Transit workers deserve more than a token raise for the risks they take

[Y2Julio 206]

Here's a question for the six-figure MTA executives when they try to sell the notion that transit workers should get a series of zeros when their contract is up for negotiation later this year:

 

When was the last time someone tried to burn down your office when you were in it?

 

Two punks splashed gasoline on a token booth at the Prospect Park station in Brooklyn before dawn last week and set it on fire with a female clerk inside.

 

It was an act of depravity and stupidity, an apparent attempt to get the clerk - who doused the flames with a fire extinguisher - to unlock the door so the two young men could scoop up whatever cash was inside from the sale of MetroCards during the overnight shift. However shocking, it was hardly unprecedented.

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/07/04/2011-07-04_a_risky_station_transit_workers_deserve_more_than_a_token_raise.html#ixzz1RDHOIx3i

[Amtrak7 427]

I understand their point of view. Salaries do need a cost-of-living increase. What the MTA should do, rather than fighting to keep salaries down, is fight to get rid of the arcane work rules. Here's some LIRR examples that may or may not be in effect.

 

-Switching from yard switching to road service earns one an extra day's pay.

-Switching from diesel to electric operations earns one an extra day's pay.

-Adding extra stops due to special events earns every single train crew who stops there an extra day's pay.

 

I don't mind overtime, but the pay from these work rules (which count as overtime), is part of why the public as seeing the MTA having an overtime problem.

[Via Garibaldi 8 8,483]

Instead of just asking for more money, you guys should be asking for more security as well. Sure the money is great, as it allows you guys to support your families better (believe me my uncle I'm sure agrees with this), but I can't understand for the life of me why the unions don't push harder to protect workers better from being attacked and such.

 

Once I finally got over that strike back in '05 (my uncle and I weren't on speaking terms for a bit because of it) and talked to my uncle about the deal, one of the things that pissed him off was that he felt like some folks didn't know what they were striking for and were just going along with the program. It seems like that and the bickering within the unions would give you guys more bargaining power with the if these things were dealt with. Of course I'm no expert, but that's just my observations as an outsider. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[Sam 19]

While I agree that some work rules can and should be revisited, rank and file workers do not give themselves overtime. That's purely management. If there are not enough workers due to attrition in any city or state agency, overtime becomes a necessary evil. The idea of doing more with less usually ends up costing more in the long run.

 

All workers, private and public have suffered stagnated wages, decreased benefits, and are fighting to keep whatever pensions are left. Meanwhile, we see private corporations "earning" record profits in 2010 and 2011 and our local, state, and federal governments cry about deficits as they reduce tax revenue with tax cuts, corporate welfare (G.E.), and corporate amnesty (offshore money brought back to the U.S. without tax liabilities). Even local government has money to burn. Right after Bloomberg's City Time debacle, the MTA put in a bid for a City Time contract of its own claiming they were the best. That money would have been lost too if these crooks had not absconded to India.

 

We are witnessing the greatest redistribution of wealth since the New Deal in which the working class has become the whipping boy of the corporate world blaming them for the financial mess we're in while the financiers who actually caused this mess are rewarded with bonuses and tax cuts.

 

Yes, the MTA workers deserve every red cent they get as well as all workers.

[LuchAAA 0]

Offering a zero to Transit workers is an insult. Even without recent incidents such as this one involving a token booth clerk or the bus driver who was brutally attacked, these cases should not be exploited to make a case for a raise.

[SubwayGuy 2,314]

While I agree that some work rules can and should be revisited, rank and file workers do not give themselves overtime. That's purely management. If there are not enough workers due to attrition in any city or state agency, overtime becomes a necessary evil. The idea of doing more with less usually ends up costing more in the long run.

 

All workers, private and public have suffered stagnated wages, decreased benefits, and are fighting to keep whatever pensions are left. Meanwhile, we see private corporations "earning" record profits in 2010 and 2011 and our local, state, and federal governments cry about deficits as they reduce tax revenue with tax cuts, corporate welfare (G.E.), and corporate amnesty (offshore money brought back to the U.S. without tax liabilities). Even local government has money to burn. Right after Bloomberg's City Time debacle, the MTA put in a bid for a City Time contract of its own claiming they were the best. That money would have been lost too if these crooks had not absconded to India.

 

We are witnessing the greatest redistribution of wealth since the New Deal in which the working class has become the whipping boy of the corporate world blaming them for the financial mess we're in while the financiers who actually caused this mess are rewarded with bonuses and tax cuts.

 

Yes, the MTA workers deserve every red cent they get as well as all workers.

 

...And that is why on Off Topic, I habitually call for the killing of the rich, the eating of their children, and the spitting out of their bodies because, well, we're not cannibals after all.

[Pelham Bay Dave 124]

Its going to be interesting on what happens. The Subway-Surface supervisors been without a contract for 2 years now. So if TWU gets a raise it be interesting how Middle supervision going to repond to it.

[LuchAAA 0]

Its going to be interesting on what happens. The Subway-Surface supervisors been without a contract for 2 years now. So if TWU gets a raise it be interesting how Middle supervision going to repond to it.

 

Won't you guys get the same or better in terms of raise percentages?