MaBstoa Bus Operators Working in the Brooklyn Division

🚨 🚨 🚨 ℹ️ ℹ️ ℹ️ Attention all MaBstoa Bus Operators working in The Brooklyn Division; & all shop-stewards assisting our members; when you are injured and have to file for disability retirement MaBstoa employees should contact the BSC so that a disability retirement application could be sent to you with instructions. Ultimately if approved for Disability retirement a MaBstoa TWU Union Rep will accompany you thru the process. If you get reclassified due to injury sickness or discipline the MaBstoa Divisional reps should be notified so things can be monitored regarding placement into a job. In these cases we have to wait for a budgeted position to open up in MaBstoa. In other cases such as second time positives there’s an EAP aspect that has to be completed before you can actually be considered for the budgeted position. Often times you will finish such programs before a budgeted job opens up, however you may still have to comply with certain EAP protocols until a budgeted job actually opens up. Reason for the Information ℹ️ Member of MaBstoa who worked in Brooklyn thought that because he/she worked in Brooklyn that representation wasn’t limited and that he/she was entitled to the same exact process from Brooklyn. The member found out that that’s not the case when it comes to disability retirements. The members worker’s compensation lawyer filed the disability application after the section 71 process of termination costing $3,000 dollars for a process that is free had they known. MaBstoa & Transit are two different entities that are consolidated through contract. This education is even more important so that we are all aware on how to help our members moving forward. The opposite situation for our Transit Brethren doesn’t exist in the same manor because we can deal with your issues right from Manhattan or the Bronx. The only thing the TWU reps can’t do in MaBstoa or the TA is accompany you in retirement either service or disability. If you have any questions feel free to ask. Regards Donald Yates MaBstoa Division1 Chairman

Sometimes I just see how shit is going and make a conscience effort to put myself in a position to be effective for the people. Don’t let that go over your head.

Friday February 10th 2022 there was a smoke condition at Michael J. Quill that forced all employees out of the building until the condition was resolved. I found it a little disturbing that when I tweeted the situation to NYCT department of buses, there was no acknowledgment or warning to the customers affected by such delays, also I was clear to say that employees would be reporting late because they couldn’t get in the building. February 12th it was announced that we would be be doing snow operations due to the snow and drop in temperatures that would make life difficult in operations. February 17th Step 2 disciplinary calendar hearing were occurring. What I found quite interesting is the fact that in one of my cases, management appeared to personally attacking the employee based on the penalties that were administered. member had a warning on the record and in four other cases Management went straight to dismissal. As a Divisional Chairman this has to be viewed as an act of war for the total disregard of the principle of progressive discipline stay tuned! Thursday February 17th the Manhattan Division met with scheduling managers for our pick meeting. Pick posting will be on Tuesday February 22, 2022 picking will start February 28, 2022 and effective Sunday March 27th February 18 We stopped by Tuskeegee Depot and conducted wheel Flag Audits that we have done in Michael J. Quill and Manhattanville. February 19th We went to show respect for our fallen brother Der-Ron Holmes.

Manhhattanville Depot Garage Meeting

Editorial By Donald Yates MaBstoa Division1 Chairman February 2022

Brothers & Sisters as we close this publication several things have to be looked at in order to make us a better union. Often times the differences in opinions that we do have, takes us way beyound the reconciliation that is needed. I have said in previous writings that no matter what we go through we must come out of the otherside unified. Easier said than done, however our survival is at stake. Looking beyound our division is a lesson for all. Capitalization on the realization that no matter what, wee must do the will of the people. That is why education is key in knowing all there is to know about our craftthen teaching it to our future leaders. That is the only way!

Week in Review Jan 24 to Jan 30th 2022

Week in Review January 24 thru January 30th 2022 The week started out pleasant with me checking into Manhhattanville Depot to do my duties in the division. One of the depot reps came to see me to ask about how far back management can go back to discipline based on the sick control policy, at least that’s how I understood it. I was later informed that an Audit was taking place specifically on sick leave applications and that it was out of the hands of AGS Merv. Unfortunately he had brought one of the members in and was trying to go progressive on every sickform that the company was missing. Meanwhile the member was just brought in a week before by the G/S of the depot and spoken to about the sick control policy, so I thought it was odd that our member would be brought in again. I saw the Assistant General manager and asked why an Audit was being conducted all of a sudden. His response was that there was no Audit going on. I immediately thought to myself that AGS Merv was trying to start an issue in Manhhattanville Depot. The next day I reported directly to Manhhattanville Depot to observe the Morning pullouts and make it know on social media that I was observing the bus fleet. I conducted my divisional work resolving issues. The following day I reported back to Manhhattanville depot to conduct a TWU Audit of registrations, making sure every bus that pulled out was equipped with one. This went on for the rest of the week. By the time Thursday came we were preparing for a nor’easter. It was announced that NYCT will be starting with 20% curtailment , 40 artics from TAD -> 126…. Will hire 5 guys or more if possible to shuttle buses from 10p-6a (longer if needed) Also, there will be a shuttle driver for Tuskeegee brining operators back from 126-> Tusk Also, some Tusk operators will pull straight into 126, then get shuttled back to Tusk with pay. 60 shorts from Manhhattanville-> Tusk, MJQ, MTV,MCH will supply operators to make the moves , while there will be a shuttle to bring them back.. This will Start Friday 10p-6a (longer if needed) MJQ will get 20 shorts from SI, SI will arrange those moves Tentatively, we will start the reverse process of getting everything back on Sunday afternoon depending on storm Later Friday night I returned to Manhhattanville Depot to make sure the snow operations was in place Saturday the nor’easter slammed our area and Sunday all equipment was being sent to it original depot to start the week.

Week in Review Jan 16th to Jan 22 2022

A New York City Transit department of bus tweet caught my attention, where it was said that due to service interruptions, the MTA is running as much service as they can with the Bus Operators they have available, then there was a follow up tweet that stated that because of our dispatchers staffing adjustments that were made to run a trip that was previously canceled, NYCT would now run the trips. The tragedy of these tweets are twofold 1. The tweet targets Bus Operators for the bad or interrupted service and 2. The tweet mentioned that thanks to the dispatchers staffing adjustments, trips will be done. My sarcastic question is who do you think is doing those trips? You guessed it Bus Operators! And how is the Bus Operators doing these trips mentioned? You guessed it again voluntary Overtime. So the fact that the trips were made was because a bus operator decided to volunteer and make those trips! Let’s not attempt to confuse the public, Covid has gotten our operators sick and the irony of the MTA’s messaging is opposite of the reality and even dangerous to our employees! Take the uptick in assaults as a serious example Week in Review January 16th to the 22nd 2022 @TWULocal100 Officers from @mtamabstoa were sworn in by @TWULocal100 President Tony Utano. The day’s festivities didn’t stop there as Senior officers created a robust training session for the new officers Training consisted on how to deal with Management, Grievance & Discipline; Workers Compensation; and the various office procedures that has to be learned by a new officer. Senior Officers encouraged questions even beyond the classroom.

MaBstoa Division1 Editorial

January 2022 Editorial by Donald Yates Greetings Brothers and Sisters: It’s been a long time since I have written a publication. One of the reasons I decided to go back to writing newsletters is because of the mis information that’s on social media, particularly Facebook. There is wave coming that needs to be addressed with the truth. We can all have opinions when it comes to a situation especially in our union. The one thing that I hold dear is truthful information whether it benefits me or not. One of the things that’s hard to ascertain is the facts of the past. Receipts are described as something of fact, but I can definitely tell all of you that there are several receipts or no receipts , neither means a definitive truth. The media in our country is much of the same that occurs in our union. Everyone has an opinion, but which opinion is truth?

Week In Review Jan 27 to Jan 31 2020

Week In Review January 27th To January 31st 2020 Mon January 27th 2020 I reported to Michael J. Quill Depot to address pending issues in my office including members who have had medical billing issues and Assault pay 💰 issues. Later that day I met with the Vice President and the Divisional Chairs from the Bronx and MaBStoa maintenance to discuss the underlying issue with the electric bus Tuesday January 28th 2020 I reported to Michael J. Quill to address Operators bypassed on the Dispatchers list and spoke to Labor relations about some pending grievances. I left at about 8:30am and went to Zerega to meet with the Chief maintenance officers and our Union over the concerns of the Electric bus 🚎 the attendees was Richard Davis Thomas Lenane Mike Rehn Donald Yates Claude Marshal Tim Harrell Sean Battaglia and Earl Philips. From NYCT Senior VP department of buses Craig Cipriano Vito Sicolo Frank Anacarol Benny Serrano and Clarence Howard. That meeting lasted to about 12:00. I then met with the Chief Officer of Safety and Training to discuss a DWI case that didn’t go thru the traditional process, and to also discuss a member from MJQ who was being held off the bus for an accident. All went positive. 1:30 Had a Chairmans meeting at MCH we’re various strategic plannings was the topic Wednesday January 29, 2020 Started my day in Traffic Checking; went over some cases were one struck me as peculiar because there was a customer complaint over failure to assist. The complaint involved opening the gate for a customer who hadn’t paid yet. Went over the grievance and Discipline process with the Chair of the department. Left and went to theUnion Hall for our monthly Executive Board meeting to go over when the raises and the retro would be issued, also to discuss financial reports charging members who allegedly violated the bylaws and constitution. We went over the Financial report from the last quarter and voted on Contracts from the school bus 🚌 industry and a me too for staff analyst for MTABus January 30th 2020 Started and ended my day at MJQ. Worked in the office to complete pending tasks. January 31, 2020 Started my day at Manhattanville Depot where I spoke to the members about the information on the MaBstoa FB page and went in the office to work on folders I saved electronically so my office can be carried with me. The day was finish by attending the surprise retirement party for Barry Roberts

What does unity look like

Good morning everyone; Many of us speak of unity. I asked in a couple of videos what does unity look like? It doesn’t mean everyone looks the same, talks the same or thinks the same, it means however that because we believe the same gospel, in this case we believe that unions make a difference so getting unified over that belief is what unity looks like. Not how others support an issue or don’t support an issue. Unity clearly needs to be worked on!!!!! Social media bullying is not unity and will only spawn distain!

Contract Ratification Vote Tallies Jan 9, 2020

Contract Ratified! Contract Tallies by Department Total 15319 Mabstoa Divison 1- 787. Yes-601 No-186 MaBSTOA Divison 2- 857. Yes-629 No-225 MaBSTOA Maintenance-737. Yes-651. No-86 MTA Bus - 911. Yes-661. No-249 TA Surface- 1238. Yes-872. No-371 TA Maintenance- 455. Yes-378. No-76 Tower Operators- 117. Yes-47. No-69 Train Operators- 1478. Yes-539. No-940 Car Maintenance- 1927. Yes-1300. No-635 Conductors -1154. Yes-389. No-771 Power - 493. Yes-415. No-77 Stations -1840. Yes-945. No-888 Track - 748. Yes-474. No-311 Structure - 964. Yes- 868. No-93 Line Equipment - 1542. Yes-1343. No-199 Actual Totals: Yes- 10112 No- 5176

Personal Truth; Political Truth; Objective Truth

One of the great challenges in this world is to know enough about a subject to think you’re right; but not enough about the subject to know you’re wrong. I talk about many union issues probably in the millions There’re 3 category’s of truths; personal truth, political truth and the Objective truth that shape our understanding of the universe. The interesting thing about the Objective truth is it’s true no matter what! Imagine that! Be equipped to turn data into information, information into knowledge, knowledge into wisdom. We all have susceptibility to Bias. Search engines on the internet are the Epitome of conformation bias and you are going to use that as evidence that you’re correct? No! The good thing about science is that it’s true whether or not you believe in it. What does it mean to be skeptical? What does it mean to be convinced by data? A proper skeptic questions what they’re unsure of but recognizes when valid evidence is presented to change there mind. I will equip you to not only find objective truths but communicate to others how to get there. It’s not good enough to be right you also have to be effective. The less connected you are to what is objectively true the less likely you will be able to make decisions that would benefit your life, the life of your family and even civilization itself

FaceBook Live 12-29-19 Youtube link

https://youtu.be/9-cEBBMLVJo

Facebook Live 12-29-19

Facebook Live 12-29-19 11:00Am * Standing Together In Unity; What does unity look like * The Contract & The Department of Buses Autonomous Language * RTO activists coming to bus locations to encourage a vote no & why don’t they encourage safety actions on the train * Is it a lie or is a narrative? What’s the difference * Ignorance 🆚 Truth * MTABus Continued Discussions; (DOB) * When They try to Change the Conversation when you Enlighten >covert sign they have no idea what their talking about

American Arbitration Association

From The Election Committee The American Arbitration Association will be instituting the following schedule: "-Calls left today will be cleared out this evening (Mailed on Friday) -AAA will answer calls, and clear out the voicemail, on Friday between 9-5 (Mailed on Friday) -AAA will clear out the voicemail on Saturday and Sunday between 12-5. No additional (in person) calls will be taken over the weekend. There may be periods over the weekend where the voicemail gets full due to the number of calls received without personnel to clear them out, which must be done physically from the AAA office. Anything that does not get mailed out on Saturday will be mailed out on Monday, where business resumes as usual." Reminder: Request for Duplicate Ballots American Arbitration Association 1800.529.5218

Pick Resuming

Good morning members the Pick will be resuming after a understanding was reached between Vice President Richard Davis and the Chief Transportation office. The TWU will always defend our members right to pick

Pick Remains on hold

Good Morning Members; Currently the Pick remains on hold!!! Stay Tuned!

Consolidated Pick Stopped

Good evening Brothers and Sisters; the Consolidated Pick was stopped this evening.The unions position is that the Authority is violating our member’s right to his pick. One of our members was FFD for an accident and was told that being that the MAC gave a restriction the member couldn’t pick. We disagree!!! Pick will be on hold till further notice! Stay Tuned!!!

Traffic Checking

My Brothers and Sisters in Traffic Checking need help. There's numerous discriminations and woman's issues. I ask that we pay more attention to this small department, because we are all the protection that they have!!!!

9-1-1 World Trade Center Memory September 11, 2001

Please Read to the end I was discussing with some friends the events of September 11, 2001 known as 9-1-1 It has caused cancer in many including many bus Operators. We were discussing how the Transit Authority has handled archive records and the struggle it has been to get trip-sheets showing the runs and routes Bus Operators worked that day. As me and my friends continued to discuss the issues, I reminisced on the days leading up to that day. There was a depot pick which I saw a run and route I couldn’t previously pick, because of my seniority. However it was available so I picked it with Sun and Mon days off. Prior to that pick going into affect there was some dispute over the run I picked because of the way MaBstoa Pick rules work, however I ended up with my choice 22/M103 My first day on the run was September 11, 2001 which was a Tuesday. I made my first round trip then I was on an hour swing (lunch) In those days we took our meal at 126th Street Depot. We were all notified via the television that a plane struck the World Trade Center. As we were focused on the news I was thinking that the pilot was a dumb MF for not seeing the building. Then the second plane hit, we were like what, 2 dumb MF’s. Then the chaos began in the City. My story is based on true factual events!!!!! Because of the Chaos, Buses were coming up very late, but when my bus finally arrived, the dispatcher on duty instructed me to go around the corner to the FDNY and pick up the Fire Fighters and their equipment. I did as instructed. Once all the equipment and the Fire Fighters were in my bus we went down an empty FDR Drive to ground zero. The area looked dark like a war zone. The Fire Fighters got off my bus and ordered me to wait for them. (Remember this (order) because it’s important) My friends Olando Upsure Flatbush depot, Lawrence Bates Amsterdam Depot and Paul Rodrigues Station Supervisor Met me as we observed the wreckage. We took pictures and went to the city hall area where they were conducting eyewashes at the right aid. After me and my friends broke off from each other I went back to ground zero to see what was up with the Fire Department I took down. As I was surveying the area a Woman Police Officer asked what I was doing there being that I wasn’t an emergency personnel. I shrugged my shoulders and told the officer I was ordered by FDNY. As we stood together not believing our sights everyone started running for cover so I ran too. Building 7 a 50 something story building just collapsed. We were lucky I guess, because we were just in that building. They were using it as an emergency triage. Keep in mind that from the time the planes hit the towers I didn’t have contact with my family. All phones were down except for those of us who had NEXTEL’s. Around 3am I went back to where I parked my bus and started it up. I still had the fire department equipment on my bus, so I drove the bus to the 124 street FDNY where I rang the bell and was invited up to eat pasta and sauce. The FDNY got their equipment and I went to Manhattanville depot as I was the missing bus that wasn’t accounted for. I went home still shaken from the events of 9-1-1 where the only person who was awake and waiting was my Father. I was too broken to tell my Father what had happened, and didn’t really talk about it that much until now! I want to point out some things. 1. The Fire Department abandoned me as I didn’t abandon my post 2. TA managers didn’t use a cautious tongue, in fact they were quite rude to me anyway. 3. Many Bus Operators are Now starting to develop Cancers, some have died already 4. The Transit Authority is giving a very hard time getting copies of our proof that we were in fact working 9-1-1 on the day and the aftermath. Since I became a union representative I fought the boss. Some of the bosses really think I’m an ass whole, but that’s ok with me, because they don’t care about Transit workers and they have proven that time and time again. Thank you James, because of our discussion I am telling my story