Transit Workers Take Home Record Overtime Pay As MTA Mulls Fare Hike
Click Here to watch a newscast of this story (NY1)
NEW YORK, NY — State workers at the MTA are taking home a record amount of overtime pay.
An agency spokesperson has confirmed that the MTA paid out about $400 million in overtime last year.
In addition, the number of workers who made six figures reportedly jumped by 37 percent. For city workers, that number rose by just six percent last year.
According to the New York Post, one Long Island Rail Road employee with a five-figure salary made $130,000 in overtime.
The news comes as the agency is getting ready to try to sell its plan for a fare hike. Several options are on the table for an average fare of $2.25.
The first public hearing on the proposal is set for 6 p.m. Monday at the Marriott at 333 Adams Street in Brooklyn. NY1 will have complete coverage.
ch-er
who remembers when the fare was $1.00 and we used tokens?
MJ
I know this is NY1’s story, not crownheights.info’s, but the story (which implies that the overtime is undeserved and thus so is the rate hike) is WRONG since:
1. "Scheduled overtime" for New York City Transit was $66M. It is impossible for a bus or train operator to end his tour exactly 8 hours after he began, and thus the time after 8 hours is referred to as overtime. Would you want to bus or train operator to abandon his vehicle when exactly 8 hours have passed– "this is Bergen Street, I’m out of here, find another way to get home?"
2. $73M of New York City Transit’s overtime was construction work that was reimbursed by the Federal government.
3. New York City Transit currently has over 500 vacancies that, while being filled on overtime, are a savings in regular pay.
Rabbi Dr. M. Jacobson
Chief of Labor Analysis
Nechama Verter
In 1904 Subway fare was a nickel. In 1950 it was still a nickel. During that time period all the Mayor’s of NY were afraid of changing the subway price from the nickel and raising it. However, inflation made the value of the nickel drop. So come 1950, the nickel was practically worthless. Meaning that running the subways wasn’t providing money for upkeep. Now mind you, keeping the fare at 5 cents made all subway consumers happy, but the results were that it cost too much to do maintenance, so a lot of problems were simply ignored.
Yes we all complain when fares rise, but from an economic stand point, there’s really no other choice. To continue functioning normally in an economy who’s dollar is dropping in value, the price has to rise.
We all want to ride safely on the subways!
In terms of the overtime, there’s probably a reason why they’d rather pay overtime then hire more workers. Companies don’t go into business to loose money. I’m not sure what kind of benefits they offer Subway workers, but that could be one of the factors that affects why they’re paying overtime.
However, in regards to the above paragraph, I don’t believe the proposed fare raise has any correlation to the over time being paid. The raise has to do with keeping up with inflation.