{"id":256796,"date":"2026-06-05T20:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T20:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/256796\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T20:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T20:34:10","slug":"subway-staffing-state-senate-passes-transit-union-backed-bill-to-make-two-person-crews-permanent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/256796\/","title":{"rendered":"Subway staffing: State Senate passes transit union-backed bill to make two-person crews permanent"},"content":{"rendered":"

Albany\u2019s upper chamber approved the bill<\/a>, which is being pushed by the transit workers union \u2014 TWU International and its Local 100, as part of its last blitz of votes for this year\u2019s legislative session. The measure would still have to clear the Assembly on Friday, the last day of the 2026 legislative session, and receive Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s signature in order to become law.<\/p>\n

Last year, both the Senate and Assembly passed a version of the same bill, but Hochul rejected it<\/a> \u2014 citing an additional $10 million cost she said it bore.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe governor will review the legislation,\u201d Hochul spokesperson Sean Butler said in a statement.\n<\/p>\n

TWU International President John Samuelsen told amNewYork that he expects the bill to pass the Assembly as well. Mike Whyland, a spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, said it was \u201clikely\u201d the bill would get a vote on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s got overwhelming bipartisan support because it makes absolute sense,\u201d Samuelsen said.\n<\/p>\n

Subway staffing bill still opposed by MTA<\/p>\n

The MTA and a bevy of good government groups<\/a> also continue to oppose the legislation. On Friday, the MTA did not offer a comment when reached by amNewYork.<\/p>\n

Trains on most lines in the system are still operated by two-person crews \u2014 a driver and a conductor \u2014 except for the three shuttle services and certain lines during off-peak hours. The practice of running trains with only one human worker, the driver, while an automated conductor is present, is known as \u201cone-person train operation\u201d (OPTO).<\/p>\n

However, while last year\u2019s version of the bill would have enshrined two-person crews on all trains, including those that already have OPTO, this year\u2019s would only effect those that currently have two. Hochul\u2019s objection to last year\u2019s bill was based on the projected cost of reinstating two operators on trains that already have OPTO.<\/p>\n

Samuelsen said they adjusted the bill, sponsored by state Sen. Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn) and Assembly Member Monique Chandler-Waterman (D-Brooklyn), this year to better its chances of nabbing Hochul\u2019s signature.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe crafted the bill to meet the governor\u2019s objections to the bill,\u201d he said. \u201cSo the bill that\u2019s going to go to her desk addresses the objections that she put forth in her veil message last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

TWU has been pushing such legislation for years to protect the jobs of the roughly 3,600 conductors it represents. Samuelsen also argues that having two train operators is necessary to help riders safely exit trains during emergencies.<\/p>\n

It reintroduced the effort this year as it negotiates a new contract with the state and the MTA. Samuelsen said getting two-person train operation enshrined into law will safeguard against the governor and the MTA using it at the bargaining table.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think their ultimate goal is to try to beat the TWU at the bargaining table and get rid of the conductors,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd knowing that that is the ultimate goal, that\u2019s why we want the bill passed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Albany\u2019s upper chamber approved the bill, which is being pushed by the transit workers union \u2014 TWU International…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[3932,8396,141,9,56,63,65,64,70590,613,38635,70591,8824],"class_list":["post-256796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-gov-kathy-hochul","tag-john-samuelsen","tag-mta","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-opto","tag-pm-newsletter","tag-two-person-subway-crews","tag-twu-international","tag-twu-local-100"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}