John Samuelsen
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Official account, John Samuelsen, International President of the Transport Workers Union, Industrial Trade Unionist, NYC Subway Trackworker 26 +6 = 1 Saoirse 👍
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Articles by John Samuelsen
Humans Are the Essential Piece of Transportation Safety – And They Always Will Be - The Eno Center for Transportation
|John Samuelsen, International President, TWU The Transport Workers Union of America’s 165,000 plus members work across the entire transportation sector. At transit agencies, airlines, railroads, bikeshare systems and elsewhere, TWU members see their jobs change drastically as new technology once again mushrooms across all modes of transportation. This is not a new phenomenon.
NYC activists’ carriage-horse threats prove they’ll use any excuse to force a ban
A big swirling bucket of the latest rumors, celebrity news and Hollywood gossip. The premier celebrity gossip app. The only apps that gives you a comprehensive real time celeb news stream. Gossip Bucket aggregates and streams the latest gossip news and headlines from the top sources in one place.
NYC activists’ carriage-horse threats prove they’ll use any excuse to force a ban
Just hours after Deniz, a beautiful brown-and-white carriage horse, collapsed and died in Central Park June 9, the activists pounced. Edita Birnkrant, executive director of the anti-carriage group NYCLASS, posted a video of Deniz in his final moments, lying on the carriage drive. “They’re f—ing abusers,” a male narrator says. “He doesn’t care,” the observer declares of the carriage driver.
NYC activists’ carriage-horse threats prove they’ll use any excuse to force a ban
A Central Park carriage horse named Deniz collapsed and died during a ride on June 9, 2026. Just hours after Deniz, a beautiful brown-and-white carriage horse, collapsed and died in Central Park June 9, the activists pounced. Edita Birnkrant, executive director of the anti-carriage group NYCLASS, posted a video of Deniz in his final moments, lying on the carriage drive. "They're f—ing abusers," a male narrator says. "He doesn't care," the observer declares of the carriage driver.
Innovation to improve efficiency, not kill jobs
I grew up in the 1980s in Gerritsen Beach, Brooklyn, where Irish-American families long scorned by elites finally reached the middle class, thanks to the Transport Workers Union and other unions that fought for good wages, health benefits, and pensions. I’m not speaking figuratively.
The MTA must build jobs for Americans
The MTA will soon invest nearly $11 billion for new railcars for both the NYC subway and the suburban commuter rail lines. This long-needed investment — part of the $68 billion MTA capital plan — will deliver a safer, more reliable ride to millions of New Yorkers daily. But the MTA’s investment isn’t just good news for commuters.
Why Adams flipped on NYC's horse carriage trade
Eric Adams, who once bragged about being a mayor with “swagger,” nearly sauntered into federal prison in handcuffs. Federal prosecutors charged him with bribery and other corruption-related crimes. Adams avoided a trial and a likely conviction only because President Trump’s administration surprisingly petitioned the judge to dismiss the case. Did our cocky mayor learn anything?
Why Democrats should support this Trump nominee, Lori Chavez-DeRemer
There is a new reality in play in the White House and his name is Donald Trump. And like it or not, many unionized workers voted for him. Unfortunately, his ascendancy has been driven in large part by the fact that a large number of workers in America have more faith in Trump than in the Democratic Party. For a decade or more, many of us in the trade union movement have shouted earnest warnings from the rooftops that the Democrats were losing ground with everyday Americans.
Working People Need Congress To Fund Mass Transit
Working People Need Congress To Fund Mass Transit Published February 8, 2024 The COVID-19 nightmare that we all lived through demonstrated the incredible impact federal funding can have when it comes to providing the essential bus and rail service millions of working men and women rely upon. Operating funds enabled brave frontline transport workers to keep the buses and trains running. Grocery store workers could still get to their jobs and keep the shelves stocked with food.
Plague of violence against transit workers must to be addressed by federal action
On Oct. 26, Bernard Gribbin, a U.S. Army veteran, was murdered on the job while driving a bus in North Philadelphia. A passenger came up to him without warning and shot him six times, taking time between shots to see if Gribbin had died yet. Weeks earlier, subway station agent Baboo Singh, a 74-year-old grandfather, was standing on a platform in New York City when a man attacked him from behind without warning.
Op-Ed | Public transit automation must not come at the expense of safety – Caribbean Life
While the recent train derailments in East Palestine and other communities throughout the country have highlighted a number of issues regarding transportation safety, one is deserving of particular focus — the inherent danger in reducing our transportation workforce. Over the past few years, freight railroads have been laying off workers in massive numbers while simultaneously moving to a dangerous, profit-at-all-costs business model called precision scheduled railroading.
Op-Ed | Public transit automation must not come at the expense of safety
While the recent train derailments in East Palestine and other communities throughout the country have highlighted a number of issues regarding transportation safety, one is deserving of particular focus — the inherent danger in reducing our transportation workforce. Over the past few years, freight railroads have been laying off workers in massive numbers while simultaneously moving to a dangerous, profit-at-all-costs business model called precision scheduled railroading.
Climate zealots vs. N.Y. homeowners and workers
A draft proposal to cut greenhouse emissions would be a job-killing disaster that also will zap residents and homeowners with sky-high energy costs. The proposal, drafted by the state’s Climate Action Council created under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, recommends dozens upon dozens of regulations to be adopted by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.
【コラム】未来の交通でも、自律走行車ではなく人間が運転するべきだ | TechCrunch Japan
高度に自動化された航空機を指揮するパイロットのように、自動化のレベルにかかわらず、すべての旅客輸送車両には人間のオペレーターが搭乗しなければならない。議会は、ほとんど規制されていない自律走行車（AV）技術の急速かつ性急な出現に対する適切な連邦政府の対応について議論しており、この安全基準を確認する機会を得ている。 毎日、米国中の交通機関では、第一線の労働者がバス、電車、バンを安全に運行している。彼らは緊急事態に対応し、身体障害者や高齢者のためのアクセシビリティを確保し、致命的なパンデミック時に乗客の安全を可能な限り確保している。これらの労働者は、乗客を乗せた車両を運転しながら、これらの職務を同時にこなすよう訓練されている。 ハイテク業界の中には「完全な」自律走行車で人間のオペレーターをなくすことができると主張する人がいるが、どのレベルの自動化でも彼らに取って代わることはできない。これは、議会とバイデン政権がテーブルから取り除かなければならない危険な考えである。...
Humans should drive our transit future, not autonomous vehicles – TechCrunch Original
John Samuelsen is the International President of the Transport Workers Union of America. Just like the pilots in command of a highly automated aircraft, human operators must be onboard all passenger transport vehicles no matter their level of automation. Congress has a chance to affirm this safety standard as it debates an appropriate federal response to the rapid and hasty emergence of largely unregulated autonomous vehicle (AV) technologies.
Long live NYC’s carriage horses
By Tony Utano and John Samuelsen New York Daily News | Aug 24, 2021 at 5:00 AM Love horses? Treat yourself, or someone you know, to a Central Park horse-carriage ride. Horses are domesticated animals that thrive when working and interacting with people. You can see it at the Central Park carriage stands where these gentle giants will lower their heads so children and adults can stroke their soft faces and pat their long necks.
The tax that can save the MTA: A federal bailout is necessary but insufficient
The MTA’s unprecedented financial crisis is solvable. We do not have to endure savage service cuts and the slashing of day-to-day maintenance. We do not have to accept as inevitable the laying off of thousands of transit workers who have already endured and sacrificed so much keeping NYC moving, and functioning, during this deadly pandemic. We choose to fight, and we ask you to join us. We must continue to demand action on the federal level — but we also must demand action on the state level.
That sound you hear is not Joe Biden snoring
Continue reading the main story If you missed the previous newsletter, you can read it here. Joe Biden in Pittsburgh on Monday.Alan Freed/Reuters By Frank Bruni Opinion Columnist My friend was panicked. Understandably. “Can this possibly be real?” he emailed. Attached was a tweet — being circulated by a White House deputy chief of staff, Dan Scavino — of a video that showed Joe Biden asleep during a recent television interview.
Opinion | The Subways Are Facing a Five-Alarm Fire
As chief executive of North America’s largest transportation system, and as president of the country’s biggest transit workers’ union, we have had our fair share of disputes. But we agree on this: The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is facing a five-alarm-fire — and the Republican majority in the U.S. Senate seems content to sit back and do nothing while it burns. This isn’t hyperbole.
MTA workers won’t take cuts lying down
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s fiscal crisis is painfully real. Ridership, and other sources of mass transit revenues, were ravaged by COVID-19. After approving one round of emergency funding, Republicans in Washington have failed to act. They have shown a callous indifference to the working men and women who rely on subways and buses for transportation. They have demonstrated a total disregard for the workers who operate, maintain, clean and fix public transit systems.
Stop vilifying NYC bus drivers
In headlines and commentary, Transportation Alternatives and its close ally, the activist website Streetsblog, have portrayed civil servant bus operators involved in tragic pedestrian accidents as cold-blooded criminals and smeared their many union supporters with slanderous language.
Big Upsides to Downstate Gaming: Union Jobs and Transit Revenue
(photo: Governor's Office) New York has a proud history of thinking big and building bold. As New York searches for routes to generate new revenue to fund critical priorities, and drive job growth through significant private investment projects, we have an unparalleled opportunity right in front of us.
Public transit is key to tackling global warming
New York has a major opportunity to lead the nation in reducing emissions and to strike a blow against inequality by making significant and bold investments in public transit across the state. These could give most residents access to efficient, reliable and extensive public transit networks, and provide transit-dependent communities access to opportunities that are not readily available. Access to good public transit levels the playing field for working families, making it a tremendous equalizer.
Reinventing the school bus-iness
For years, the yellow school buses traveling New York City streets have had parents, elected officials — and even school bus workers — seeing red. The Board of Education pays more than $1 billion a year to private bus companies that have little incentive to upgrade or improve service. The buses are prone to breaking down, lack air-conditioning and spew diesel pollution that harms our planet.
Earned Sick Leave bill is a healthy choice: View
Under the Earned Sick Leave bill recently introduced by Westchester County Leader Catherine Borgia, workers would earn a limited amount of paid sick time off to get well or to care for a child. Would you like the flu with that cup of coffee? How about a side order of strep throat?
Union boss rips Mayor de Blasio for ignoring organized labor
It's all about Bill, but it shouldn't be. When announcing his first run for office, Mayor de Blasio promised to be a "mayor for our neighborhoods." He would take on the elites on behalf of residents who felt "ignored and priced out." During his first three years, the mayor has promoted the same image, that he is a champion for everyday New Yorkers. In fact, the rest of the country should follow his example, he has said.
John Samuelsen: The raise transit workers deserve
They can’t really protect us. So they damn well should pay us. The unique stresses and perils that come with being a transit worker have been on full display in recent months. On Sept. 14, a rider with a chip on his shoulder and some screws loose in his head slammed a female conductor against a wall on a J train. The next day, someone smacked a B-train conductor with a bag. Weeks earlier, another miscreant set fire to a station booth while an agent was inside.
Diaz and Samuelsen: The MTA can rescue suffering workers
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority Capital Plan is packed with improvements for riders, including a new fleet of high-tech buses featuring Wi-Fi and charging ports; a new subway line beneath Second Ave., and a new Metro-North spur to Penn Station from the East Bronx. Gov. Cuomo should be commended for ensuring the $27 billion five-year plan is fully funded. But with that kind of taxpayer investment, we can and should do much more.
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