OCTOBER 31 -- The TWU Local 100 family today is mourning the loss of longtime officer, activist, and staffer Mike Jerome, who passed this morning at home from pancreatic cancer. He leaves his wife, Elise deJong, and his son, Gabriel, and many other relatives and friends. Mike served in the rescue and recovery effort at Ground Zero and received the union’s medal of recognition on September 7, 2016 from Secretary-Treasurer Earl Phillips and Administrative Vice President Angel Giboyeaux.
A machinist by trade who worked in the wheel and axle shop at Coney Island Overhaul, Mike was devoted to bettering the lot of his fellow workers through fighting management and strengthening labor solidarity within our union. A committed Socialist, he was active in various radical and revolutionary organizations for all of his adult life.
Mike Jerome became the director of Grievance and Discipline in 2001, and later Health Benefits Coordinator. In an article printed in the union’s newspaper in December 2001, that reflected his philosophy, he wrote: “We need to stop the write-ups before they happen. That means building strength and unity right at the work sites and crew rooms…we need to build member anger at management injustice and use that anger to build solidarity.”
He will be remembered as a man who was selflessly devoted to others and to the union cause. Local 100 President Samuelsen said: “Mike kept on giving to the Union, from his activism on the shop floor to his dedicated work as a union staffer. His spirit lives on whenever transit workers fight for better working conditions.”
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