As the MTA tries to trim payroll and streamline its operations, the authority has offered payouts — one week’s pay for every year on the job up to $20,000 — for those workers who leave voluntarily. According to a report in The Daily News, some workers close to retirement are taking advantage of the payday to cash out now. These workers have halted the processing of their retirement papers to take the incentive pay while retaining post-retirement benefits. Jeremy Soffin, an MTA spokesman, says that only “a small number” of MTA employees have gone this route, and the authority hopes to trim up to 700 administrative positions this year.
Near-retirees take advantage of MTA payday
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The unionized blue collar employees that move over 7 million a day get lay offs and the office staff alot of which are redundant get early retirement payoffs. Disgusting!!
The unionized blue collar employees also got raises last year and this year and are due for more next year. Don’t forget to add that to your equation.
Also, don’t people who get laid off generally get severance packages?
No the bluye collar workers don’t get severance packages. As for the raises when ever the blue collar workers earn a raise through collective bargaining the office workers get the exact same raise or slightly higher!
The MTA did not give raises to their non-union workers when the TWU won its arbitration hearing last year. Just didn’t happen.
Nesta,
You obviously never worked for a mixed union/non-union company or just have no clue. Unions get more days off, better benefits, and are guaranteed employment and raises on a contract basis. Non-unionized employees don’t get such perks. Where I work we are actually given warnings from corporate (in very PC language, but still) that union negotiations have no effect on non-union pay.
In the TA it isn’t like that. The non union staff get the same exact amount of sick, vacation days and at least the same if not better medical benefits.
Actually Ben, not all of the union workers at the TA got a raise last year. Check out the condition of DC 37 Local 375 Engineers and Architects. Their members working for the TA were frozen out of the 4% increases that went to the other members of their Local working for the City, simply because the MTA can stall them and force them to PERB.