Comments on: Opening up the MTA payroll logs

By: petey

petey — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:54:13 +0000

i, for one, am glad to see actual workers doing as well as some mgmt. “just” driving a train indeed.

“the reason for their existence, which is to extract as much money from the taxpayer as possible”
well, er, no, the reason for their existence is to provide as much economic security for the membership as possible, whether they give their labor to public or private entities. but let me try to guess your politics…

By: zgori

zgori — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:09:54 +0000

So it looks like the median take home in all of NYCT is about $65k. That does seem a little high — I would have expected more like $55 — but not outrageously so. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime does seem crazy though, whether it’s cheaper than hiring more people or not. I suspect there’s a lot of favoritism and corruption involved in doling those hours out, and likely some abuse as well. I suppose that’s the way of the world though.

This will be some nice ammunition for the people who like to talk about how wasteful the agency is and further deflect responsibility from the politicians who keep it underfunded (and who, of course, back the unions at contract time).

By: rhywun

rhywun — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:53:49 +0000

My beef is less with the unions–who are merely fulfilling the reason for their existence, which is to extract as much money from the taxpayer as possible–than the craven political machine which has ruled NYC for decades, handing out favors to reliable voting blocs.

By: Working Class

Working Class — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:31:26 +0000

You’re correct but this site has proven to be very biased against the lowest paid of the MTA’s employees those that are represented by the TWU. The LIRR and MNR have many different unions like the brotherhood of locomotive engineers and the teamsters for example.

By: nycpat

nycpat — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:54:36 +0000

LIRR is not a TWU shop.

By: Driving Us Nuts With Text Messages - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com

Driving Us Nuts With Text Messages - City Room Blog - NYTimes.com — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:49:01 +0000

[...] executives should be getting paid less before raising subway fares? Think again. A look at the authority’s hard numbers of 2008. [Second Avenue [...]

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:10:06 +0000

Eleven of the 654 employees who earned more than $150,000 in 2008 were Long Island Railroad car repairmen who earned an average of $206,000

Is that supposed to be an outrage? If it is, I just can’t see it. Eleven highly-paid rolling stock repairmen made about as much as the average US doctor; in the rest of the world, one without an AMA to humiliate immigrant doctors and restrict physician supply, doctors get paid about as much as the rest of the LIRR’s repairmen. Personally, I prefer to get outraged over the AMA rather than the TWU. Your mileage may vary.

By: Scott E

Scott E — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:41:52 +0000

Hiring new workers isn’t always a better alternative to overtime. Overtime can be assigned as-needed, with little or no advance notice (for instance, someone calls out sick, an emergency/track condition needs immediate attention, etc). Also, overtime doesn’t need to be in eight-hour shifts, as regular employee shifts tend to be.

That said, those numbers (62 LIRR/MNR conductors, 40 police officers, 39 foremen, etc) demonstrating excessive OT aren’t all that meaningful unless put in context — those 62 conductors comprise what percent of ALL conductors?

By: Working Class

Working Class — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:25:51 +0000

In the NYCT part of the MTA they are understaffed at all times in hourly positions and over staffed in managerial positions. They say that it is cheaper to pay O.T. than hire new employees who need to be trained and given benefits. Why they are always inventing new managerial jobs that are useless I can’t figure out.

But if you noticed from that article in the DN yesterday the TA has the majority of the workers but less than 10% of the highest earners.

By: Cen-Sin

Cen-Sin — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:22:36 +0000

That’s good pay for someone just driving a train. Sign me up!