This email is to provide clarification regarding the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”), as it relates to COVID-19 vaccination policies implemented by certain carriers who employ SMART-TD members. As you already know, HIPAA protects certain health information from disclosure and subjects those who unlawfully disclose said information to penalties.

More specifically, HIPAA applies to health plans, health care clearinghouses, and health care providers, prohibiting those specific entities from disclosing protected health information without the patient’s consent. Because employers are not subject to HIPAA, they may require employees to disclose their vaccination status.

Be advised that SMART-TD is working on compiling a list of questions and answers relating to COVID vaccine mandates, and this issue will be addressed in that list. This email is being sent ahead of the release of that Q&A document, to help dispel some of the misinformation that has begun circulating among our membership.

Another email notification will be sent out from this address when the Q&As are published on the SMART-TD website. In the meantime, please direct any questions to the SMART-TD President’s Department at President_TD@smart-union.org

This SMART Union mailbox is unmonitored and emails to it will not be replied to.

Thank you,

SMART-Transportation Division

Attention Local 60 SMART-TD members,

We are requesting for you to put in an individual penalty timecard for the following days: 11/11, 11/12, 11/13, & 11/14/21. For the violation of Rule #16 Letter K ( Employees will have at least two (2) weeks notice to apply for the optional displacement through the established bulletins).

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***PROPOSED BALLOT TALLY***
1246 Ballots mailed including duplicates
786 Ballots returned
15 Ballots were no good due to no return address, not current on dues and markings on ballot 

742 counted
Yes-528
No-214
CONTRACT PASSED !!!

Employee Message from President & CEO Kevin Corbett

October 25, 2021

Please post in a central location for those who do not have access to email

Dear Colleagues,

This is truly an exciting and historic day for NJ TRANSIT. It’s a day that I would characterize as one of the agency’s finest since our creation in 1979. This morning, I’m proud to share that we are hosting President Biden at our Meadows Maintenance Complex (MMC) in Kearny. In addition to celebrating the ceremonial groundbreaking for our Portal North Bridge Replacement Project, President Biden will be promoting his bipartisan infrastructure bill, which would provide additional critical funding to support our Five-Year Capital Plan.

Governor Murphy, NJDOT Commissioner Gutierrez-Scaccetti, myself, and a select group of elected officials and other dignitaries will also be on hand to commemorate this momentous occasion for this project of national significance – a project that will usher in a new era of reliability between New Jersey and New York for the millions of NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak customers who travel along the Northeast Corridor every year.

Many of us have been working tirelessly on this project for years, and I sincerely wish we could all be there to celebrate. To ensure all of you can take part in this event, even if it’s just virtually, I’m sharing the following link with all of you, where you can watch the ceremony live. It’s currently scheduled to begin airing at 1:45pm this afternoon, though it may start earlier. It can be viewed at:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/live/

When I arrived nearly four years ago, no one believed we would make the kind of progress we have made in such a relatively short period of time. The fact that President Biden and Governor Murphy are holding this event at NJ TRANSIT speaks volumes and is a great recognition of the work all of us have done to get us to this point.

I hope you can all tune in today to witness one of the proudest days in NJ TRANSIT’s history, and for everyone in our organization who have worked so hard to make today possible.

Warmly,

Kevin

Good morning Brothers and Sisters:

Due to the state of emergency we will push the tallying of ballots from 9am to 11am.

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ATTENTION EMPLOYEES

Beginning Monday, October 18th – and as per guidance from the State – NJ TRANSIT will begin sending daily notifications to all employees to report the number of employees who have tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, after reporting to their worksite in the 14 days preceding their receipt of a positive test result.

We will also include the work locations of these employees, although rest assured: These notifications will never include any identifying personal information, as mandated by HIPAA privacy laws and our own commitment to privacy.

In advance of receiving these notifications, you should know that NJ TRANSIT has made extraordinary progress keeping this virus at bay. We currently have 42 positive cases, down from a high of 299 positive cases on April 27th, 2020. During the worst days of the pandemic, we would often record 25 or more positive cases every day. Today, that number is almost always in the single digits. In short, your attention to following the recommended PPE and social distancing guidelines – along with the many safety measures and protocols we have put in place – is working. 

We have also benefited from widescale vaccination among our employees. Thanks to all of you, we were able to administer more than 3,200 vaccine doses to employees at our Camden and Maplewood clinics – fully vaccinating more than 1,600 employees.
That’s in addition to the approximately 1,800 vaccine doses that were administered to NJT employees as well as NJDOT, Turnpike and Port Authority employees, with the help of many of you through our partnership with Walgreen’s back in April. In all, NJ TRANSIT provided thousands of vaccinations directly, and provided opportunities for thousands more to secure appointments across the state.

This work has contributed significantly to the State’s aggressive vaccination efforts. Just last week, Governor Murphy announced that more than 75 percent of eligible New Jersey residents are now vaccinated against COVID-19. New Jersey is only one of seven states in the nation to reach this milestone.

Please know how much we appreciate your efforts to keep our customers and your fellow employees safe. Thank you.

Brian A. Lapp

SVP & Chief Safety Officer

NJ TRANSIT

Office: (973) 491-7942

Mobile: (973) 558-1405

BLapp@NJTransit.com

ATTENTION EMPLOYEES

NJ TRANSIT has not yet finalized the COVID-19 testing process for employees who are not yet fully vaccinated.

As a result, employees who have not provided proof of being fully vaccinated will not need to be tested on Monday, October 18th and immediately thereafter.

Before we implement any testing process, we will discuss the proposed process with agreement and non-agreement leadership, and then let employees know all details of how the testing process is going to work.

For those employees who are fully vaccinated, please continue to submit proof of vaccinations to COVIDVAXProof@njtransit.com. Please include your first and last name and employee ID number in the subject line of your email, and send the email from your @NJTRANSIT address.

Employees who are not yet vaccinated can make an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccination with NJT Medical Services or find a provider through NJ COVID-19 Vaccine Finder at https://covid19.nj.gov/pages/finder.

Thank you.

Brian A. Lapp

SVP & Chief Safety Officer

NJ TRANSIT

Office: (973) 491-7942

Mobile: (973) 558-1405

BLapp@NJTransit.com

Good afternoon all.

  Due to the USPS slower delivery the meeting on Thursday the 21st is now moved to Tuesday the 26th at 9am Linden VFW.  This gives members an extra 5 days to get their ballots in.  The Smart Constitution Article 21B Sections 57 and 85 both stated polling has to be done by mail referendum, ballots cannot be turned in by members at the polling place.  I spoke to the international and there isn’t any exceptions.

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ATTENTION EMPLOYEES

Phase 3 of NJ TRANSIT’s return to the workplace plan – where employees are required to come back to the workplace full time, five days a week – will now begin on Monday, November 8th, 2021.

As a result, NJ TRANSIT will extend Phase 2 of its return to the workplace plan – where employees are required to come into the workplace at least two times a week – through Friday, November 5th.

However, all NJ TRANSIT employees are still required to be fully vaccinated against the virus that causes COVID-19 by October 18th, 2021, or to undergo regular testing, once the plans for testing have been finalized and communicated in the coming days. 

Employees can securely submit proof of vaccination status (copy of CDC card, screenshot of Docket App, NJIIS vaccination record) to the following email: COVIDVAXProof@njtransit.com. You must include your employee ID number in the subject line of your email.

Please visit covid19.nj.gov/finder for up-to-date vaccine locations in New Jersey.

Testing procedures for those unvaccinated by October 18th will be coming shortly.

Brian A. Lapp

SVP & Chief Safety Officer

NJ TRANSIT

Office: (973) 491-7942

Mobile: (973) 558-1405

BLapp@NJTransit.com