Can something that starts as highly improbable end up as an important fact of life in the financial capital of the world?
That question and the answer tell a story about what has happened to Earl Phillips, a Bajan, who is now the No. 2 executive in the hierarchy of one of the most powerful labour unions in New York City.
As financial secretary treasurer of the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU), Local 100 of the Transport Workers’ Union International, Phillips is a heartbeat away from the presidency of the 37 000 member labour organization that represents the workers who keep the world’s most extensive mass transit alive and well 24/7, whether it’s Christmas Day, New Year’s, Good Friday or any day, Sunday through Saturday.
“The workers we represent are indispensable to the daily life of New York and they have done an excellent job and deserve to be compensated, cherished and appreciated,” said the 49-year-old immigrant, who grew up in St George, attended St George Secondary School and the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic before coming to the United States in 1987. Then he had no thought of someday becoming the executive after the president of the union, which spends about US$1 million every month running programmes for its members, negotiating on their behalf, educating the bus and sub-way operators, conductors, maintenance workers, token booth clerks, you name it, they belong to the TWU.
Just as important, he makes sure the 100 staffers of the union are adequately compensated and their conditions of service are impeccable.
“I was always interested in trade unionism and workers’ rights and the welfare of people, beginning in Barbados when I joined the Barbados Workers’ Union. When I came to the US almost 25 years ago, becoming the financial secretary-treasurer of the Transport Workers Union was not something I thought about,” he said.
“I was interested in improving myself and working hard to achieve that goal while at the same time following what’s going on around me in New York, the US and, of course, Barbados.”
These days the union and its team of negotiators, led by TWU president John Samuelsen and Phillips, are sitting across the table from representatives of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the New York-New Jersey umbrella agency responsible for the buses, trains, bridges and tunnels trying to negotiate a contract that would do several things:
– Secure a wage increase for members while at the same time improving their conditions of employment.
– Stave off a demand by New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo and the MTA for transit workers to pay much more out of their own pockets for their health care coverage.
– Eliminate the possibility of layoffs during the tough financial times.
“One of the biggest issues is the health care insurance coverage,” he explained. “Another is a MTA proposal to extend the retirement age, moving it from 55 years to 62 and extending the period of service from 25 to 30 years.”
That explains why when thousands of transit workers took to New York City streets a few days ago, chanting their demands and holding placards to get their message across to the governor and the MTA, Phillips was among their boosters.
New Yorkers are watching the negotiations with keen interest. That’s because they remember the impact of a transit strike in 2005. It crippled the city as buses and subways came to halt.
As things stand, a strike is not what the union is planning for.
“Our executive board agreed about three months ago to continue our negotiations even if they go past the deadline of January 15,” Phillips said.
In other words, the union isn’t threatening a strike and when that became clear, New Yorkers breathed a collective sigh of relief.
The Barbadian has risen through the ranks of the union, beginning as an ordinary member when he joined the Transit Authority as a chassis maintainer in 1993. He moved up the ladder when he was made a safety rep and then the TWU’s safety director. Now he is the second in command.
“Earl is a man of great integrity,” said the union president. “He is devoted, first and foremost, to this union membership.”
