As secretary treasurer of the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU), Barbadian Earl Phillips is a heartbeat away from heading one of New York City’s most vital labour organizations.
And in that crucial position he has a quite a lot on his plate. It’s a role he never envisaged when he left his birthplace in the late 1980s.
Phillips, a member of the TWU’s negotiating team, wants to reach agreement with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) on a new contract that would replace a deal that expired 18 months ago. And while there aren’t any plans to call a strike, the union and its 30 000-plus members who operate the trains and buses in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island are adamant that unlike other public workers’ unions in the state of New York, they aren’t prepared to accept proposals for a five-year pact that contains no wage increases for the first three years but gives workers a two per cent boost in each of the final two years.
In addition, they have rejected an MTA proposal that calls for each worker to contribute US$5 000 annually to the health care insurance plan.
Next, the TWU is vigorously opposing an employer proposal that would allow the MTA to have a single worker operate each train instead of the current two employees. That plan would result in the elimination of train conductor positions. Then there is the suggestion that more part-time drivers be hired to operate the 5 000 buses in the MTA fleet that carries passengers every day in the city. There are currently 11 000 bus operators.
“We have been working without a contract since January last year and we are anxious to resume negotiations with the MTA to conclude an agreement,” said Phillips, an MTA employee since 1993. “We went on strike for two-and-a-half days in 2005 and the stoppage ended bitterly for us, with the courts deciding it was an illegal action under New York State laws. We don’t plan to do that again.
“Another thing. We are not going to accept part-time business drivers because once employed, they wouldn’t be entitled to pensions, job security or health care coverage. That’s unacceptable.”
He added: “The communities served by the buses and trains in New York are supporting the union on this. They are convinced full-time employees, not part-timers, are in their best interest.
“We are also opposed to the idea of the trains being operated by a single worker and that’s because of safety concerns for passengers and the employees. When emergencies occur, a single employee wouldn’t be able to handle trains.”
Phillips came to the United States from Barbados in 1987, opened up a small auto repair business in Brooklyn and later joined the Transit Authority
where he has remained ever since. As a union safety director before rising to his current position, he knows more than a thing or two about ways to keep trains and buses operating safely.
“We place a lot of emphasis on safety for the people who use mass transit every day. That’s important to us and safety issues are at the heart of the matter about one-operator trains.”
The union executive, who grew up in Manning’s Village, St George, would like to see unions and employers in Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean focus more on education and health, especially in the construction trades, so as to protect the public and employees from injuries.
“That’s an area I believe is lacking not simply in Barbados but in the rest of the Caribbean as well,” he said.
“Safety education is a work in progress in Barbados and the Caribbean but it is an area that needs more attention.”
Union president John Samuelsen has given the Barbadian a thumbs-up for his performance as second in command.
“Earl is a man of great integrity,” he said.
“He is devoted first and foremost to this union’s membership. I am confident he will lend a sure and steady hand to the union as we begin a difficult contract fight.”
