Published 15 Sep, 2014
Five hundred and fifty workers at Global Contact Services’ paratransit operation on Northern Boulevard in Queens, NY voted to join TWU Local 100 this weekend. Our newest union brothers and sisters chose TWU by a landslide margin over two other union contenders in the three-way representation election.
The final tally, which came in at close to 2am on Sunday, put total votes for TWU Local 100 at 331, votes for no union at 91, and votes for the two other unions, Local 621 and Local 322, at 19 and 8 respectively.
“Our first order of business will be forming a real, democratically selected internal leadership committee to work with union staffers to win our first contract,” said TWU Local 100 President and International Executive Vice President John Samuelsen.
Global Contact Services is a contractor for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Its paratransit operation facility employs call-takers and reservation agents who schedule paratransit services for the system.
In a letter announcing the results, Samuelsen said: “Global is an anti-union corporation from the South, and they ran an extremely vigorous anti-union campaign. We fought back, organized the workers and defeated Global. We defeated two other unions which were on the ballot as well.
“I congratulate the workers at Global, and welcome them into the strongest Transportation Union in NY, and across the country. … This is a huge win for TWU Local 100. Our Organizing Department has firmly established itself, and we look forward to the challenges coming our way. We will continue to grow TWU Local 100!”
For more coverage, go to TWU Local 100’s website at www.twulocal100.org