John Chiarello — the new president of Transport Workers Union (TWU) Local 100, which represents over 40,000 transit workers in NYC — bluntly warned the MTA that he wouldn’t be pushed around in fighting for his workers’ best interests.
Chiarello, a 20-year member of Local 100, has been the acting local president since Richard Davis resigned from the role on Jan. 21 amid multiple sexual misconduct allegations.
“We will take no crap from management, and we will do what needs to be done to get what our members expect and deserve,” Chiarello said in a speech to the union’s executive board in Brooklyn on Feb. 21. “If that includes knocking down walls and shaking some foundations, we will do it.”
A native of Brooklyn who started his career with NYC Transit as a provisional car inspector in 2001, Chiarello has served in various leadership positions within Local 100. He was first elected to the union’s executive board in 2002.
In 2009, he became division chair of line equipment signals and was elected three times to that role. In 2017, he became maintenance-of-way vice president, and he was elected twice to that position.
Chiarello made headlines last month when, after being elected secretary-treasurer for about a year, he filled in as acting president after Davis’ departure on Jan. 21.
According to Local 100, Davis was suspended after TWU International, led by John Samuelsen, learned of the sexual misconduct claims and subsequently filed internal charges against the union head.
Chiarello’s election comes at a critical time for the MTA. The agency faces a potential roadblock on congestion pricing after the Trump administration formally moved to kill the controversial Manhattan toll program on Feb. 19.
Chiarello warned in a statement on Feb. 21 that MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber might use congestion pricing’s possible stoppage to the agency’s advantage as contract negotiations are set to begin later this year.
The new union boss expressed concern that Lieber would “squeeze transit workers for concessions” if the MTA loses its battle to preserve congestion pricing, and billions of dollars in toll revenue along with it.
“Lieber sweet talks the media and appears to be rational,” Chiarello said. “But he’s not. He is the most significant enemy that we, both local and international, have had in a long time.”
amNewYork Metro contacted the MTA for comment and is awaiting a response.
Other recent appointments at the union include Carlos Bernabel’s promotion from administrative vice president to secretary-treasurer and Alexander Kemp’s promotion from transit authority surface-division vice chair to administrative vice president.
