MTA Pettiness Lives

To the Editor:

The MTA's new-found commitment to treating its employees with respect will be measured by the actions of the MTA's supervisors, not by press releases. So far, they are failing the test. Right now, a Train Operator with 20 years on the job and no major infractions on his record is facing a 10-day suspension because a supervisor did not like the way the Train Operator signed his name!

The Train Operator was asked to sign a form acknowledging that he had received a packet of New York City Transit Authority bulletins and instructions. He did so, signing the same way he has on any number of other TA documents. But this supervisor decided that the Train Operator had signed in "a funny unprofessional manner" and refused to accept the signature.

When the supervisor told the Train Operator to "properly sign a new form," the Train Operator insisted that he had signed the form properly and he wouldn't sign another. No one who knows the TA will be surprised that the Train Operator was written up for insubordination.

Then, to top things off, the Superintendent of the line concluded that the Train Operator had harassed the supervisor when the Train Operator complained about how he was treated! The Train Operator has appealed the discipline and has the full backing of his union officers.

Despite what the press releases might say, petty and arrogant supervision is alive and well at the TA.

STEVE DOWNS, Chair, Train Operator Division of Transport Workers Union 100