10 Months Since Accord
TWU Still Waiting On Defibrillators

By ARI PAUL

Although Transport Workers Union Local 100 and New York City Transit reached a deal last May to install automated external defibrillators at eight work locations employing more than 1,000 union members, those locations have yet to see the devices.

The Chief-Leader/Alana Marcu 'SHOULD BE PRESENT': Michael Russell, the Transport Workers Union Local 100 chairman at the 207th St. train facility, said that although many of his co-workers have been trained to use automated external defibrillators, his shop has not received them.

For Car Maintainer Ronald Hedlund, that's a major problem.

Mr. Hedlund was working his regular shift March 12 at the Coney Island car repair shop when he started to have chest pains. An ambulance was called for him, and while he recovered quickly, the lack of the AED device at his shop - which was slated to have one - startled him.

"I'm sure if it was there it would be a relief to have it," he said.

Provided for in Pact

Local 100 has been concerned that members could suffer heart attacks on the job and demanded the installation of defibrillators at high-density work shops during contract negotiations in 2005. The contract including that provision was eventually imposed by an arbitrator in December 2006. NYC Transit's main offices in lower Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn also have AED devices present.

In May, in addition to the Coney Island and 207th St. car repair shops, the union and the authority agreed to also install AED devices at the Jamaica Maintenance shop, the Fresh Pond and Queens Village depots in Queens, the West Farms Depot in The Bronx, the Yukon Depot in Staten Island, the Michael J. Quill Depot on West 41st St. and 10th Ave. in Manhattan and the Stillwell Terminal in Brooklyn.

Michael Russell, the Local 100 chairman at the 207th St. facility, said many of his co-workers have already received NYC Transit training on how to use the AEDs in accordance with last May's plan.

Purchasing Problem?

Several Local 100 members said the hold-up at installing AED devices at the eight transit shops stemmed from a feud between the authority's safety and procurement offices. The safety office, they said, wanted to install devices immediately, while the procurement office wanted to go through a bidding process.

Mr. Russell believed that the case of Mr. Hedlund highlighted the need to have AED devices at the shops as soon as possible, and that since there are already such devices at transit offices such as the building at 2 Broadway, the authority should just reorder the same model.

"Everybody sees it like a fire extinguisher, like something that should be present," said Mr. Russell. "I've got six guys over 62 in my shop, one guy over 70, so I would like the defibrillators in place just in case."

Local 100 Director of Contract Compliance Amin Khan, who helped broker last May's deal for the AED devices, did not respond to requests for comment, nor did spokesmen for Local 100 President Roger Toussaint.

NYC Transit denied that a feud between its safety and procurement offices had delayed the installation.

"Procurement is currently working on a deal for their purchase," NYC Transit spokesman Charles Seaton said in an e-mail.

Mr. Russell, citing Local 100's past claims that transit work is extremely stressful, said that if management could find a way to place the devices in its offices, it could find a way to quickly install them at its largest transit shops.

"I'm not sure why they're not in place now, but we're still waiting," said Mr. Russell. "Yet they chose to put them in the offices, where the biggest stress is a paper-cut."