An entry in the “Trash Trains” competition (Transport Workers Union Local 100)
Oct. 22, 2019 By Allie Griffin
Straphangers can turn a nightmare into cash by finding the dirtiest, most disgusting, trash-filled subway car and submitting a photo of it to the city’s transit workers labor union competition.
The straphanger who finds the nastiest subway of all will be $500 richer, thanks to the “Trash Trains” competition launched by Transport Workers Union Local 100 (TWU).
The union created the photo competition to bring awareness to job cuts among subway cleaners. In its latest budget plan, the Metropolitan Transit Authority plans to cut 79 cleaner positions, according to the TWU website. The jobs will be lost through attrition, not layoffs.
With less cleaners and an increasing ridership, subways are getting dirtier, according to the TWU.
The number of soiled subway cars reported this year is likely to surpass last year’s numbers.
From January through August 2019, 1,623 soiled cars were reported, while in the same time period the year prior, 1,372 were reported, according to news site The City.
The Union hopes the Trash Trains contest will help stop the job cuts.
“We have started a contest to get New Yorkers involved and to tell the MTA to reverse course,” TWU wrote on their website.
Already the competition website has a gallery of stomach-turning photos taken inside the city’s subways. Scattered garbage, food, vomit, feces, blood, needles and used condoms litter the train cars in submitted photos.
“We run a world-class operation — and New York’s transit system is second to none,” TWU wrote on the competition website. “The MTA shouldn’t skimp on hiring the staff they need to deliver clean cars to our 6.5 million daily riders.”
Straphangers can enter the contest by uploading a photo of a soiled subway car to the competition website by Nov. 30. The public will then vote for the winning entry online.
Participants must be 18 or older to enter.
An entry in the “Trash Trains” competition (Transport Workers Union Local 100)
5 Comments
How about the MTA administer a civil service test like they did back in the day?? Get someone with a brain that wants a pension benefits and career ladder advancement. Not some slob or lazy useless individual that runs to the union every time a lawful order is given to mop down a car and sweep
Back in the 1970s between the dark days & the crack era of 1980s nobody wants to take the trains because of graffiti & high crimes
The TWU100 is offering a cash prize to the person who shares the best photo of a filthy subway car.
Did… did they actually think this one through …. I’m just saying
This is not an issue with lack of cleaners but rather lack of enforcement. Keep voting for Democrats and it will only get worse
Maybe save the “all my problems are caused by libruls” whine for another post?