Comments on: Walder’s new apartment; TWU’s Six Flags excursion

By: Al D

Al D — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:24:51 +0000

These are not his layoffs. The were necessitated by the State of New York withdrawing its funding. Contact your elected state representatives.

By: Al D

Al D — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 13:19:09 +0000

CEO’s have houses and and penthouses worth many millons. Jay Walder negotiated his salary in good faith (as far as I know) with the State of New York. The State of New York agreed to the current terms of his employment contract. Once again, if there is a problem with this deal, blame the State of New York. Tell your elected state officials.

By: DMEddy

DMEddy — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 22:16:05 +0000

Thank you, Benjamin, for looking into this. The IT employees were unable to swipe into the building and were accompanied by guards to receive their paperwork. They had to schedule appointments to clear their desk, from what I was told. Some had worked at Transit for a long time. As can be expected in this recession, some had spouses out of work. It was difficult to know why these employees and not others. It just seems as if there were better ways to go about this, and I wonder how much difference these salaries made in the general budget.
There was a small item in the NY Daily News on the Saturday following the first wave of layoffs.

By: Paulp521

Paulp521 — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 01:18:55 +0000

Man, you just proved the TWU’s case perfectly.

What should Jay do? How about get an apartment in the Bronx like me, and send his kids to public school like me, and ride the train everyday like me. Maybe he’ll realize just how much negative impact his lay-offs will have on the public.

By: David

David — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 16:45:02 +0000

is $1.6 million really a lot for an UWS family house? Just yesterday I was reading NYMag and they were profiling 4 studios under $1m in Manhattan… So I don’t really see what the outrage is — Manhattan real estate prices are outrageous for everybody.

What should the MTA chairman do? Go live out of state in NJ?? Give him a break guys.

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 20:27:31 +0000

Sander didn’t do anything to reduce overstaffing, even on the managerial level.

By: nycpat

nycpat — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 17:53:04 +0000

Sander had credibility with the unions.

By: Brian | BK Southie

Brian | BK Southie — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 00:07:27 +0000

He is Chairman and CEO of the MTA. By definition, he has no credibility with the unions.

Or anyone else in New York, apparently.

By: John Paul N.

John Paul N. — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 21:04:13 +0000

So why does Walder deserve a housing stipend with public money? He could easily choose not to accept it in order to be more credible to the unions.

That said, I do agree that highlighting either side’s “discretionary personal spending” in the management vs. labor union war only distracts from the financial issues of the MTA as a whole. Perhaps a better headline could have been thought in hindsight?

By: Benjamin Kabak

Benjamin Kabak — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:32:40 +0000

You’re right. I spoke with the folks at Transit, and this was another administrative layoff. Here’s there statement from two weeks ago (which I didn’t receive until today):

More than 160 MTA New York City Transit administrative employees were issued WARN letters this morning, beginning of the 60 day period mandated by the Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act which will culminate in layoffs on September 17. Non-represented employees were notified directly today of the imminent reductions. The unions of represented employees were also notified today. These lay-offs are part of the MTA’s ongoing effort to reduce costs in order to help fill an $800 million budget gap.

So it sounds legal and it sounds as though people are rightfully pissed about losing their jobs.