Union Representing NYC Transit Workers in Leadership Crisis
TWU Local 100 President Richard Davis is “out sick until further notice.” But many have their doubts about what’s really going on.
By Joe Maniscalco
“Out sick—or just “out” period?
TWU Local 100, the union representing New York City Transit workers, says embattled President Richard Davis is currently “out sick until further notice. But opponents of the recently-elected union head contend he’s done and the International is taking over.
“Currently, Richard Davis is out sick until further notice; an email was sent from the President’s office notifying all staff on the 21st,” TWU Local 100 spokesperson Alina Ramirez told Work-Bites on Thursday.
The 55-year-old Davis won election just over a month ago, despite allegations of sexual misconduct, other maleficence, and increasing backlash against the union leadership’s support of a profit-driven Medicare Advantage health insurance plan TWU Local 100 retirees reject.
A Facebook post attributed to former TWU Local 100 President Roger Toussaint on Jan. 23, alleges that TWU Local 100 is actually being put into receivership by the International, a view widely shared by retirees fighting back agains the Medicare Advantage push and other Davis opponents.
Evangeline Byars challenged Davis for the presidency in December, but came up short in the official vote tally.
“Well, we knew during the election that Davis should have been removed because of everything that was happening,” Byars told Work-Bites this week. “However, it's in the interest of the International to keep him there, let the election go by—and then remove him—which is what we're seeing.”
Work-Bites reached out to TWU Local International President John Samuelsen for comment on this story and is awaiting a reply.
“These charges [surrounding Davis] have been pending for over a year now, so I don't understand why John Samuelson came and took him out now,” TWU Local 100R President Lloyd Archer told Work-Bites.
Davis doubled-down on the Medicare Advantage push just before his election last month, insisting on WBAI’s “What’s Going On” show that his decision to surrender Traditional medicare coverage at the bargaining table in favor of a profit-driven Medicare Advantage plan starting in 2024 constitutes an “enhancement” of benefits.
TWU Local 100 retirees—like their municipal counterparts challenging Mayor Eric Adams and his ongoing assault on traditional Medicare—insist pushing former Transit workers into a privatized health insurance plan that profits by denying necessary care is a diminishment of benefits, and they are in court to stop it.
TWU Local 100 elects presidents to three-year terms. “Out sick until further notice” creates a leadership void.
“The International Executive Committee has to put the local into receivership,” Archer further told Work-Bites. “Now, as per federal law, they can stay in receivership for 18 months and then they can appoint somebody else as president.”
Indeed, Archer and other Davis opponents suspect he was allowed to run for election despite the controversies surrounding him because it would then allow the International to later “appoint anybody that [they] want.”
This is a developing story. More to come.