Transit to Expand Use Of Single Manager To Oversee Subway Lines
By ARI PAUL
New York City Transit has announced that it will begin expanding the subway line general manager system to more lines, a move one transit union official embraced.

HOWARD H. ROBERTS: A grass-roots approach.

For the last 10 months, the 7 and L lines have operated on a system answering to an individual line manager. Both NYC Transit and the Straphangers' Campaign have said that having a manager assigned to an individual route has improved service on the two congested lines.

Localize Responsibility

"The prime focus of the reorganization of the Department of Subways is to move the area of responsibility closer to the employees who provide the services and to the customers," NYC President Howard H. Roberts said in a statement.

James Temples III, the Station Supervisors' chairperson of the Transit Supervisors Organization, believed that the line general manager system would boost worker morale.

"It directly holds people accountable, and that's a good thing," he said in a phone interview last week. "It's based upon their work. You get credit for the work that you do."

Holding managers accountable, Mr. Temples said, made things more harmonious work-wise for supervisors and their workers.

"It helps your Cleaners because these people look to you to make sure everything is taken care of," he said.

Sees Improved Relations

When Mr. Roberts assumed control of the transit agency, he vowed to work more collaboratively with its unions. Mr. Temples said that Mr. Roberts has come through on his promise, adding, "I definitely see an improvement in labor relations."

One official from Transport Workers Union Local 100's Rapid Transit Operations Divisions did not see a problem with the new system, but Cleaners had complained that during the pilot program on the L and 7 lines, cleaning priorities have been shifted to these two lines, leaving too few Cleaners at stations on the other lines.

An NYC Transit statement said, "When the roll-out is complete, approximately 19,000 employees will be moved from the central divisions into the lines themselves and a budget savings of more than $7 million is expected."