Early last week, MTA CEO and Chairman Jay Walder took his attempts at getting the union to renegotiate work rules to the media and highlighted what he views as inefficiencies in the way union workers are scheduled. In response to this criticism and the MTA’s firings of hundreds of unionized workers, the TWU stationed an inflatable rat outside of Walder’s home. Today, TWU president John Samuelsen upped the ante in comments to the Daily News.
Slamming Walder while trying to protect his union members, Samuelsen went after Walder’s salary: “I bet you Walder has a Cadillac health plan and, not for nothing, he has the best severance package in the history of the public sector. I really can’t get past the hypocrisy of a rich guy coming into town, making $350,000 a year, with a wonderful severance package – he makes more money if he leaves than he does if he stays, almost, with a housing allowance – and he comes and talks about NYC Transit workers and antiquated work rules.”
Samuelsen — who eventually raises some good points about the way work rules are structured and his willingness to talk with MTA heads in private instead of through the media — isn’t doing himself any favors. Walder’s severance deal will kick in only if the State Senate pays him, and now they have an incentive not to. He won’t get a cent of that money if he isn’t booted out early. The salary, while seemingly high, pales in comparison with what a CEO at a private firm would make, and if New York wants to attract talent to head up the massive MTA, the authority will have to pay. We all want $350,000 a year, but to begrudge Walder those dollars is simply populism run amok.
With these statements, Samuelsen is doing exactly what he needs to do and should be doing: He is leading the union and fighting layoffs. At some point, though, these two sides have to get past their animosity and start talking to each other. Everyone stands to benefit from that discussion.
20 comments
Samuelson is full of hot air…clearly evidenced by the picture..
Walker can get much more money if he left the public sector and worked in the private sector.
The absolute opposite is true for the workers Samuelson represents (especially when one considers health & retirement benefits).
I think Walker is earning his keep, while the same cannot be said for most TWU members, past & present.
and i despise faux populism like this, just shows the mentality of the TWU (if not most public sector unions).
If they paid the MTA Chairman union wages, you’d have an idiot like Samuelsen running it, and then we’d have a real mess on our hands.
Well said!
Walder has that severance package because he’s employed at the whim of the legislature, not because he wants to bail on the city.
It isn’t just the TWU – Jay Walder has also pointlessly and gratuitously aggravated the 125,000-strong, politically active DC37, by nickel and diming them on their 2009 wage increase, an increse that’s been honored by every other agency in the NY public sector.
Are you sure about that? The last I heard, those raises were back on track. Granted, that was a few months ago.
I’ve heard that they are about as much back on track as phases 2,3,4 of the SAS – if she remains in good health, Lillian Roberts may live to see them.
and how much does samuelson make?
“Niccolo Machiavelli” says $100K:
http://www.streetsblog.org/201.....ent-248891
In 2008 — the last year for which I have TWU tax filings — then-President Roger Toussaint made just under $115,000 with a $19,000 expense account. I’d imagine Samuelsen’s compensation is in line with that figure.
I just love how Samuelsen can’t help bashing Walder for having worked in London. Because what the city really needs is more provincial leaders with no knowledge of transit operations abroad.
Yeah…. honestly, Samuelsen’s attitude leaves a lot to be desired. Walder just comes in fresh, and Samuelsen immediately decides to attack him as much as possible.
They have *much* stronger unions in London, and Walder’s used to fairly respectful dealings with them. Maybe Samuelsen’s afraid.
The TWU is far from the union with the worst attitude, though: the LIRR unions are unbelievable, and some of them just plain give unions a bad name. Hint: fighting over turf with other unions is not a good start. Refusing to change work rules dating from the steam era is not a good start.
Oscar has little or no idea of what he is talking about, TWU has thousands of skilled workers, carpenters, electricians, plumbers computer technicians who could make much more in the private sector. People take public service jobs because of job security, healthcare and other benefits for their families and are willing to take comparitvely less money.
Wlader also has a $500,000 clause in his contarct that says if he is let go “without cause” he collects. Too bad the 266 Station Agents he just let go didn’t have the same clause.
I think this is a distinction without enough of a difference. “Job security, healthcare, and other benefits” are another form of remuneration.
I have not personally met civil servants doing government trades jobs for altruistic reasons. They’re in the civil service because they see it as a much better deal than the private sector. And that’s the issue, and the problem for many of us.
since when are things like pensions, healthcare tec…alruistic reasons? a total misrepresentation of what I said. Actually what you say Paulb is the opposite of the truth: people in the private sector do not take public sector jobs becasue they see the private sector as more lucrative and with a higher ceiling….
The station agents should have been aware of the risk of getting fired when they took the job– no one forced them to be station agents. Before you accuse me of being a libertarian, I think people who get fired should be given unemployment benefits and government-subsidized education opportunities to help them find better jobs, and health insurance coverage to ensure they don’t get swamped with health care bills while unemployed, but I don’t think that should be the responsibility of the MTA. The MTA’s mission is to operate a public transit system and it shouldn’t be held responsible for the failures of the rest of the government.
I guess I agree with pieces of both pauls if I get to pick and choose.
Job security is clearly a benefit and has value. Also, many skilled workers at the MTA can make more in the private sector (lots of Firemen make more money on their side jobs than they do at the NYFD) but value the security. Most of the non-skilled positions (car and station cleaners for example) do much, much better than their counterparts in the New York labor market.
An operation like the MTA wouldn’t do well with the hiring hall type labor market prevalent in the construction trades, both labor and management value stability, experience and seniority. That is apparently a problem for paulb who thinks that because there is substantial and growing insecurity in other labor markets that the MTA’s problems can only be solved by including MTA workers in the insecurity.
Meanwhile the lords and ladies on Wall Street that cause and thrive on labor market insecurity are tipping back the martinis at the Country Club.
“for paulb who thinks that because there is substantial and growing insecurity in other labor markets that the MTA’s problems can only be solved by including MTA workers in the insecurity.”
Just for the record, I didn’t say that, but no offense taken.
Other cities in the U.S. have buses, even subways. Has anyone looked at what NY pays its transit employees versus other cities?