THOUSANDS OF New York City transit workers sent a powerful message to Barbadian Errol Phillips, when they voted him back into office for another three years as the secretary-treasurer of Local 100 of the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) recently.
“The results of the union election indicate to us that the rank and file has confidence in the leadership,” Phillips said after the votes were counted.
“We are looking forward to our third consecutive term during which we will encourage the (New York) State Senate in Albany to enact meaningful pension reforms which are essential to the people we represent. Negotiations will begin in 2017 on a new contract for improved wages and conditions of employment for MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority) workers,” he said.
Phillips, the number two person in the Local’s hierarchy, was speaking for himself and union president, John Samuelson, and other senior elected trade unionists who ran on the same slate of candidates in the election.
The race was important because of mass transit’s role in the daily lives of New Yorkers.
The 40 000-plus union members who operate the buses and the trains literally and figuratively move New York, taking millions of them to and from their jobs, the classroom, church, sports, theatre, cinema, community centres, hospitals; you name them.
“Our key priorities range from job protection, the safety of our members on the job and decent wages, salaries and conditions of employment to pensions when time comes for retirement,” added Phillips, whose family roots are in St George where he was born and grew up.
“We were able to help move the City administration to contribute its fair share of the MTA capital programme, a step which will protect the jobs of thousands of workers many of whom are from the Caribbean, Barbados, Jamaica, Haiti and Guyana among them,” he said.
But Phillips, Samuelson and the TWU aren’t only interested in their members’ welfare. Local 100 put its considerable influence behind a successful campaign to increase the minimum wage for fast food workers across the state of New York.
“The increase will have a significant and positive impact on the lives of thousands of people,” he said.
New York’s Governor, Andrew Cuomo, agreed. He was quick to tell the Bajan and the TWU leadership how much his administration valued the union’s backing.
“This was a great day for fast food workers and an important step in our efforts to achieve economic justice and raise the minimum wage for all workers across the state,” Cuomo said in a recent letter to Phillips. “Our state is strongest when all New Yorkers have an opportunity to succeed, and I look forward to continuing to work together to expand opportunities for our residents and our communities.”
The Barbadian, who is in his 50s, came to New York in 1987 in search of greener pastures. Two years after making Brooklyn his home, he opened his own small business, an auto repair ship and ran it for four years before taking a full-time job with the New York City transit system as a chassis maintainer. The rest, as they say, is history.
Concerned about the plight of workers, Phillps focused considerable attention on employee safety and that brought him to the attention of the union’s leaders who made him a field safety representative in 2002. Rapid moves up the union’s ladder led to his appointment as director of safety and health and when the position of secretary-treasurer became vacant, he was chosen to fill it. In 2013 he was elected by the membership to a full three-year term.
As part of his responsibilities, Phillips sits on the board of New York City Employee Retirement System, NYCERS, which manages US$127 billion in pension funds.
“Having a fiduciary responsibility as a board member for such a large pension system wasn’t something I could have planned for when I left Barbados,” he said.
Tony Best is the NATION’s North American correspondent. Email Bestra@aol.com