Experts from transit systems on four continents will participate July 27-29 in a conference on the health of urban transit workers. The conference, jointly organized by the CUNY Center for the Biology of Natural Systems and the 38,000-member TWU Local 100, will consider health studies of mass transit workers, technology changes in mass transportation systems, and  the experience of workers’ compensation, disability, health benefits and pensions of transit workers.

The conference agenda is being coordinated by TWU Local 100 Safety and Health Technical Director Frank Goldsmith, under the direction of the Union's Director of Safety and Health Earl Phillips.It will be held at the Union's Hall at 80 West End Avenue, off 64th Street in Manhattan. Dr. Goldsmith can be reached at the TWU's main number, 212-873-6000.

Medical/scientific researchers will be joined by health, safety and  technology specialists from labor, management, government and academic bodies. Attendees  are expected from Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Greece, Portugal, Venezuela and the UK, as well as the U.S.

Said conference organizer Dr. Steven Markowitz of the CUNY Center for the Biology of Natural Systems, “This is a unique opportunity to pool the knowledge and share the experience deriving from several of the world’s largest transit operations. I don’t know of any comparable undertaking in this field.”

QUESTION: I AM OUT OF WORK ON A WORKERS' COMPENSATION INJURY. AM I ALLOWED TO FILE FOR UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS?
 
ANSWER: YOU MAY FILE FOR UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS, AS YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR BOTH BENEFITS.

Joe was recovering from that bad fall off the scaffolding.  He was receiving Workers’ Compensation Benefits. But facing months ahead out of work and on his back he didn’t know if he could survive on workers’ compensation benefits alone. He was curious if he could also file for Unemployment Benefits.  He called Mike, his best friend on the job and asked what he should do.  What did his friend Mike say?
 
File, Joe!! File!!

What does the Early Retiree Reinsurance Subsidy mean to Taft-Hartley Funds and other employers?

The Early Retiree Reinsurance Subsidy provides $5 billion to Taft-Hartley Funds and other employers to help them maintain health coverage for early retirees ages 55-64, their spouses, surviving spouses and dependents. Applications are be available from the Department of Health and Human Services and will be processed on first-come, first-served basis.

High Level Program Requirements:
The key elements of the Early Retiree Reinsurance Program are:

• The program regulations became effective June 1, 2010.
  By law, the program will expire on January 1, 2014, or when the $5 billion Congress allocated through the legislation is exhausted.
  The program applies to fully insured and self-insured groups
  providing early retiree coverage. All groups (except federal governmental plans) are eligible, regardless of size.

Along with Winsten, Lillian Roberts, Veronica Montgomery-Costa, Patricia Smith, and James McCarthy were honored with Lemlich awards at the dinner for their dedication to labor issues. 

The awards are named after the young woman whose fiery speech to garment workers in November 1910 led to a strike for better wages and working conditions.  Ironically, the owners of the Triangle Company did not sign the industry agreement.  On March 25, 1911 the horrific fire at the building caused the deaths of 146 young men and women mostly immigrants.

By 1914, New York’s Constitution was amended to authorize creation of a Workers’ Compensation statute.  In addition, the 1911 fire spawned many workplace safety regulations including protection of child labor.

STATEMENT BY JACK AHERN, PRESIDENT OF THE NEW YORK CITY CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL, AFL-CIO 

RE: 2010 LABOR DAY PARADE 

THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF THE NEW YORK CITY CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL HAS AGREED TO SUSPEND THIS YEAR’S LABOR DAY PARADE DUE TO THE COINCIDING OF THE SEPTEMBER 11TH MEMORIAL ANNIVERSARY DATE.  TRADITIONALLY, THE NEW YORK CITY LABOR DAY PARADE IS HELD THE SATURDAY AFTER THE LABOR DAY HOLIDAY,  AND THIS YEAR THE DATE FALLS ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2010.  IN FULL RESPECT AND COMPLETE REMEMBRANCE OF THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES, AND THOSE WHO SO BRAVELY LOST THEIR LIVES, ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, THE LEADERS AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY’S ORGANIZED LABOR MOVEMENT WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE PUBLIC AND PRIVATE MEMORIALS HELD IN THER HONOR.  THE LABOR DAY PARADE WILL RESUME IN 2011, AND THE PLANNING STAGES ARE ALREADY UNDER WAY. 

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey now employs thousands of construction workers through its capital plan – providing much needed employment in tough economic times. But the jobs might not last. The Authority confronts a shrinking budget as it struggles to meet the growing transportation needs of the region and rebuild its aging infrastructure. Union activists call for new investments in the region’s infrastructure that can keep the Port Authority’s capital plan on track and keep union workers on the job.

“We have a national and regional crisis with our infrastructure. We are looking more and more like a Third World nation,” said Robert Ledwith, business manager for Local 46 of the Metallic Lathers and Reinforcing Ironworkers speaking at a June 25th meeting of the Business and Labor Coalition of New York. Hundreds of his members are now working on Port Authority projects.

It’s been a pretty good year for the Port Authority so far. The Authority’s capital plan has created 58,000 jobs in 2010 alone, with $3.1 billion in new investment. Almost half of that work – 46 percent – is in lower Manhattan at the site of the World Trade Center. Tower One, formerly called the Freedom Tower, continues to rise and the World Trade Center Memorial is now scheduled to be completed in time for the 10-year anniversary of September 11th next year, according to Chris Ward, Executive Director of the Port Authority.