flooding http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Pakistan_floods

Here is our proposal; $39,000 for every disaster to any where in the world whether man made or a natural disaster. The Local 100 should be treating everyone equally and there should be a standard policy which is applied across the board and not have preferential treatment to Haiti alone. 

The Triborough Amendment

Within a few years of the Taylor Law's enactment, PERB held that,

following the expiration of a contract, public employers were prohibited from unilaterally altering "terms and conditions of employment" while negotiating a successor agreement following the expiration of a contract. This doctrine was adopted in 1972 in a case involving the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority employees, and thus became known as the Triborough doctrine. The rationale was based on a quid pro quo theory-since unions could not strike or protest a failure to agree on a new contract, employers should not be able to unilaterally change "terms and conditions of employment" while negotiations continued.

However, non-mandatory subjects of bargaining were not deemed "terms and conditions of employment" under the Taylor Law, even if they were contained in a collective bargaining agreement. As a result, after a contract expired, the original Triborough doctrine allowed employers to alter any non mandatory subjects even if included in the expired agreement. Employers could also refuse to negotiate a union's demand to continue contractual provisions that were non mandatory subjects of bargaining, such as staffing levels. Unions thus lost some non mandatory provisions in a successor agreement when they did not settle prior to the expiration of an existing agreement and invoked arbitration. This often occurred when workers reached compulsory arbitration. Employers filed "improper practice" charges in connection with such subjects (also known as "scope changes," because they involved the scope of bargaining), and such provisions were "scoped" out of the contract during the interest arbitration process.

If a union went on strike, it lost all the protections of the Triborough doctrine-the "quid" was gone, so the employer did not have to grant the "quo." [Taylor Made, by Terry O’Neill and E J McMahon].

TWU Local 100 should use the Triborough Amendment as a tactic towards the 2012 contract to counter our boss’s behavior, and bring him down from his high horse. Let the current contract expire, we do not need to rush to get a new contract, because we would be guaranteed automatic pay increases where a salary step schedule or longevity schedule exists, even though our labor agreement has expired. 

We must teach our boss a lesson because we predict that he would offer us a new contract that would likely offer less attractive salaries and benefits. Local 100 has no incentive to agree to a new contract. The Triborough Amendment provides that all terms and conditions and provisions of an expired contract remain in full effect until a new contract is approved. However we have to worry because Samuelsen and TBOU will exploit us workers.

We here in why did you join the union, will be vigilant and keep our eyes on the ball. Samuelsen and TBOU have proven to be fakes and phonies who will only go along with the management.

Happy Labor Day!

We hope you will enjoy Labor Day. Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894, following the deaths of a number of workers at the hands of the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman strike. The conflict began in the town of Pullman, Illinois on May 11 when approximately 3,000 employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company began a wildcat strike in response to a recent reduction in wages bringing traffic west of Chicago to a halt.

As you enjoy Labor Day you have to remember those who have given the ultimate sacrifice and you have to be proud. It is the transport workers who lead and others that follow. It has been proven that the transport workers are courageous and hardworking people that work in tough conditions and who are not afraid to challenge the employer. 

We here in the why did you join the union, respect, appreciate and are proud of you. We are aware that it is difficult work but it is important work because it is you who move New York. Labor Day exists only after transport workers paid the ultimate sacrifice. It is you the bus operators, cleaners, collecting agents, conductors, electronic specialists, helpers, car inspectors, maintainers, railroad stock workers, railroad track cleaners, station agents, power electronic technicians, tower operators, traffic checkers, train operators, transit electrical power helpers, transit property protection agents, and all members of the Local 100 that keep things going.

We here in why did you join the union are aware of the presence of challenges, however you have to look to the future which is ours and we know you can rise to the challenges and conquer them. Nothing is impossible in the face of members of Local 100 and we believe in you.  

The threat effect

Now it can be argued that the fix we’re in has much to do with the national economic downturn. There is some truth to that, and New York has been especially hard hit. But much of the fault has to do with the government’s propensity to spend, spend, spend. Easy to do when it’s your money they’re spending.

Our employer cannot use infinite excuses of the economic downturn to beat us to submission. We have to neutralize our employer with a threat of a strike. Strikes are among the most visible and well publicized aspects of collective bargaining. The actual haggling between our employer and the Local 100 take place behind closed doors, and the membership remains unaware of the issues at stake or the positions between the two. Recent history shows that there was a breakdown in haggling and a strike that occured, the dispute gained more attention as picket lines went up, and no buses or trains  were there to move. It is also accurate the media portrayed us workers negatively to the public specifically on the adverse impact of the strike for the public and local communities.

Despite the public attention given to strikes, the majority of evidence suggests that strikes are the exception in collective bargaining and when they do occur they often impose relatively small costs on the public (the media, and our employer are not interested to reveal that because it is not appealing). For example 2.3 million workers, or about 9 percent of union members, were involved in strikes. The average amount of working time lost to strikes was 0.17%, far less than the time lost to absenteeism or even coffee breaks. 

Fat cat Samuelsen is blaming the victim ‘members do not participate in union functions’. The lay off is the result of ineffective leadership of Samuelsen and TBOU at Local 100.  So we say, it is time that the membership reassert control over their own Local 100. Whatever shenanigans Samuelsen and his Kangaroo Court presents us with should be rejected. It is also true that strikes do impose considerable hardship on the general public, however we Local 100, have absorbed our boss salvos. Therefore now it is our turn for us the workers to poke our fingers into his eyes for a change.

Executive board holds meetings, but for whom?

The large room had enough chairs to seat about 50 people, but nearly all of them were empty. 

By-laws of the Transport Workers Union of Greater New York Local 100, AFL-CIO, section XIII meetings, subsection (a) The Executive Board shall meet at least once in each calendar month except when the members of the Executive Board disperse with meetings during the months of July and August........ Subsection (d) A quorum of ten must be present at the meeting in order to constitute business of the Section or Division.

Well the executive board has an excuse to ‘disperse’ while the membership is paying the price with lay offs. We have spoken about absenteeism in the Local 100. However, the lack of participation, ill attended meetings or even holding an emergency executive board meeting is a new low point under Samuelsen and TBOU.

It is absurd that there are no defined numbers for the executive board that are required to be present to transact business legally, except for the section and division. The rank and file are faced with tremendous challenges, whether it is with lay offs, petty abusive supervisors, Samuelsen extending his fat sticky fingers into the memberships thin paychecks. The executive board members took vacation, how they dare, and what nerve.

This grim showing is not surprising because Samuelsen does not have the ability to round up his TBOU chums and that is the trouble. The membership is left to fend for themselves as a result. It is a known fact ‘for most of them, being on the union payroll had meant a large pay increase and the obvious, benefit of not having to work a dirty job under petty and abusive supervisors.’

We demand in the future that if any member of the Local 100 is being laid off that all members of the executive board must show up for the monthly meetings. In addition they must show up at the lay off site, with a pledge to the laid off brethren ‘we will work hard to get your job back’.

No excuses should be accepted or honored from any executive board member, and those who were absent should be publicly chastised.

1000=1

BY - LAWS of the Transport Workers Union of Greater New York Local 100, AFL-CIO

Section XXIV Divisions, subsection (d) Each division shall be entitled separately to nominate and elect members of the Executive Board on the basis of one (1) Executive Board member for every one thousand (1,000) members or major fraction thereof in excess of one thousand (1,000). Each Division shall elect at least one (1) member to the Executive Board.

Samuelsen and TBOU feel that the by laws mean nothing and that they can make a mockery of it. For example if a division has 2000 members then they are entitled to 2 members in the executive board not 8 or 9.

Samuelsen does not avoid bias and his prejudice does not shows an impartial performance. He is not faithful to the by laws and does not maintain competence in it. If this division is flouting this by law which clearly shows that Sameulsen does not have integrity or independence. Or that he is unable to establish them, maintain them and enforce them. 

Samuelsen must discharge his administrative duties diligently and without bias or prejudice, as well as maintain competence in the administration. He also needs to cooperate with others in administrative matters such as this one which is a clear cut situation. Samuelsen must be prompt, efficient and fair. This issue must be paid attention to promptly without delay, and have adequate time devoted towards it.