Ridiculous

It is wrong for Local 100 to embrace or align with the Straphangers Campaign. It is clear that the Straphangers Campaign in its history has not advocated for the blue collar workers. Its mission is to advocate for the riders and not for the blue collar workers, especially for the members of Local 100. We here in why did you join the union, understand it is Samuelsen’s time and he has been duly elected thus he can dictate with whom the Local 100 must align itself with. However the Straphangers Campaign has never advocated for a wage raise for Local 100 membership. We also understand Samuelsen’s desire to align with the Straphangers Campaign but we fail to see the nexus that will benefit the membership.

Everyday members of Local 100 are verbally assaulted by riders and we have never seen the Straphangers Campaign come to the aid of the blue collar and rebuke the riders. Currently they have come out with their news release ‘pokey award’ clearly portraying certain bus lines as slow and unreliable. As a result the riders perception use those awards to verbally assault Local 100 membership, and it would be wrong for Samuelsen to align Local 100 with the Straphangers Campaign. By doing so Samuelsen would be taking advantage of the high regard even reverence rightly bestowed upon Local 100 with the warming of the relationship.

It is Samuelsen’s duty and job to defend the membership by highlighting the variables that may have not been taken into account or the methodology used by the Straphangers Campaign in making those awards. For example the buses must adhere to Vehicle and Traffic Laws. Can you imagine how many emergency vehicles (ambulance, fire, law enforcement and VIP cars that head to the UN?) which go through 42nd street? The bus has to legally stop for those emergency vehicles. The other variable that must be taken into account is disabled riders who need time and care getting into and out of the bus. What about the elderly who have trouble walking fast and count their dimes and nickels then after drop each coin singularly into the fare box. Then there are those who have twenty or twenty five metrocards with no funds and would dip each one to find out that they do not have funds. There are other variables not mentioned as well such as the traffic pattern, taxis stopping in front of the bus to pick and drop a fare, constructions that eliminate a lane or two, then there are those who completely block the bus from forward movement.

We are troubled by Samuelsen not responding and defending the membership against this report and we also understand it is his time to govern. We would like to believe he is a responsible leader and it is his duty to mention the elephant in the room which is the fact that buses do not have dedicated lanes like the train. If Samuelsen feels it is alright for bus operators to be chastised unnecessarily by the riders as pokeys, schleppies and so forth then his silence is a clear signal of acquiesce. We will never accept the excuse I am from the subway side of the house and I know nothing of the buses or we are moving and preoccupied with other matters. We here in why did you join the union will challenge Sameuelsen as stated in the scriptures (Proverbs 27:17), ‘As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another’. Lets be clear it is his duty to defend the bus operators because they are the face of Local 100 that the public sees and interacts with intimately than any other title.