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MTA workers now fear for their jobs


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Yvonne Caraballo pulled her bus out of a Queens depot Thursday night and headed into an uncertain future.

 

Caraballo, 38, a single mother of three, became an MTA bus driver because it paid better than her previous job, came with good benefits and, she thought, promised job security.

 

Now, just two years later, she worries about being laid off because of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's fiscal crisis - and the state's failure to agree on a transit-funding package to plug massive budget gaps.

 

"To even imagine there is a possibility that I could even lose my job, something that you count on, something I use to feed my kids, is not a good feeling at all," said Caraballo, who worked as a school bus driver before joining the MTA.

 

Without a state bailout, the MTA plans to cut about 3,000 positions. Transit managers hope that most positions can simply be left unfilled when workers retire.

 

But officials estimate about 1,100 workers will be laid off. Many service and job cuts in the MTA's doomsday budget involve the elimination of bus routes or running buses on routes less frequently.

 

Workers with two or fewer years on the job are most vulnerable.

 

"A lot of young drivers are talking about it," said Damian Mitchell, 35, a bus driver for 18 months. "If they lose this job then, with the economy the way it is, there's not much likelihood of them finding anything else."

 

Mitchell, who lives in Brooklyn with his wife and five children, said he'd try to support his family by working as a barber, a job he did for years before becoming a bus driver.

 

"A lot of the operators - like in security and other driving jobs - don't have a skill like that," Mitchell said. "So, they're a bit more worried."

 

Caraballo didn't have a fall-back plan. "It is scary," she said. "I don't know what will happen."

 

BY Henrick Karoliszyn and Pete Donohue

DAILY NEWS WRITERS

March 27th 2009

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As of yesterday the unemployment rate in NY is over 8% the highest it's been in over 16 years.

 

For the MTA to lay off blue collar employees who did NOT contribute to the financial mess that white collar people have caused is a HUGE mistake for the agency and the state.

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Elliot Sander (i think thats his name) made $300,000 last year. Please. Cut it to about $75,000. That job shouldn't pay that much. What has he done productive so far anyway?

 

 

I disagree his salary is below what that type of position should pay. BUT there are tons of managers and superintendents in the TA that literally have nothing to do but make up work. They have managers managing managers.

 

With the line general manager program in the subways they are adding ALOT of extra high priced supervision where there was already excessessive supervision!

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I disagree his salary is below what that type of position should pay. BUT there are tons of managers and superintendents in the TA that literally have nothing to do but make up work. They have managers managing managers.

 

With the line general manager program in the subways they are adding ALOT of extra high priced supervision where there was already excessessive supervision!

 

You ain't lying. An am, pm , and midnight superintendent for 1 line (that's 3 managers there), reporting to the line manager, who reports to the district manager, who reports to the ACTO for that division, who reports to the CTO, who reports to the NYCTA president, who reports to Sanders. Don't forget the numerous TSS's that work each shift with that. At least they are needed, but there are too many managers.........

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I disagree his salary is below what that type of position should pay. BUT there are tons of managers and superintendents in the TA that literally have nothing to do but make up work. They have managers managing managers.

 

With the line general manager program in the subways they are adding ALOT of extra high priced supervision where there was already excessessive supervision!

 

See bold - you have just said the problem not only with the MTA but with our whole g**d*** economy, and that's why EVERYONE Needs bailouts nowadays! you cant keep endless levels of do nothing "middle management" afloat and still expect to not lose money.

 

This comes from the fact that more people than ever go to college and they come out feeling "entitled" to an "easy" white collar job without actually proving that they would be good employees. Can't tell you how many times i've gone to the bank to get something taken care of and some ivy league educated D bag sits across from me staring bug eyed at a computer screen index finger on the mouse shaking in fear as a supervisor tells them EXACTLY what to do because they are too stupid to think for themsleves.

 

eventually things are going to have to be streamlined not just in TA but EVERYWHERE and a lot of "middle managers" who like to think they're "way up there" but are actually "down here" are going to have to do some REAL work someday...

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You ain't lying. An am, pm , and midnight superintendent for 1 line (that's 3 managers there), reporting to the line manager, who reports to the district manager, who reports to the ACTO for that division, who reports to the CTO, who reports to the NYCTA president, who reports to Sanders. Don't forget the numerous TSS's that work each shift with that. At least they are needed, but there are too many managers.........

 

Where you work in the IRT with the line general manager program you have:

 

1. Group general Manager East ((4)(5)(6))

2. Group GM West

3. GM for each line

4. Deputy GM for each line

5. Line Superintendent for each line

6. Deputy superintendent for each line and each tour (3 tours)

 

This equal 38 Managers/ Superintendents in the IRT a small division with only 7 lines.

 

That is waste IMO!!!!! This is just managers and superintendents NOT supervisors. Supervisors are needed they serve a purpose unlike ALOT of these managers. And you better believe they are all highly paid and get bonuses regardless of the financial situation of the agency!!!

 

Remember this is just for RTO not for all of the many other departments with similiar setups.

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I disagree. The MTA does not pay bonuses. May be they should. My work solely from 1996 to 1999 directly resulted in the MTA receiving $6 million. Did they pay me a bonus of even one cent. No. Not even a merit increase or promotion because of it. I got a verbal thank you.

 

The MTA promotes you according to who you know not what you know, or what you accomplish, and you are correct, there are far too many layers of management. In the 1980s, they said they would eliminate all managerial positons where a manager does not supervise anyone. That never happened. There are many managers paid over $100,000 a year who supervise no one or only one or two people. I would say that managers in the MTA are paid between $20,000 and $40,000 higher per year than those doing comparable work at other City agencies.

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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

 

I don't know where you work but in RTO managers above deputy sperintendent DO get bonuses!

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Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 2_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/525.18.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.1.1 Mobile/5H11 Safari/525.20)

 

I don't know where you work but in RTO managers above deputy sperintendent DO get bonuses!

 

In the DOB, I know they do. There you have Dispatchers (immediate supervisors), who are supervised by the road superintendents, who wants to be AGS, then GS, and if they have some mechanical background, depot manager, etc.... They have layers of non-need over there as well.........

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