APP Traffic and Transit

The deadline is shortened for Lucrecia Irizarry, who has spent 15 years of her life working for the MTA, to stop operating an elevator at the 191st Street 1 train station in Washington Heights.

“It is a frustrating situation, really. You feel like you gave everything of yourself, and then you get sick and it’s as if you no longer serve him,” said Irizarry.

And it is that the Metropolitan Transport System as of this Sundayi plans to leave more than 30 employees without work who perform this function in four stations of the A and 1 train lines.

“In all stations people feel afraid, because they are people who have a phobia of confinement. It is not simply the fact that we are in an elevator, but the safety of the people, that they feel safe,” added Irizarry.

The employees, for their part, filed a lawsuit pointing out that the elevators are the only way to access those platforms and that they provide security within some of the deepest stations in the system.

“We are fighting for elevator jobs for our people with disabilities. The positions that have been assigned are the ones that don’t fit the majority, and they’ve been here through tough times for the MTA, like the pandemic,” said Robert Kelley, vice president of TWU Local 100 Stations Department.

The Transportation agency plans to move operators like Irizarry into cleaning roles.

“We had to clearly accept this, the option that they imposed, because we cannot afford it, because our family depends on us,” said Irizarry.

But the employees, like the union, argue that what the MTA offers them will still put them out of a job.

“Maybe I’m going to try my best, but there are people who don’t go, even if they try. They will not be able to carry out the work, and we do not want to see ourselves as if we do not want to, if it is not that physical capacity will not allow us,” said Irizarry.

Elected officials, including Assemblyman Manny De los Santos, joined the lawsuit.

“Demanding that the MTA reconsider its decision. It is an attitude, I would say very disrespectful, not worth taking, and we are with the transit workers, and we understand that it is more than important, essential that they return to their jobs that they originally had,” De los Santos said.

The legal dispute asks a judge to stay the firing of the workers until public hearings are held and adequate accommodations are provided for them.

While an MTA spokesperson said the agency is reviewing the lawsuit.

2023-07-14 21:06:00
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