SeanH525

The starting rate is about $22-$23 an hour if I’m not mistaken.

4 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Listen, if that's the case then the union should stop making the argument that station agents are needed to be the eyes and ears underground because that is exactly what they have continued to argue. No one is asking them to be cops. However, if they can't call the police when something happens, we have a serious problem. Not asking them to come out of the booth or anything else. Just call 911 just like any normal person would. In fact that was the same argument used when they tried to remove workers off of the trains. 

We’re able to call for NYPD, EMS, FDNY, etc. There is a system in the booth specifically made for that. I’d say besides customer service it is our primary responsibility without fares being handled in the booth.

As for the larger topic at hand… as it stands we’re probably short almost 200 agents compared to last year. Station CTAs are a position of need too. It might just be the new normal with transit. I don’t know that they’re looking to add. Although if I’m being completely objective, having a full strength CTA roster is very important down here. More important than adding new agents,  when they could just get rid of lunches to address the crazy overtime (as they originally planned). They shouldn’t be twiddling their thumbs with CTA hiring, though.

And the union is not being forthcoming about the fares/cash in the booth issue. It was known and even discussed in the news that the implementation of OMNY was going to phase handling fares out of the booths years ago. The timeline just ticked up because of COVID. We’ll see what comes of this Velazquez bill, but I’m not too concerned about job security either way. They’ve been chiseling at this job title for years through attrition. The Great Recession was the only exception.

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-velazquez-mta-cash-booths-bill-20210629-4ow5to6s5nfuzc2tzabfsv5lje-story.html

On 3/9/2021 at 9:31 PM, Late Clear said:

It's my opinion they will no longer fill this title and eliminate it through attrition.  

I always suggest it's good to be optimistic but important to be realistic.  Take other exams, keep your current job, make long term plans, and don't put all your eggs in one basket.   

Technology is eliminating this title through OMNY.  

 

I think that’s the plan eventually. I had someone at my booth earlier this week that had a start date and an offer sheet though. Before that, my head was exactly where yours was about it lol

On 3/2/2021 at 9:55 AM, Brooklyn one said:

Have anyone been hired then laid off from this forum....is the hiring freeze still in effect? My “your hired” email went to the wrong address so I was just waiting on a class 😞. 

I have a good feeling they’ll be hiring soon to fill vacancies. Between retirements, covid deaths, and the influx of cash they’ve received from the federal government, I’d say it’s coming sooner rather than later. Hold tight.

6 hours ago, Mtatransit said:

Currently if you walk up to the agent and pay the full fare and show identification to show you qualify for reduced fare, you will receive a two trip reduced fare metrocard. 

Current station agents are not allowed to accept cash as per COVID-19 so technically I believe it already ended. 

 

@SeanH525 mentioned something to the tune of if you can only pay with cash, agents are instructed to let you in for free.

If all of the MVMs are not accepting bills, and that’s the only form of payment you have, supervision has said to let customers through the service gate.

1 hour ago, MHV9218 said:

Don't worry, he doesn't! And you were not! 

Unless filing complaints about B/Os and reporting them to supervision daily, in the hopes of getting them punished and/or fired, counts as saving jobs...

Thanks for your posts. The rest of us get exhausted. Most people on this site really do support transit workers and believe in their work.

Thank you for taking the time to read and responding back as well. I have no job without you guys. My father before me as well.

1 minute ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Well if it doesn't apply to you, then no reason to be offended, but the ones I have interacted with over the years have been rude, so excuse me for having that perception. For what it's worth, I have advocated with other advocacy groups over the last several months on a number of measures that I am sure have helped to save  employee jobs, but if you feel the need to continue to attack me, have at it. 

Fair enough. I don’t feel it serves either of us to continue to bicker. If you truly do advocate to save jobs, then I was wrong to judge you as I did. I hope one day you are able to go to a booth and you have a different experience. It’s in all not a difficult job. Because of that, and in fairness to you as a rider, there’s no need for any agent to be rude to the riding public. It’s a privilege to do what we do, especially these days.

1 minute ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Aww well I'm sorry to have hurt your little feelings. One of YOUR colleagues went and posted on a community page recently about how your jobs were on the line; we sure as hell didn't ask her to, so maybe you should complain to them about them speculating, not me. From there a number of commuters chimed in. I would assume that she did that for good reason, not unless she is woefully informed, but she posted how she felt and what she thought, and asked for the riding public to support the agents.

What I have stated about the elimination of coins on the buses is something that has been stated down at 2 Broadway off the record, and maybe you've oblivious to the  's financial situation, but ridership is down big time. If you watch their board meetings, they are constantly looking at their costs. It's all public, as they are a public agency, so spare me with this like this is such a shock.

And for the last time, I don't care what happens with booth clerks and their jobs. Yeah, I said some of them have nasty attitudes. Get over it. You're pretty much exemplifying what I said earlier. 

It’s ironic to read you trying to lecture me on a nasty attitude when you clearly lack any and all empathy. If you want to take my defending people as me being “nasty”, I’m not sure what else there is to say to you. We’re all painfully aware of the financial straits many state and local agencies are facing due to COVID. I’m more than aware especially that NYCT is anything but exempt in that regard.

The public should back the agents. We want to be serving you, not having to answer for the decisions made at 2 Broadway and 130 Livingston about what parts of our job description we are and are not able to perform. There’s nothing I’d rather do more than be able to accept payment for your fare, especially over having to defend my right to future employment. I’m sorry for whatever experiences you may have had in the past with others performing the same profession. I am not rude; I am simply tired of having to defend the job I perform to the best of my ability on a weekly basis. It’s hard to come on here every so often and see us being put down or trivialized when we simply cannot make the call to do what we signed up to do.

16 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

I have seen them, and of course there will be some people that will want to use cash, but that doesn't mean that we haven't been moving towards more people not using cash. Furthermore, that also doesn't mean that the  won't continue with their plan. Many people were opposed to coins going away on the express bus, myself included. They still got rid of them, and cost was a big factor. The plan is to eventually eliminate them on the local buses, so again, laugh, but it comes down to money, period, and spending your time trying to deride me because I am stating something you don't like to hear is not going to change the situation at hand. 

I'm not strongly pushing for anyone to lose their job. I'm simply saying I'm not going out of my way to advocate for keeping them. I buy my Metrocards from MVMs, so I really don't have a need for station clerks and haven't for years, so I could care less either way. If I'm arrogant for that, so be it.

Sure, you didn’t push for anyone to lose their job... Except your little soliloquy generalizing nearly 3,000 people before I chimed in. I’m not sure why it’s so hard for you to admit that you’re being not at all objective about this, but okay.

And as I said previously to someone else, there was a plan for the future of the station agent position before the covid outbreak. The Wayfinder program was agreed upon by NYCT and TWU before we ever got into the Covid mess. If you want to speculate and assume that’s off the table simply because you have something against the people who do the job, that’s fine. Just say that instead of talking out of your you know what.

I’m glad you’re such a big advocate for the system or whatever your obsession with this forum is, but it really is shameful to wish bad on others simply because you don’t agree (?) that the job they do is essential or worth the pay. Or whatever the hell your problem is.

MVMs were not designed to handle the amount of volume they’ve been tasked with after cash transactions were suspended at the booths. This is why, as I stated before, people are often given free entry via the service gate. If there’s no way to pay in cash, and customers only have cash to use, they have to have a way to enter the system.

I really take no enjoyment out of shooting down your talking points, so I’d appreciate it if you at least tried to educate yourself more about what it is we’re there to do before putting us all down. I don’t have kids, but many of my colleagues do. And it’s beyond me that you’d be so callous about them earning a living because they aren’t “useful” to you.

3 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

My political affiliation is irrelevant to this discussion. The fact of the matter is the agency is looking to cut costs, and all signs point to the jobs of booth clerks being changed or eliminated. If you're looking to the public for help, good luck, as many other customers don't appear to care, and I'm sure many of them are Democrats, so spare me with the Trump BS, as if that matters. Technology is here, and fewer people are using cash, so the need of a booth agent either changes or will eventually no longer be needed. That's just the reality of it.

Lmao you literally have no idea what you’re talking about. There are more people that want to use cash in the subway than you evidently know. Way more.
 

This is just biased dribble from someone whose political affiliation absolutely does matter. Your arrogance, condescension and sense of entitlement screams what you believe.

Maybe if you didn’t so strongly push for people to lose their jobs, and the “change” part was where you were coming from, you wouldn’t come off as such a... well you know.

2 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

You can believe whatever you want to believe. That doesn't change the fact that they will continue to push to lay them off. I'm entitled to my opinion, period, and as far as I'm concerned, they can go. There are a number of station agents now appealing to the public about pushing the  to advocate to keep them, and other riders are saying the same thing I am. You don't have to like it. They're a public agency, and we're the riders, and we can state what our opinions are.

You know what they say about opinions. And I’m certainly glad your opinion doesn’t dictate what happens with my occupation or dozens of others that I know.

I’m not surprised where you stand given your standing in many other topics that I’ve seen here. An entitled Trumper through and through. I pray what you wish on others isn’t what you deal with in your life.

8 minutes ago, Mtatransit said:

I'm sure there are good ones out there, but I have yet to experience one. Too often, in multiple boroughs, the only thing I would receive from the booths is a bad altitude. I'm sure you serve your customers with pride, but there are too may bad apples out there.

NYCT does not cover its cost. Even if they cover all the swipes, they will still have a shortfall. The fact of the matter is that the operating cost for the MTA is too high even compared to the deplorable United States low standards, let alone European or Asian countries. MTA can not rely on federal aid forever. MTA was heading for financial disaster way before COVID-19. There is no doubt they will head that way again. 

I appreciate your objectivity. It’s true that transit is terrible with their habit of wasteful spending. However, there was a plan in place long before COVID for the future of the station agent position (Wayfinder). I highly doubt the approximately 2700 people that perform the job will be laid off regardless of the financial situation. The move to cut lunch relief jobs is more than likely to address the current OT situation, for example. Wasteful spending and unnecessary amounts of OT work go hand in hand.

If you downsize the amount of necessary agents, you don’t have to fill future or current vacancies with new agents or excessive OT. It’s a good move to combat the wasteful spending you’re talking about. It also avoids layoffs, since there’s already an agent shortage. All the move will do is dramatically decrease overtime. When retirements come, future job picks could simply reflect a reduced head account once again. Downsizing via attrition makes a lot more sense than spitting in the faces of people who worked through a pandemic.

On 2/16/2021 at 6:49 AM, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

The plan is still to layoff station clerks. Fine by me. Most are rude anyway. You won't see me out there yelling to stop the cuts. I haven't heard of any advocacy groups talking about that either.

https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-subway-token-booths-closed-20201231-d5xyb36fkfgrrjb5kwb2sgndeq-story.html

Transit can’t lay anyone off so long as they continue to rely on federal stimulus aid.

With that being said, pretty rude of YOU to assume all station agents are the same. Then there’s the loss of livelihood that you’re so casually discussing.

No one’s fault but transit themselves that they’re gaming the system to short their fare revenue/swipes. When the machines are down (which they are regularly for long periods of the day), and customers claim they only have cash as payment, they’re let through the service gate for free. That is what we are told to do. The problem is they now haven’t swiped, and the swipes are what transit uses to account for their “ridership numbers”.
 

There isn’t one station agent I know that doesn’t want to be performing their primary job function. Not our fault that NYCT decided to neuter us to help themselves cry broke.

I’m deeply sorry to anyone on this list waiting to get hired. Not only is there currently a hiring freeze, but the pick books for winter 2021 released indicate there will undoubtedly be 100’s of job cuts to this position. The layoffs will ensure that no one is called off of this list for a long time...

41 minutes ago, SA2019 said:

Yes. I definitely have more on the books than off. Especially the last several years. Fingers will be crossed. How many people do you think were there for final processing the day you went? I am I early 1600's. I might not make the next 2 classes... But I am definitely hoping to. 

They were maybe 3 others when I was there for station agent? When I signed in, there was only one other name on the sheet. And from what I’m seeing it’s moving quick. I was 127* and they’re pretty far from there already. That was last Wednesday, 1/29.

1 minute ago, SA2019 said:

Thank you so much for that information. I agree, I did not want to lie on the form so I put down everything. I will certainly offer to pay back the taxes. Thank you for letting me know how the final processing went. Did you get sworn in the same day of final processing?

Yes, I got sworn in. We’re in that boat together, so don’t worry. I highly doubt they’re going to dismiss us later on because we had an off the books job at some point in our careers. By and large, I’m sure you’ve worked on the books same as me.

6 minutes ago, SA2019 said:

I had a job off the books for a little while, my boss wrote and notarized a letter for me saying that I was working there at that time. Do you think that this will be a big problem? This is the only thing that has me super anxious about final processing. Congratulations to everybody who's been called recently.

It didn’t even come up during my final processing. My dad worked for Transit for 35 years and according to him he had an off the books job for a while. Several of them. I don’t know if it’s different now than back in the day, but he told me not to worry about it.

I had an off the books job listed for 6 months. Even put the $5 an hour plus tips as the wage. If they bring it up later on, i’d just say you were unaware that it was a problem and say you’d pay the taxes back (because that would be the only issue they’d probably have with it). I didn’t want to lie on the form. From my understanding the only city agency that makes a huge deal about off the books is NYPD.

Does anyone know if I’m supposed to wear work pants (dickies), or dress pants to orientation? And for shoes, are the boots acceptable? Or do I have to wear dress shoes? My father got me the boots ahead of time. As for shoes, blue dress shirt with no markings seems self explanatory. 

1 minute ago, WillBx-Supervisor said:

You will if ever want to be promoted from Station Agent. Anytime you go for a promotion or lab test you’ll be right back in that building with those steel chairs. 

Oh boy. I thought they only do the randoms for safety sensitive positions? So I might have to go down there again for drug tests? Those chairs really are the worst.

2 minutes ago, SA2019 said:

Does it matter if someone has old convictions ? Will they stop the process? 

and old convictions don’t matter as long as you’re honest with them. I never got convicted but I was arrested once and had a few summons on my record. I brought them everything I ever got from both counties I ever got into trouble in.

8 minutes ago, Thediz1 said:

Sean what list #s are in your class 1200,1300 ,1400

I was 127*. Last I asked they were up to 1300 exactly. Not sure where they’re at today. I’d call to check.

2 minutes ago, WillBx-Supervisor said:

 

Congrats and welcome to the family. I told that you had nothing to worry about. Good luck in your career. 

Thanks man. I appreciate it. Hopeful that I’ll never have to sit in that steel chaired room again lol.

Just got sworn in for the 2/17 class. Good luck to everybody who’s still waiting! Feels like this will be going for a while so don’t worry.

3 minutes ago, Thediz1 said:

What is your list # if you dont mind 

127*. They told me on the phone yesterday they’re up to 1300.

2 hours ago, EgyptianEyez said:

Congratulations the job is yours! Don't worry about that off the books job, you really didn't have to even tell them about it since it was off the books. They know a lot of ppl work off the books sometimes. Also if you don't mind asking do they have classes for March, April and how many vacancies available. 

I’m sorry I didn’t answer this earlier, but she gave me no information about future classes. The fact I got into this one only confirms what we already knew about two February classes.

as for the blank money order, I have that on hand. Along with SS card, birth certificate, HS diploma, and of course my driver’s license to go along with 21 page employment booklet. You have to bring this stuff every time.

Also, PSA to anyone who has any prior arrest, summons, etc: get copies of your dispositions from whatever county courthouses necessary. I did this ahead of time because I read up on it. Otherwise, when they fingerprint you and you’re in the system, the process will be put on hold until HR gets a hold of those dispositions.

12 minutes ago, WillBx-Supervisor said:

You’re fine! Final processing is just that, final processing. From the first time you went to pre-employment until you were notified to return for final processing, they’ve been running your background. Your next visit will be to return the paperwork they asked for, be sworn in, finger printed for an FBI criminal background check which comes out of your first pay check, and be given your transit pass(Work ID card) which is a 100% free metro card to ride any subway, bus or commuter railroad of your choosing(Metro North or Long Island RailRoad) 24/7. Congrats on making it this far, you should be in the next class or the one following it. Depending on the needs of the authority. 

You just made me feel a lot better about it. I just didn’t want to lie or omit anything. Plus being unemployed for 10 months sounds unbelievable when I have so many bills in my name lol.

i already got my disposition for my only Arrest and 4 summons in my lifetime in preparation for the fingerprinting. I’m sure they will come up. Don’t want to have to leave and come back for any reason tomorrow.