Track-Safety Report From Task Force Hasn't Left Station

The Albany-mandated track-safety task force consisting of state officials and the heads of New York City Transit and Transport Workers Union Local 100 is more than three months late in submitting a report to the Governor outlining recommendations to improve safety for subway Maintenance of Way workers.

JOHN SAMUELSEN: Task force's purpose cosmetic.

The task force was created last summer in response to two separate on-the-job Track Worker deaths in April 2007. It includes Local 100 President Roger Toussaint and NYC Transit President Howard H. Roberts along with the Commissioners of the Departments of Labor and Transportation.

The task force was supposed to issue a report on track safety by May 1 to the Governor, the State Senate Majority Leader and the Speaker of the Assembly, but sources close to the situation have confirmed that this has not happened.

Making Changes Anyway

Separate from the task force, NYC Transit has made several track safety changes in the past year in conjunction with Local 100 representatives, and the authority is exploring the possibility of centralizing track-flagging responsibilities instead of delegating that duty to workers in both the Maintenance of Way and Rapid Transit Operations Divisions.

Track Inspector and likely Local 100 presidential candidate John Samuelsen had advocated with a group of Local 100 Maintenance of Way Division officers for a different bill that would have established concrete safety regulations, while Mr. Toussaint argued that the task force was a better solution because it could proactively address track-safety problems.

"It's evidence of what the original intent of the bill was: the appearance that the powers that be are concerned about Track Workers," Mr. Samuelsen said last week. "It was never intended to improve track safety."

Local 100 spokesman Jesse Derris declined to comment on the task force's delay.

Track Workers Daniel Boggs and Marvin Franklin were killed within five days of each other during their tours of duty last April, prompting inquiries into track work-safety rules.

An NYC Transit spokesman said the task force is still revising the report.