Holidays

We demand good friday, election day and the day after thanksgiving as holidays to hourly employee members of TWU Local 100.

Sick forms

Sick forms must be turned in within three days after return to work.

Instead the sick forms should be turned in within 7 days.

Call in sick

The restriction that is applied to blue collar ‘employee must call in sick at least one hour before commencement of tour’ should be changed.

Instead it should be to 15 minutes before commencement of tour.

60% sick leave determined by length of service

We recommend changing of those old ratios especially now so they can become in line with Obama care.

First if a co worker has less than 4 years of service then that co worker gets zero. 

Second from 4 years up to but not including 8 years - 15 days. 

Third from 8 years up to but not including 14 years - 30 days.

Fourth from 14 years up to but not including 20 years - 60 days.

Fifth 20 years or more capped at 90 days.

We say

1. If less than 4 years of service then 30 days

1. 4 years up to but not including 8 years - 60 days
2. 8 years up to but not including 14 years - 90 days
3. 14 years up to but not including 20 years - 120 days
4. 20 years or more - 180 days

Sick leave

First we do not agree that if a co worker works for up to one hour that they will be charged 1 full day when he/she goes out sick.

Second when a co worker works up to 3 hours he/she is charged ¾ day.

Third when a co worker works up to 5 hours he/she is charged ½ day.

Fourth when a co worker works more than 5 hours he/she is charged ¼ day.

Since those ratios do not take into consideration our co workers preparation time, travel time to work from home and traveling back to home when he is not well then we recommend the following ratios.

First if a fellow co worker goes out sick, that co worker should be paid his meal period. Second if a co worker has worked up to 1 hour then the charge is ½ day. Third if a co worker has worked up to 3 hours then the charge is ¼ day. Fourth if a co worker has worked up to 5 hours then the charge is ¹⁄₈ day. Fifth if a co worker has worked over 5 hours then the charge is ¹⁄₁₆ day.

Vacation pay

We do not agree with the vacation pay on pick holidays being 8 hours instead of a run pay.

Interlining

We demand that there should be a bonus pay of $1 per hour for interlining.

Cashing vacation

It is not acceptable cashing the vacation days, especially if a member picks days instead of weeks. Those individual days are paid 8 hours therefore we do not agree that the days pay less than the weeks which pays the run pay.

We recommend to fellow co workers in the upcoming vacation pick to choose weeks instead of days.

Why - imagine for example if you want to cash 2 weeks based on your run pay then the average you may get is $2,400. However if you pick days and you want to cash in those days you may get $1,300.

That is a huge amount of money to give away - it is your money it is better in your wallet. We recommend for you to pick weeks in the event that you want to cash them you get run pay, and you can enjoy the holiday season pleasantly.

Vacation

If a TWU Local 100 member is on leave of absence, whether sick unpaid, suspended, awol, etc. with any unpaid absence then he/she should earn their vacation.

Vacation time must be accrued and should be carried to the next year. 

If you are on vacation and it is a holiday then your pay should be a run pay not 8 hours pay.

Personal day

One day for a personal leave is not enough, therefore we demand two personal days per annum. 

A new member should be entitled to his/her personal day without having to wait for a whole year of employment.

A personal day should be carried over for the following year. Those personal days must be guaranteed even on holidays. The pay should be the run pay instead of the current 8 hours pay.

The current requirement of 30 days notice to get the personal day should be reduced to 7 days notice only.

Birthday

For new members of TWU Local 100 they should earn their birthday instead of the restriction that they cannot earn their birthday allowance until their first anniversary. Why is there this restriction that the new members have to wait one full year as an employee from their date of appointment?

We also demand that birthday be considered a separate holiday that pays a bonus premium of $6 for the spread of the run.

Holidays

There are eleven holidays however we demand Columbus day since it is a federal holiday to make a total of twelve holidays. Those twelve holidays should get compensation in the form of a bonus pay.

If an employee is on vacation he/she should get his regular weekday run pay for the day instead of the current eight hours. 

Holiday Night differential should be paid instead of the current regular weekday.

Bonus pay should be raised to $6.00 per hour. It should cover the spread instead of the work time of the run. 

We do not agree with the fact that when new members work the holiday they get 1½ time for the day, it is unfair they should earn the bonus pay instead of eight hours. If a new member works 8 hours then he/she should be paid sixteen hours not twelve hours.

Accrual of holidays should be at the leisure of the member instead of the current maximum holiday accrual restriction of 6 per annum. Then after that they are paid.

Israel Rivera Jr missing in action

On Thursday, July 11, 2013 TWU Local 100 members assembled for a rally at 130 Livingston Street, Brooklyn concerning the recent increase of assaults against bus operators.

Israel Rivera Jr who is a bus operator was nowhere to be seen. He likes to talk about tangent issues that are non sequitur. 

TWU Local 100 under John Samuelsen is working hard to eradicate assaults against bus operators. However Israel Rivera Jr actions have betrayed those original principles espoused by John Samuelsen by his constant seeking ways to frustrate the will of TWU Local 100 members. Regarding the end to the assaults we hope he can point to what actions he is going to take.

Thomas Creegan was missing as well in addition to their partner, the conductor from RTO.

Distribution of income

An age-old question that continues to stimulate much public debate is why some people are extremely poor while others are quite rich and what should be done about it, if anything.

The President of the US Mr. Barack Hussein Obama is trying hard to answer this question by asking the wealthy among us to pay reasonable taxes however he is encountering resistance.

Since we in the TWU Local 100 are poor, we support Mr. Obama’s view in asking the wealthy to pay their share of taxes.

Working poor

Knowing who the poor are, the next question is to explain why they are poor. The obvious answer is because they don’t have enough money. But why don’t they have enough money? 

There can be numerous explanations to be given in this regard - what do you think?

Raise

It is clear that we are entitled to a raise based solely on the raise of fare. In addition to the charging of one dollar ‘green’ fee for procuring a new metro card, there is no question that this is a windfall.

Imagine if this was done in a private industry then it would be ridiculed and challenged in court. Thus this revenue should be able to give members of TWU Local 100 a fair contract.

Xerox

Xerox management should be applauded in establishing the basis for a profitable long-term relationship with its employees. Xerox with its job guarantee, gave workers a stake in the financial health of a company. 

Since this phenomenon is trickling slowly we would love it if the President, Mr. Barack Hussein Obama enacts a law that employees should have financial stake where they work.

At Kaiser on the other hand an employee said, ‘I dislike the managers and I tell them everyday they’re low-lifes.’ Such an attitude clearly does not bode well for labor relations or profits.

Executive board

In June 2013 the executive board of TWU Local 100 endorsed Bill Thompson for the upcoming election for the office of Mayor of New York City.

It was not clear whether the executive board took into consideration the conundrum that bus operators endure daily such as the following; a) jay walking (illegal or reckless pedestrian crossing of a roadway) and whether Bill Thompson will enforce the laws against jay walking?, b)bus only lane, whether he will enforce the law against: i)trucks, ii)those who are waiting for a parking space, iii)bicyclist blocking the bus lane, c)whether he will increase the number of camera enforcement in the bus lane? Those are simple observations that the executive board should have championed since we are in the transportation industry.

It is not clear whether the executive board looked at those above issues that concern its own members. The other side of the coin is that the executive board should not be blind and insensitive by hearing one side of the story and by excluding others who desire the same office. The executive board should treat all as equal otherwise it sends the wrong message.

It is not fair to not extend an invitation to Joe Lhota to address the executive board who are also running for the same office. We hope that the executive board will invite Joe Lhota and have an exchange of ideas or at the minimum listen to what he can offer - if in the event he becomes the next Mayor of New York City.

We can do more

TWU Local 100 should move out of ‘serving’ philosophy that our employer has seen us in a decline mode which enabled the management to push us around at their will. That is we cannot be seen as our main function as servicing our existing membership, getting more money and benefits and policing the collective bargaining agreements.

We must have high-stakes showdown with Governor Andrew Cuomo that will provide a much-needed shot in the arm to a labor movement that feels like it's on life support. We must demonstrate that the strike is still among labor's most powerful weapons, upending conventional wisdom that public employees are inevitably at odds with taxpayers which Governor Cuomo has peddled around. 

Independence Day

Sweeney’s leadership

‘I am a product of the social compact that lifted America out of the Great Depression and working Americans into the middle class.’ Speaking in 1996 at Columbia University’s  - ‘Teach-In with the labor movement’ AFL-CIO president John Sweeney was recalling post-World War II accommodation of labor as a ‘formula for the strongest’ economy, the largest middle class and the most successful society this world has ever known.

The obvious question is are those days gone? Will the labor take its foothold in the economy? Many saw in Sweeney the best hope for a turnaround since assuming the leadership at the AFL-CIO however the decline of labor was during his leadership. Especially shrinking in numbers of unions there was the sudden appearance of low-wage, nonunion competitors and bitter struggles to protect the wages and working conditions of unionized workers.

You can say Sweeney’s leadership did not have the top down pressure like many union leaders had however he had a high profile. He was unable to challenge the management and therefore reorganized the workplace on new principles that challenged the union’s very own claim to speak for workers.

Sweeney championed that the union forget its principle as a necessary ‘counterweight to the management‘ and to enter into cooperation. Many now point fingers to the Sweeney leadership style which reigned from October, 1995 till September, 2009 that saw right-to-work law states flourish, Ohio lost 10,400 union jobs from 1998 to 2008, while Texas gained 1,615,000 as per The Wall Street Journal editorial in 2008 which sparked disaffiliations.

You as a member of TWU Local 100 which is better, for us to be counterweight or cooperating with management?

What is appropriate?

As we all know we are in a fast paced work environment, and many of us sometimes need a little reminder. A co worker asked the following - if a customer is inappropriately dressed what should he do?

Our advice is do your job and forget what the customers are wearing. Follow the golden rule never tell a woman ‘excuse me, I can see your bra’ that woman knows she wore the see thru shirt. Remember you are in the transportation business and will encounter tons of customers who are not dressed appropriately. Therefore if you are waiting for appropriate etiquette then you are wasting your time. Look the other way otherwise you would not get through your day with those who carry themselves in lascivious way.

However if it is your fellow co workers it also depends. We live by the rule of thumb that we’d like to know - if our fly (zipper) is down, or spinach, broccoli, poppy seeds etc. are in the front of our teeth. We’d love to be gently reminded or alerted.

However if it is a female co worker, you better be careful - unless you are very well acquainted then you can inform her gently. Otherwise observe the golden rule of ‘silence is golden’ and look the other way to spare yourself any headache.

We are in the transportation industry not the fashion industry.

Dutch treat

A fellow co worker was unhappy after attending a pricey event with co workers. It was a get together at a fancy restaurant, he noted that fellow co workers brought their spouses and children while he was single.

They ordered the fancy food, then the wine and liquor began to flow like the Nile river. He noted that he ordered a salad with chicken and a glass of soda, he did not drink any wine, beer or any other liquor. In his mind according to the menu his bill would be $17 plus tax & gratuity.

However when the check came it was split evenly among the fellow co workers without taking into account that he was single while others had their families. Therefore he ended up forking $75. 

Our advice is to have clear, open communication to avoid awkwardness, especially about hospitality. First if you are in this situation please do inform the waiter to give you a separate check.

Second advise your fellow co workers who invited you or hosted the get together that you will split the food bill and nothing more. Third inform your fellow co workers that the place is out of your budget and give them your price range initially, you may be surprised your fellow co workers might be generous and offer to pay a portion of your share understanding your family situation.

Whatever the occasion whether birthday party or any other engagement, have an open, clear communication with your fellow co workers about your budget.