Separate Track Mishaps
Toussaint Comforts Injured Employees

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

Transport Workers' Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint paid a visit Aug. 23 to Track Worker George Nuñez, one of two transit employees recuperating from on-the-job injuries in intensive care units at area hospitals.

ROGER TOUSSAINT: Acts to avert recurrences.

Mr. Nuñez, 48, suffered massive injuries Aug. 13 when he fell more than 25 feet from the elevated tracks on the J line at Marcy Ave.

Still Critical

The 14-year veteran remains in critical condition at Bellevue Hospital. Although he regained consciousness sometime after the fall, he is under heavy sedation. He suffered extensive damage to his arms, face and upper body.

Mr. Toussaint, who has been a frequent visitor to the hospital, arrived last week just after Mr. Nuñez was wheeled into the operating room for yet another surgery. Track Worker Dexter Stinson is recovering from injuries sustained July 24 when he was struck by a southbound No. 2 train. He is still in intensive care at a nearby hospital. Union workers who witnessed the event said he was lucky to have survived.

"This just goes to remind everyone that the work we do is very dangerous, and the result of an accident can be catastrophic injuries," said Mr. Toussaint. "We're very concerned about the health of these two members and have taken steps to prevent similar incidents."

Mr. Toussaint met with New York City Transit President Lawrence Reuter last week to review safety procedures for Maintenance of Way track workers. Mr. Reuter agreed to halt all related repair work to allow Divisional Safety Committees and others to inspect all Capital Installation projects for hidden problems.

Area Appeared Safe

Mr. Nuñez was injured while doing a track replacement job on an area that appeared to be stable.

He had no way of knowing, said Mr. Toussaint, that the metal bolt supporting the wooden walkway that workers traversed had been sheared off. Mr. Nuñez stepped onto the solid wood wearing his safety harness, but hadn't secured it to anything because he believed the area to be safe. Instead, he plunged to the ground.

Mr. Stinson's accident is still under investigation. Witnesses said the 38-year-old transit worker was struck by a southbound passenger train at approximately 4:30 a.m. as he stood near a signal on the tracks near Jackson Ave. station. He was assisting in the routine move of a work train and was waiting on the tracks for his partner to bring the train into position to pick him up.

Major Injuries

How Mr. Stinson was struck by the passenger train is unknown; officials don't believe he was hit by the front of the train because it's unlikely he would have survived a head-on collision. His injuries were severe. Doctors had to operate on him to repair his smashed pelvis. Mr. Toussaint fit in last week's visit to Mr. Nuñez between shop-gating at various rail yards around the five boroughs, where he met with transit workers to fill them in on the latest details of the contract arbitration that began in early August.

The head of the Public Employment Relations Board panel hearing initial arguments, George Nicolau, temporarily halted the proceedings two weeks ago. Mr. Nicolau in a written statement indicated that he would resume the hearings shortly, but that it was unlikely he would rule on anything until several scope-ofbargaining issues had been decided by PERB.

Mr. Toussaint said the union had told Mr. Nicolau in advance that it would not be able to finish its presentation to the panel in the two days it was allotted. Even after being granted four days, the union still hadn't finished its opening arguments.

"We always knew that things couldn't be done in the timeline that PERB wanted," Mr. Toussaint commented. PERB last month ordered that the proceedings move in an expedited manner at the request of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. It had wanted the initial hearings to have finished by the end of this month, a deadline Local 100 opposed.