New York, NY – Transit Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 President John Chiarello brought the fire to MTA CEO Janno Lieber at the MTA Board meeting held just days ago over missing and delayed Workers Compensation payments for more than 3,500 Transit Workers.
“I represent Union Members who have been physically injured, assaulted, emotionally scarred and cannot work. These Members are suffering (from) the burden of missed Workers Compensation payments. The last thing anyone should worry about as they try to heal is whether they can pay the light bill, the rent or put food on the table,” Chiarello said in his first appearance at an MTA Board meeting as TWU Local 100 President. “We had a member whose neck was slashed, a Conductor – sticking their head out of the window, doing their job. That same person is not getting paid their differential. Again, we had a person who put out a passenger who was set on fire, they’re not getting paid. Another one, punched in the fact. Another one, hit in the back of the head. When is it going to end?”
He noted that he told the MTA not to move Workers Compensation administration to third-party vendor Sedgwick until they were ready.
However, Chiarello said Lieber “has a soft spot for privatization, which he has demonstrated by sending projects to outside contractors.”
In this case, Chiarello added, Lieber’s policy has produced “disastrous results.”
Despite repeatedly being told his time to speak was up and even after the mic was cut, Chiarello made his full remarks.
He was followed by two retired MTA Workers who recounted their payment shortfalls to the board.
Both retired Bus Operator Charles Wilson, who suffered a career-ending back injury after 32 years of service, and Emily Louise Allen, a retired Station Agent who also served with the U.S. Army, said that payments for disabilities were received late.
“My bills need to be paid,” Allen told Lieber. “They can cut off my phone. My money doesn’t run like your money. You need to give us our checks on time. My claim person at the MTA could have (my payments) on time for (24) years. There’s no reason for this company to be late.”
At a press conference outside the boardroom, Chiarello said: “The mortgage is not going to wait. Their bills are not going to wait. There’s just no excuse for this. This is total mismanagement, a black eye to the MTA for something that they should not have given away – it should (have) stayed in house.”
TWU International President John Samuelsen called the MTA’s decision to contract with Sedgwick “a business scheme.”
“They figure that if they shaft Transit Workers out of paychecks, that even if they have a hernia or a spinal injury, they will come back to work,” he said. “This is a plan by Janno Lieber and the MTA to get Transit Workers that are injured to come back to work. They want them to suffer. They want them to miss mortgage payments, to miss rent, to miss tuition payments for their children to get them back to work. They’d rather have injured Transit Workers coming back to work than get them paid on time and have happy, productive Workers. It’s appalling. It’s evil.”
To Directly Access This Labor News Story, Go To: Chiarello Blasts Lieber at MTA Board Meeting | TWU Local 100
