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| Nicole Wallace dressed as the grim reaper for her internship. |
After interning at the New York City Comptroller’s Office
in the labor law department this past summer, I knew I wanted a career in the
labor field. However, I wasn’t quite sure how to get involved in that kind of
career area. After my internship ended, I took a position as a Contracts intern
at the New York City Economic Development Corporation. However, something was
seriously missing in my life. I wanted to get back into the business of helping
people fight their employers who were seriously underpaying them. While
scrolling through my emails one afternoon, I came across one from the School of
Professional Studies. It was advertising for their labor studies/labor union
program, called New York Union Semester, at the Joseph A. Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies. The email said
that accepted students would be interning 32 hours a week at a labor union and
taking four courses in labor studies at the Murphy Institute. CUNY students
would be able to get an e-permit and apply those four courses to courses needed
at their home college. In addition, all students would receive a certification
in labor studies after completion. As I continued reading the application
details, happiness and joy filled my heart. It was the perfect opportunity for
me and exactly what I had been yearning for.
After completing the
application, sending my transcript, and nailing a phone interview with
the coordinator, Naomi Fatt, I secured a position with the program. I was excited
and couldn’t wait to begin my journey. After a four day orientation at the end
of January, all the interns had the opportunity to interview with 7 labor unions.
The next day each of the interns would be assigned to work for one of the unions. I was nervous
because I desperately wanted to work for the Transit Workers Union (TWU). My father
was a bus operator and I have immense respect for all transit workers because of
that. My interview with TWU went well. I spoke clearly and slowly and was
confident when answering their questions.
The next day I sat patiently
with the rest of the interns, one of whom has been my best friend since I was
eight and a member of the Macaulay Honors Program at CSI - Kelly DePietro. She
wanted badly to be assigned to the Communication Workers Unions. We waited for
Naomi to come back into the orientation room with the news. Soon she
came in with little slips of paper. Of course having the last name Wallace, I
was the last person to receive my slip. I opened it slowly and then looked down
at the small slip that read:
Nicole Wallace
Transit Workers Union Local 100
I jumped up with joy and smiled at my
friend who was also assigned to her first choice union. After, we all went out
to celebrate with some food and drinks (non-alcoholic of course). It was Friday,
and Monday would be my first day.
My first week was comprised of the usual - working on projects, attending meetings and making phone calls to union
members. Although my boss felt bad that he was assigning me what he felt to be
menial tasks, I was so excited to be a part of an organization that fought for
transit worker’s rights that I did not mind the work one bit.
As my second week approached, my boss
thought I may be interested in a campaign they had been working on. The TWU was
trying to campaign to get support for their three point plan on how to reduce
incidents and fatalities on the train tracks. Since January 1, 2013, seventeen customers
had been pushed, shoved, fallen or jumped onto the train tracks. The TWU was
not only concerned their customers but also about the transit workers who were
suffering severe psychological issues after having hit someone on the tracks. I
was very interested in the campaign they were working on. Their main goal was
to get the MTA to have workers slow down to 10 mph as they approach the
stations. As my boss was explaining the campaign, I was thrilled he has asked
me to be a part of it. I was eager to start making flyers or perhaps he would
even let me write an article for the Union newsletter. Then all of sudden he
asked “So would you like to dress up as the grim reaper and hand out bloody
metro cards at city hall?” I was stunned. He explained that they weren’t real
bloody metro cards, but fake paper metro cards with fake blood stains on them.
The back of the cards had three bullet points with information that promoted
their three point plan. I immediately agreed and thought to myself, although I
never expected I would be doing this, "I am always up for new adventures."
The next day I dressed up as the grim
reaper and handed out the metro cards to hundreds of people. Newscasters
swarmed the area and a lot of people were eager to take pictures with me. Even
though I was on cloud nine because I felt like a celebrity, I realized the
reason I was so happy wasn’t because everyone wanted my picture. It was because
everyone was interested in the cause I was fighting for. Several people stopped
to ask my how they could help more and what they could do to lend their
support. I informed people that they could go to the local100 website and sign
the online petition. Many people agreed to do so and I felt like the campaign
was a success. Through my first two weeks at the TWU, I learned an important
life lesson. One person alone can’t make a difference, but together we can. And
if standing outside for three hours in the cold dressed as the grim reaper
means saving just one life, then I’d take on the task any day.
To learn more about the New York Union Semester and access the application, please visit:
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