John Samuelsen, MoW VP Tony Utano and Track Division Chair Jack Blazejewicz give back Saturday Sunday rdo’s in MoW.

   Before John and his cronies took office the former administration under Roger Toussaint, implemented a pilot program which gave track workers in Capital Construction the opportunity have Saturday and Sunday off for the first time in 15 years. Not only did they get that, they also got a 4 day work week, with built in over time.
   Imagine if you could get Saturday and Sunday off after 15 years of having to use your vacation time just for a weekend with your family. Now that’s not only what they gave up.
   The pilot program went like this, sat/sun rdo’s every six weeks, 3 rdo’s every week and 8 hours of bonus pay every pay period. That’s 1 rdo day extra every week = 52 days off extra every year, that’s 8 hours pay for every pay period = 26 pay periods at your rate of pay, example 8 hours x $26.00 = $208.00 which means $208.00 x 26 pay periods = $5,408.00 on average for every member in the pilot program.
   This is what John, Tony and Jack gave up without a fight and without even going to the members and asking for their opinions?


So now the question is what else have they given up.

Where is our 2010 raise from the contract and where’s the refund from the 1.5?

-MoWatcher

Quiet on Layoffs

   Why are the elected officers treating the proposed layoffs like it's a pink elephant in the room? We know that they are there, yet Samuelson and Company's chooses to ignore them.

   I guess when you have no plans or are too afraid to fight that’s what you do.
   They are still set for May 7, 2010 unless someone heard otherwise. Last I read Walder said "there are more layoffs to come". Sounds like they are going to happen.

   On Apr.22, 2010 there was an Executive Board meeting and no discussions about the layoffs. There was also Station's Division Meeting. The Vice President, Div. Chair and the Div. Recording Secretary felt it was more important to ALL be at the Executive Board Meeting and not the AM meeting.
   Instead of dealing with the issue of layoffs they chose to avoid the questions that the members of Station needed answers too.
   I guess it was more important for Samuelsen to get their vote to push his agenda.

   This was a crucial meeting especially with the proposed layoffs being 2 weeks away.
  
I wonder how many of them put in for vacation the week of May 7th or requested that day off. Seems to me that Local 100's Officers priorities are screwed up.

-A Concerned Member-

Silence is Golden?

    On May 5, 2009 Steve ''Rank and File' Downs wrote an E-mail which went out widely. In the e-mail he called the rally on April 24, 2009 with 2,500 Local 100 members a sign of weakness. He called for a Joint-Executive Board Meeting to deal with the critical situation facing the local. Steve called for enforcing all Safety and operating rules to put pressure on Management. Like any self-respecting T.B.O.U. member he had a lot to say last spring and also like any self-respecting T.B.O.U. member he had nothing to do with mobilizing the membership or participating in last spring’s successful fight against layoffs.
    Now this spring he's pretty quiet. The local has had only one rally so far with just 500 members; he doesn't call this a sign of weakness. Steve doesn't call for a joint Executive Board meeting. The Local comes out with virtually no information to the members, the' Working Class Hero' sees nothing wrong with this. He doesn't call for enforcing all Safety and Operating rules; on the Safety rules he must know that Tony Utano, the defacto Number Two Officer in the local has told officers not to stop unsafe jobs. What gives? Is the Rank and File persona just phony shtick to discard when you're in with the Top Officers?


- A Member from Track-

More Questions for Samuelsen

1)Why is the MTA being allowed to divide us by witholding the Retro $ from MTA Bus?


2) Why was the 1.5% on overtime taken OUT of the Retro checks?

3) Why go along with the MTA to break up the Arbitration Award and withold the 3rd yr raise and the 1.5% cap?

4) What other agreements or understandings did you reach with Walder that we don't know about?

5)Why was the Mass Membership meeting cancelled?

6) Why was the Lobby day in Albany cancelled this year?

7) When was the last Layoffs in NYC transit?

8) How are your travels going? Can you be reached by e mail or twitter?

Lilla Blair Keep your head up

    I read the letters to the Chief by Paul Piazza and Joe Bermudez defending their incompetence as officers. I wonder if they got the ok from the President (if they found him) to respond. Blair continue to be there for the members.

    Bermudez could never gain the support of the CTAs that you have. He has to mouth off because he will forever have to prove himself to TBOU. Joe we remember you ran with United Invincible and so do Jenkins and Co.
   Piazza can only write his anger down on paper because he has no fight in him. That is why he is asking you to help him fight the MTA. The ink used to write the letter to the Chief could have been used to write about Walder. Instead he chooses to write about a member. They should have attacked the MTA as quickly as they attacked you.
    Blair, they put their foot in their mouths. They admitted you were targeted because in Joe's words "it is in the best interests of the members to support the president of the union".
    Regardless of who you support continue to be there for the members. Blair, Station department needs more Activists like you.
    Piazza is right about one thing Union jobs are not a lifetime positions or an entitlement. He will find out soon enough.

    -CTA from 4th Ave Refuse-

Questions for Samuelsen

Can someone help me understand why Samuelson is afraid to face the Rank and File? The same Rank and File that he says voted him in to office.


We are in the fight of our lives right now and yet he has not told us a plan of attack.

When are we going to attack Walder?

Why are we not putting Walder on the hot seat about why he left London?

Who stands to gain something by laying off Station Agents?

Is it Walder  investing in the same technology that they had in London so he can replace Station Agents and Conductors?

John when are the members going to be led by their President and the rest of the Officers.

I know we can't do anything that breaks the Taylor Law. I would like to know when are we going to do something to show our Outrage.

4th Avenue Cleaner

The Low Downs

   I just got a message from Steve Downs, T/O division chair. He basically is informing us of the latest procedures that the TA wants to implement about how we can use the OTO time we earn. In other words Downs is letting the TA act unilaterally to implement changes in the conditions of employment. The TA bosses are ignoring the arbitration award, the court and the law and all Downs can do is pass along the message about what the bosses want to do!

   I guess this is the role that the TA sees for union reps, making sure the members are told what the TA bosses want them to do!
Could it be that Downs is really so incompetent that he doesn’t understand the dangerous precedents being set, or is he just a sellout and an agent of the bosses?

   It’s anybodies guess why Downs’s does (or doesn’t do) what he does, but one thing is for sure, Steve Downs may be a lousy division chair but he sure is a good messenger boy!
 
     -An Angry Train Operator-