Veteran TWU Local 100 trackworker Marvin Franklin was struck and killed by a train yesterday. The tragedy occurred at approximately 1600 hours at Hoyt-Schermerhorn on the G Line. Trackworker Jeff Hill was also struck, but survived.

Said TWU Local 100 President Roger Toussaint, “In the space of a few days we have lost two Brothers and nearly lost a third. This cuts to the quick.”

Marvin Franklin leaves behind a wife and children. He will be missed as well by the neighbors who had made him president of his Block Association in St Albans. The TWU entire Local 100 family mourns this loss.

TWU Local 100 President Roger Toussaint led a team of union representatives who responded to the scene of the tragedy, as did leading figures from the MTA and NYC Transit.

After conferring with the Union, newly-appointed NYC Transit President Howard Roberts announced a safety stand-down for all divisions of Maintenance of Way.

New York City is the only 24/7 subway system in America. Track work is frequently performed with moving trains and live third rails and often on elevated structures. The risk of catastrophic accidents is always present.

“Transit work is inherently dangerous work. While we cannot eliminate all danger, we can and will insist upon enforcement of the highest possible safety standards. This is the least we can do in memory of those we have lost.”

Daniel Boggs

Veteran TWU Local 100 trackworker Daniel Boggs was struck and killed by a train. The tragedy occurred at approximately 11:20 pm just north of 59th St-Columbus Circle on the IRT lines.

Brother Boggs, 42 years old, was in the process of setting up flagging protection for his crew when he was struck by a southbound train.

Daniel Boggs leaves behind his wife and three young children. Danny’s brother is also a trackworker for NYCT. The entire TWU Local 100 family is mourning this loss, and our hearts go out to his loved ones.

Local 100 President Roger Toussaint, himself a trackworker who knew Brother Boggs, was among the many union representatives who responded to the scene of this tragic accident.

“This is just the latest sad reminder of how dangerous transit work is” noted Toussaint. “Just last week hundreds of transit workers were in Albany lobbying for a New York State track safety bill. We will honor Danny’s memory by keeping up the pressure for this bill.”

New York City is the only 24/7 subway system in America. Track work is frequently performed with moving trains and live third rails and often on elevated tracks. The risk of catastrophic accidents is always present.

“Keeping transit workers and our riders safe is the most important task of our Union. Local 100 will stand with Danny’s family in their hour of need. And we will honor him by working even harder to keep the subways safe.” Toussaint will be meeting with new NYCT President Howard Roberts on track working conditions.

See also:

Workers rail MTA

Metro New York: MAY 1, 2007
by amy zimmer

In wake of tragedies, transit employees decry job safety

UPPER WEST SIDE. Following the deaths of two track workers in less than one week, NYC Transit’s temporary suspension of maintenance and construction continues until more than 6,000 workers receive “re-training.” But members of the Transport Workers Union Local 100 yesterday said that wasn’t good enough — and called for radios to help improve their communication with different departments.

“We need more coordination,” Percival Thomas, 52, a track worker for seven years, said at a press conference at union headquarters yesterday after “burying one of our brothers,” Daniel Boggs, 42. Boggs was killed last Tuesday night by a 3 train at the Columbus Circle station, and Marvin Franklin, 55, was killed on Sunday after being struck by a G train at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station. That incident is still under investigation.

Thomas recounted a “close call” from a few years ago when he was working on a B and D line track near Grand Street station, which had been closed for years. “We were putting in rail anchors one night,” he said. “No one told us they were going to be running [test] trains. ... A train came barreling in. We were just like sitting ducks.”

Thomas has seen three workers break their legs in the last month and a half.

“We have an atmosphere down there where we are doing more with less,” he said. “We could tear up 600 feet of a track on a Friday night and get it back in a state where trains would be running by Monday morning.”

He called the pressure to produce “tremendous” — with less manpower than three years ago — and added, “We have guys who will take risks and do unsafe things just to get the job done.”

Other union officials blasted management and supervisors as being insufficiently trained and trying to speed up jobs.

NYC Transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges disputed that supervisors rush workers. “It’s not about rushing to get the job done,” he said. “It’s about getting the job done right.”

After NYC Transit President Howard Roberts attended Boggs’ funeral yesterday — driving to Brewster with Local 100 president Roger Toussaint — said he was open to hearing transit workers’ suggestions, Fleuranges explained. “He said there’s an enormous wealth of expertise in the TWU and he wants to makes things safer. It’s not a zero-sum game.”