600 million in OT. That’s insane. What do you want to bet that’s not in the budget? I’m going to see if I can find it online.
Ah, I did. They CONSISTENTLY under-estimate OT by MILLIONS. It’s codified cheating, and lying, and fudging the numbers. And I bet they uncover guys leaving at 4:30 in the afternoon, claiming to leave at 9 pm.
i can’t vouch for every line, but i know for a fact that the stations i do use have gotten WAY filthier. overflowing garbage, trash all over the tracks, and a lot more graffiti these days that doesnt get removed. all it takes is a couple of months of that for things to do downhill, FAST!
Is this a trick question? My personal experience is that subway service is much worse now than it was 5 years ago. The waits for trains, especially on weekends and during the evenings, are much worse than what they used to be. And the trains are far more crowded. And what about the fact that so many stations have closed the booths and have no “live” people around to assist riders?
CGar, great point also about how the fares seem to have gone up logarithmically over the past decade.
The biggest issue I have with unions is not the general level of wages but the sense of entitlement that they should be getting raises in this environment and that they, unlike the rest of the world, don’t need to contribute more to healthcare.
Additioanlly, the most egregious issue is that the ubions refuse to take across-th-board 3-5% pay cuts and instead some of their “brethren” completely lose their jobs. This is why there are no more station attendants for the subway.
I gave the Champs another buzz cut this weekend (used a #2 clipper attachment). A friend said a mohawk goes well with a crew cut. However, I HATE when parents try to make their little kids “cool” by giving them mohawks or growing their hair extra long and messy. Probably trying to make up for their own nerdiness growing up.
“subway service has shown quite a drastic decline exactly during the period that overtime pay has skyrocketed”
Couldn’t agree more. I would add that service has declined precipitously all the while fares have been increasing. I can’t tell you how great it is to walk to and/or from work over the Bridge most days and not be beholden to the MTA at all. And it seems like they totally cheaped out on the A/C this summer — every train I was on was sweltering, reminding me of trains in the 80s.
Has any politician in NY ever run on the platform of standing up to the unions, particularly the MTA and UTF?
600 million in OT. That’s insane. What do you want to bet that’s not in the budget? I’m going to see if I can find it online.
Ah, I did. They CONSISTENTLY under-estimate OT by MILLIONS. It’s codified cheating, and lying, and fudging the numbers. And I bet they uncover guys leaving at 4:30 in the afternoon, claiming to leave at 9 pm.
http://www.mta.info/mta/budget/nov2009/nov2009_vol1.pdf (p. 12)
i can’t vouch for every line, but i know for a fact that the stations i do use have gotten WAY filthier. overflowing garbage, trash all over the tracks, and a lot more graffiti these days that doesnt get removed. all it takes is a couple of months of that for things to do downhill, FAST!
*rob*
“But has subway service really declined?”
Is this a trick question? My personal experience is that subway service is much worse now than it was 5 years ago. The waits for trains, especially on weekends and during the evenings, are much worse than what they used to be. And the trains are far more crowded. And what about the fact that so many stations have closed the booths and have no “live” people around to assist riders?
CGar, great point also about how the fares seem to have gone up logarithmically over the past decade.
the union has nothing to do with MTA’s budget gap
The biggest issue I have with unions is not the general level of wages but the sense of entitlement that they should be getting raises in this environment and that they, unlike the rest of the world, don’t need to contribute more to healthcare.
Additioanlly, the most egregious issue is that the ubions refuse to take across-th-board 3-5% pay cuts and instead some of their “brethren” completely lose their jobs. This is why there are no more station attendants for the subway.
I gave the Champs another buzz cut this weekend (used a #2 clipper attachment). A friend said a mohawk goes well with a crew cut. However, I HATE when parents try to make their little kids “cool” by giving them mohawks or growing their hair extra long and messy. Probably trying to make up for their own nerdiness growing up.
“subway service has shown quite a drastic decline exactly during the period that overtime pay has skyrocketed”
Couldn’t agree more. I would add that service has declined precipitously all the while fares have been increasing. I can’t tell you how great it is to walk to and/or from work over the Bridge most days and not be beholden to the MTA at all. And it seems like they totally cheaped out on the A/C this summer — every train I was on was sweltering, reminding me of trains in the 80s.
Is the availability of overtime and the rate of pay for the same something that is negotiated in the union contracts?