NEW YORK CITY, September 5—A Progressive Labor Party (PLP) struggle in the MTA's NYCT division (Metropolitan Transportation Agency/New York City Transit) to help a fellow train operator with a wrongful termination lawsuit has resulted in the agency rehiring her with full back pay. A year and a half after the racist transit bosses allowed its mostly Black and Latin workers to die from Covid-19 (The Guardian,  4/21/20), this is a critical development. While a win in the bosses' legal system is far from real working-class justice, it puts our fightback in public transit on the right track to organize workers for communist revolution.
Sick system disregards the sick
When the PLP member first received word that the MTA bosses had fired Maria, he contacted fellow transit comrades for advice. A woman worker connected us with a civil service lawyer experienced in fighting the MTA. She and the PL’er helped launch a Go Fund Me to raise legal funds, after Maria said she wanted to fight for her job. They promoted it on social media and a local news station did a story on the firing.
The heartless bosses had let Maria go because of “excessive '' sick time usage and absences while on probation (she began training in 2019 with fellow PL’er), but that doesn't tell the whole story. In February 2020, officials ordered her to stay home for four days when she mentioned having a fever. That June, when a senior train operator training her had an incident where he was drug tested, so was Maria, and the bosses held her out for additional days. These days also unfairly counted against her.
The bosses used those total missing days as justification for extending her probation by six months. When she had to take an additional four days to care for her mother, who had suffered a stroke, Transit fired her this past January.
Racist bosses, do-nothing union
Maria's case perfectly displayed the MTA bosses' racist, sexist callousness towards its workforce. This young Latin worker came to work daily, had a flawless operational record, and risked her life during the pandemic to transport essential workers while the bosses cowered in their homes. Termination was how they repaid her efforts! The MTA is especially ruthless against probationary hires, who virtually cannot call out sick for an entire year or face similar penalties.
Per usual, the union proved useless. Her union rep didn’t even return her phone calls. The PL’er later went to a union meeting and blasted Transit Workers Union (TWU) Local 100 representatives for their racist negligence. They repeatedly told him that since Maria was on probation, there was nothing they could do for her. The TWU’s inaction should come as no surprise, given how little they have fought to keep workers safe during Covid. Unions have become a shell of their former selves, and the union misleaders are all in bed with the bosses.
Pushing through anti-communism
The PL’er had initial doubts this would work. His anti-communist fears had him wondering how many would donate to the fundraiser. But support poured in, from co-workers to supervisors and also fellow comrades outside work. Workers have one another's backs!
Getting Maria her job back is a win, but our fight is far from over. The PL’er continues to meet with Maria regularly, gives her CHALLENGE, and struggles with her to see that it’s not just the union or the transit bosses, this whole damn system has to go! We look forward to continuing this fight with our co-workers in the MTA, laying down the tracks that will lead our class to the communist world we deserve.