School Voucher Program Defunding Public Schools

February 26 at 10:16am · New York House Bill 610 will start the school voucher system to be used by children ages 5-17, beginning the process of defunding public schools. In addition, the bill will eliminate the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965, which is the nation's educational law and provides equal opportunity in education. It would repeal ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act). ESSA, which was set to replace NCLB, is a comprehensive program that covers programs for struggling learners, AP classes, ESL classes, Rural Education, Education for the Homeless, School Safety, programs to address children living in poverty, Monitoring, Compliance and Accountability Programs. The Bill also abolishes the Nutritional Act of 2012 (No Hungry Kids Act) which provides nutritional standards in school breakfast and lunch. The bill has no wording whatsoever protecting Students with special needs, no mention of IDEA and FAPE. Some things ESSA does for Children with Disabilities: -Ensures access to the general education curriculum. -Ensures access to accommodations on assessments. -Ensures concepts of Universal Design for Learning -Includes provisions that require local education agencies to provide evidence-based interventions in schools with consistently underperforming subgroups. -Requires states in Title I plans to address how they will improve conditions for learning including reducing incidents of bullying and harassment in schools, overuse of discipline practices and reduce the use of aversive behavioral interventions (such as restraints and seclusion). Please call your representative and ask him/her to vote NO on House Bill 610 (HR 610) introduced by three representatives. PLEASE copy and paste. Thank you.

2017 Contract Ratification Totals

Ratification Totals Stations 1414 Y 394 No 1808 CED 1297 Y 630 No 1927 TASurf Maint 317 Y 110 N 427 T/O 517 Y 803 N 1320 TASurf 934 Y 478 N 1410 C/T 390 Y 746 N 1136 LES 1345 Y 234 N 1579 Track 412 Y 364 N Struc 612 Y 168 Power 280 Y 166 N OA1 752 Y 150 N OA2 637 Y 209 N OA Maint 664 Y 68 N MTAbus 928 Y 45 N Union Wide Totals unofficially 10,540 Yes 4,571 No 70% mándate

SBS23 And the cause for a new pick

Good morning MJQ, last week Thursday the Union and Operations planning sat down to discuss future planning for the Department of Buses. Part of the planning included pressure from the Mayor of NYC to put the SBS23 in to service in the fall. This of course caused some concern because we were in the middle of picking. But because the SBS23 has some significant money changes a pick must occur in order to comply with preferences. The pick will be posted on August 22, 2016 And the depot will start to pick on August 29th. The effective date will be determined at a later date in the fall if at all. For now the pick that has occurred already will be the pick that you will be working until such time the SBS23 comes on line. Stay connected follow me on Twitter @donaldyates69 Respectfully Donald Yates MaBstoa Division 1 Chairman

Pick Practice Arbitration

Today we had Arbitration on MaBstoa Pick Practices. At issue was whether the changes the DOB was trying to institute was actually a violation of the current practice. Pick reliefs as we know it was under heavy scrutiny. The Arbitrator Richard Adleman's thinking was that the elimination of the pick teams wouldn't effect the practice because we would still be able to pick runs, rdo's and vacations. Managements position was based on a 2005 Decision  that hurt the support departments. Our positions was based on years of consistent practice that carried over during bus consolidation! Before that the OA pulled off the road to pick as ruled on in the Zucotti award!  Under testimony Brian Clarke VP of MaBstoa gave credible evidence of what our practice is! Donald Yates ripped Eddie Melendez as a lier while catching The TA's lawyer with inconsistency's, contradicting   GS Pierre! Frank Austin and Brian Clarke gave good testimony while Eddie Melendez CTO gave testimony making the Unions argument! Being that Its hard for me to read The arbitrator, I will reserve my thoughts till he renders a decision on Friday! However I will say that thank you to all our counterparts who showed for support! LaTanya Crisp Rec/Sec, Liz Wilson Div1 Rec/Sec, Bronx and Manhattan Chairman Div Chair Richard Davis 2nd vice Chair Rei Rios,TA Surf Div Chair Willie Rivera, TA Surf VP JP and Branda White from the women's committee! Stay Tuned for The Arbitrators Decision

Management Snakes

Brothers and Sisters of MaBstoa; the fight to maintain our pick rights has not been created in a vacuumed. Managers such as Eddie Melendez (Former TWU Vice President) and Daryl Irick Senior Vice President of the Department of Buses have been planing to abolish the one thorn in their financial sides( MaBstoa Pick Rights)  Eddie Melendez was a former Vice President of the TA Surface Bus Division who worked very closely with all the MaBstoa Reps of that time, his very involvement is the exact reason why we have to put language in our ByLaws preventing folks from giving away our secrets! Sellouts such as Melendez won't materialize to later give away union secrets! Daryl Irick is another story altogether. Educated and wise to the game of chess. Daryl's African American heritage give easy way for him to deceive while attacking the very fabric in which he himself benefited from.  This is no attack against Mr Irick but an acknowledgment that he does his job well! Daryl has managed to maintain many relationships where many of our own members report directly to him, which is in itself a destruction to our union ways! For those who have given away our secrets I suggest you either get on the unions page, or take the Dispatchers exam! Next time MCH Depot comes up in conversation or the quest for part-time Bus Operators remember who's at the top of the Department of Buses food chain! Lets stand together, because together we make a difference!   

Workers Compensation And The Transit Authority

Workers compensation and the Transit Authority Brothers and Sisters; it's very unfortunate how this Agency treats its injured workers. Time after time when a member gets injured, there is a legitimate concern on timeliness of payments! In the Department of Buses the bureaucracy is as thick as the London Fog! Case in point, a member gets assaulted and follows all the proper procedures and fills out the proper injury on duty forms. Fills out the waiver and election form to use accrued vacation and or sick time for 20 days. Goes to compensation doctor brings paperwork back on Authority forms. Goes to Independent Medical Examiner Known as the (IME) and is approved for time off and therapy. Brings those forms back to the department. All these actions that are handled as far as the forms are concerned must be faxed to 130 Livingston Street the Line Safety Superintendent (LSO) sends over assault verification forms for those on that type of injury. But if 130 Livingston doesn't check the fax or somehow the fax is malfunctioning, you can expect a pay interruption which makes absolutely no sense, and can be detrimental to our families households! In the end this is all done on purpose as a deterrent to keep lost time accidents at a minimal! What I haven't mentioned, is the fight the TA will conjure up to deny your differential. Safety is the primary concern of everyone, if you hurt yourself no matter how minor report it and fill out an IOD report and let the reps deal with management on your behalf.

Unofficial EBoard Notes

Report of 4/29/13 Executive Board meeting Steve Downs, T/O This is NOT an official record of the meeting. It is based solely on my notes. President’s report Pres. Samuelsen opened his report by commenting on the death of Signal Maintainer Louis Moore and the bitter irony that it coincided with the anniversaries of the deaths on the tracks of Track Workers Daniel Boggs and Marvin Franklin. He emphasized that these incidents underlined the inherentt danger of our jobs and the importance of working carefully and safely. As reported at the March Executive Board meeting, the national TWU is exploring the possibility of an affiliation with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). Samuelsen is the chair of a committee looking into the advisability of such an affiliation. The committee has met twice and heard presentations from within the TWU. In May, they will be meeting with representatives of the CWA. Their report is likely to be made over the summer. TWU President James Little recently told a meeting of the CWA that he expects the issue to be addressed at the TWU Convention in Sept. Speaking of the TWU Convention, the Executive Board will have a special meeting to discuss the Local’s goals at the convention and possible resolutions once the Convention Call is issued. Endorsements of candidates in races in NYC will be made at the May Board meeting. Bargaining on the TA/OA/MTA Bus contracts will resume once the new MTA Chair, Tom Prendergast, is confirmed by the State Senate. Judicial Panel The Local 100 By-laws require that a panel be appointed to hear charges brought by one member against another. Charges go to this panel only after they are reviewed by an attorney and the Board votes that they are proper charges. The panel members are: Tony Utano (Chair), Richard Davis (Vice-Chair), Chris Magwood (OA), Richard Holley (MoW), Janice Carter (RTO), Kevin Cadigan (Private Lines/MTA Bus), Johnnie Joyner (TA Surface), Markeith Woolford (Stations), Grigory Dunichev (CED) Bargaining for new contracts is taking place at Supertrans, White Plains Bus, Mile Square, and part of Royal Coach. The sign-up card that members who owe back dues can use to authorize the MTA to deduct double from their checks until their arrears are paid should be ready within a few weeks. Charges Three sets of charges were presented to the Executive Board and all were found not to meet the definition of a valid charge, so no hearings will be held. They were: Paul King charging David Francis and Maurice Jenkins; Kendra Hill against Derick Echevarria and Maurice Jenkins; and Wayne Bryan against John Day. A member from CED has claimed that he has not been granted his proper seniority. The Board ruled last year that his complaint against the officers in CED did not qualify as a proper charge. G Dunichev will make a report on the matter to the May Board meeting. Minutes of the February Board meeting were read and approved. -- Steve Downs Chair, T/O Division TWU Local 100