Mayor: Extend Track Staff Shifts, With More Days Off

MAYOR BLOOMBERG: Wants improved scheduling.

Mayor Bloomberg's sweeping plan released Aug. 3 to make mass transit more rider-friendly and efficient contains a number of provisions that would affect Transport Workers Union Local 100 members, including a Track Worker schedule that would lengthen workdays but allow workers to have more days off.

The plan—which may have more impact as an election tool, as the Mayor has limited power in changing policy at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority—pleased riders with provisions such as making cross-town buses free.

Inefficient Scheduling?

It alluded to the fact that many New York City Transit Track Workers currently work one weekend day and one weekday, which the Mayor believes is an inefficient set-up. When NYC Transit officials last considered mandating Track Workers to have two weekdays as their Regular Days Off so that more track maintenance could take place on weekends, Local 100's Track Division officers said that such a move was worth striking over. The current situation, Mr. Bloomberg's plan states, leaves the MTA paying "workers during periods when they cannot work, and then also paying expensive overtime to get necessary track repairs completed."

JOHN SAMUELSEN: Picking on workers, sparing new boss.

The union and NYC Transit set up a pilot program allowing certain Track Workers to opt into a four-day workweek, where workers have two eight-hour days and two 12-hour days, a schedule with built-in overtime hours. Citing criticism by Nicole Gelinas of the conservative Manhattan Institute, Mr. Bloomberg said that such measures would make construction and repairs more efficient.

"The MTA should expand this pilot program and adopt a Track Worker schedule that will allow for more-efficient, timely track repairs," Mr. Bloomberg's plan states. "One transit expert estimates that this reform could save the system tens of millions of dollars per year. At the very least, it should allow the MTA to save approximately $12 million in overtime."

Calls MTA Soft on Union

Mr. Bloomberg also echoed the outrage of former MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow over a recent decision by the MTA not to increase the percentage of pay Local 100 members contribute to health-care costs.

"Following the illegal 2005 transit strike, the MTA and the union agreed to a deal whereby union workers would pay a small—less than 2 percent— portion of their salary for health benefits," Mr. Bloomberg's plan states. "The Daily News has recently uncovered the fact that the MTA failed to seek the full contractually agreed-upon increase. The MTA auditor general estimates the lost revenue was $1 million last year and could rise to about $4 million by the end of this year. The MTA should immediately seek the maximum health-care contribution allowed under the existing labor agreements. Moreover, the MTA should work with labor unions to reduce health-care costs, similar to the manner in which the city has negotiated with the Municipal Labor Committee to achieve a deal that will save the city $200 million this fiscal year."

Spokesmen for Local 100 declined to comment on Mr. Bloomberg's suggestions for mass transit efficiency, but Local 100 presidential candidate John Samuelsen said that it was unfair for the Mayor to advocate that the MTA reduce labor costs for front-line workers while not calling for a reduction of the compensation package for Jay Walder, who if confirmed will become the MTA's next chief executive and chairman of the board. The Daily News reported his contract with the MTA includes an "$850,000 golden parachute" that he would receive if forced to leave before finishing his sixyear term.

Sees A Double Standard

"He speaks about reforming union work rules repeatedly as a means to achieve cost savings, but makes no mention of Walder's obscene wage and benefit package," Mr. Samuelsen said of the Mayor's plan. "In his mind, it is okay for Walder to fleece the taxpayers, but everything he can squeeze out of transit workers is fair game."

He also feared that the pilot program for Track Worker would lead to weekday RDOs.

The Mayor's plan also calls for increased oversight of the MTA's contracting, saying The MTA should adopt a system similar to the city's 'Vendex' system, which requires all contractors and subcontractors on public contracts to undergo thorough vetting before being awarded a job, including by an outside entity."