THE CHIEF-LEADER welcomes letters from its readers for publication.
Correspondents must include their names, addresses and
phone numbers. Letters should be submitted with the understanding
that all correspondence is subject to the editorial judgment of this
newspaper. Letters can be e-mailed to: RSTEIER@RCN.COM or
mailed to: Richard Steier, Editor, 277 Broadway, Suite 1506, NY, NY
10007.

Don't Malign Transit Staff

To the Editor:

I tuned in to a certain evening news program on the night of Thursday, November 13 and saw something that mysteriously seems to appear about every three years — another news story following the MTA's proposal of a fare hike that features one or two out of 38,000 transit workers slacking off on the job. I'm sure many others saw it, too.

They showed a track worker with his face blurred out reporting for duty and then heading off to diners and parks, and joining a colleague to spend their shift doing things they shouldn't — like lifting weights and going shopping — only to spend an hour doing actual track work before clocking out. Although actually researching whether these track inspectors were working in title for the Transit Authority or working as outsourced labor for a more-expensive private contractor would probably have ruined the dramatic effect of showing this exclusive hidden camera footage, they did mention that this investigative report comes in the midst of a subway fare hike proposal and that Transit Authority workers make between $25-$30 an hour.

It's not a very original idea for a story. A few years ago, after the MTA raised subway fares to $2, a rudimentary photo of a token clerk dozing off while working a long and boring night shift, taken from a civilian's cell phone, was featured on the cover of a daily newspaper with the headline, "Your fare hike at work."

I guess these reports are supposed to suggest that when the subway fare increases by 50 percent that somehow all this money goes to the workers, and all they ever do is sleep and hang out. Never mind that the subways and buses still manage to take millions of passengers a day to their destinations continuously around the clock while remaining in workable condition.

These news stories are misleading on so many levels, but time and a realistic amount of print space forces me to mention only a couple. First of all, I personally don't see transit workers getting 33-percent raises this time around, which is the amount the Transit Authority would have to offer to reach the most recent proposed fare hike. The other more important level is the result of investigative research that I compiled using the lenses of my eyes and recorded onto the little digital video recorder I keep inside my brain. For the past 3-1/2 years, I have spent 40 hours per week watching unblurred images of station cleaners wheeling heavy garbage bags across entire complexes, hosing steel dust out of platforms and helping evacuate customers during a smoke condition. I have seen Station Agents selling fares non-stop in the heart of Grand Central to demanding urban professionals and confused tourists. I have seen platform conductors standing for hours on busy platforms controlling impatient crowds of people who refuse to believe that the next 6 train will come in three minutes; and yes, I have also seen Track Workers in dirty vests carrying heavy equipment on their shoulders that doesn't resemble at all the type of equipment you see at a gym, but, in fact, the type that's used to fix subway tracks. Some, I should mention, do these things for less than the $25-an-hour that was mentioned on TV.

As someone who dabbled in broadcast journalism in college, I realize that these images don't make for a sexy, shocking lead story on the 11 o'clock news. But they are the reason why the New York City transit system is the most-efficient in the world, and I say they're worth every penny, even though not every penny goes to them.

JONATHAN BEATRICE, Station Agent