NY POST- Transit union balks at endorsing Gov. Hochul’s 2026 re-election bid: ‘Disaster for blue collar New York’

https://nypost.com/2026/02/10/us-news/transit-union-balks-at-endorsing-gov-hochul

New York Post Story, Stand clear of the closing doors, Governor.

John Samuelsen, president of the International Transport Workers Union representing 60,000 subway, rail, bus and airline workers in New York, said Tuesday that his union will not back Gov. Kathy Hochul’s re-election bid amid disputes over labor issues.

“She is not a trade-union supporting Governor, she is the Bosses’ Governor,” Samuelsen said in a scathing “Dear brothers and sisters” letter sent to his New York members.

The union big complained that Hochul vetoed legislation requiring two-person crews on trains and bills boosting worker pensions, while supporting the MTA requiring workers to pay more for their health care.

Samuelsen also said Hochul ordered the state Department of Motor Vehicles not to renew the Commercial Drivers’ Licenses of immigrant transport workers with active visas.

“Gov. Hochul is a straight-up enemy of the TWU and a disaster for blue-collar New York,” he wrote in his letter to the ranks. “The International TWU will not just go along to get along. We will not support her simply because she’s a `Democrat.”

While saying the national union will not make an endorsement at all in the race, its neutrality could be a potential boost for Republican gubernatorial nominee Bruce Blakeman.

Local TWU affiliates — such as TWU Local 100 representing 41,000 mostly subway workers and bus operators — are still free to endorse, or decline to endorse, any candidate of their choosing, Samuelsen said.In 2022, Local 100 endorsed Hochul.

Local 100’s current three-year labor contract with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority expires May 16.

Samuelsen previously told The Post contract negotiations  could be the ugliest since the transit strike in 2005.

The spat between Samuelson and Hochul began in December, when the governor vetoed a bill that would have required a conductor on all subway trains along with a train operator. A conductor-less train is unsafe, the union said.

The fight over train staffing has been an ongoing battle for decades.

Most MTA trains have two-person crews, with some exceptions for shorter shuttle lines, as part of the contract with the TWU.

One-person trains are in operation in other transit systems.

Hochul said in her veto message that the bill would “cost as much as $10 million annually, reducing service and limiting the MTA’s ability to benefit in modern rolling stock [new trains] and signals.”

But Blakeman criticized Hochul’s veto of the two-person crew train bill.

“While she put riders and transit workers at risk, I stand shoulder to shoulder with @TWULocal100,” he said. “Conductors are our eyes and ears and the first line of defense against crime.” Some transit advocates and watchdog groups backed Hochul’s veto, claiming it curbs unnecessary costs and encourages innovation to better serve riders.

 Hochul defended her labor record.

“As Governor Hochul has said, her family was strong because it was union strong. She and former Speaker [running mate Adrienne] Adams are proud of their union roots, and proud that labor leaders with 32BJ, DC37, IUOE Local 825, and HTC are standing with them in this campaign,” said Hochul campaign spokesperson Ryan Radulovacki.

But she is riding high in the polls and caught another break Tuesday when Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado announced he dropped his longshot Democratic primary campaign against his estranged boss, Hochul.