MTA fat cats making more with overtime than their chairman

What exactly is a "model surfacing instructor", and how can I get one of these jobs?

BTW -- Congratulations to Mr. Ruzzo who tripled his pay with overtime.
Yet another chronic problem with the MTA

http://nypost.com/2016/03/09/mta-fat-ca ... -chairman/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This should prove interesting....

Who cares. OT discussions are not interesting to railroad buffs and historians.
NEXT.

Of course it's in the Post.

MTA has many layers of managerial BS. I'm sure if this person doing tons of OT is an actual problem one of his 87687568765 managers can address it - not a clueless reporter.

"Worker Works More Than 40 Hours a Week and gets Paid for It"...news at 11.

A Surfacing Instructor would most likely be a Track Foreman, which is a very highly paid profession nationwide. Certainly everyone critical of these earnings has much higher credentials and careers or they would simply apply for the position.

Overtime work, properly managed by the agency actually saves the taxpayers substantial sums. If you can see through the class-envy, you understand that paying a person overtime to do the work of two or three positions saves massive amounts of fringe benefit payments.

A highly skilled, well paid heavy industry worker who succeeds at being an vital asset to his employer and its customers is the backbone of America. What a pity the sophisticated underachievers of our society so envy their accomplishments.

Just imagine one of the distractors here attempting to supervise a track gang.

this is why we need Bernie Sanders. President Sanders would tax Mr. Russos earnings and distribute the funds to the disenfranchised. We need income inequality abolished. Mr. Prendergast is a hero for speaking out against these abuses. It was suggested at a meeting that the Mta declare the LIRR bankrupt and use the courts to revise the contracts to something more manageable for the carriers. I saw applicants taking interviews for the hiring process. Many unfortunate applicants were dressed in flipflops and orange shorts and had there kids with them because they couldnt afford a decent suit or babysitter. All because LIRR unions are bankrupting the state and fleecing riders!

I don't think it's so much of a matter of a well-qualified MTA employee bringing additional value by pulling huge amounts of overtime each year. It's more the principle. The fact is, the highest paid MTA employee last year made nearly as much in base salary + overtime ($396K total) as did the President of the United States (who is paid $400K annually). Granted, many people in many professions make more than $400K, but a vast majority of those people who do aren't government employees.

The outrage over this report has more to do, I suspect, with people questioning the real long-term value of having so many employees working so many overtime hours. Given the MTA has thousands of employees on its payrolls, the consistent year-over-year increase in overtime would suggest that the MTA and the LIRR are not efficiently using their existing workforce. As there has not been a significant increase in service on the LIRR in recent years, the data would suggest that the MTA and LIRR are inefficiently using their existing workforce.

Finally, as several studies have found that one's productivity drops significantly after more than 50 hours of work in a given week, we further need to question whether all of these overtime hours are actually productive or merely leading to even more overtime as work is not efficiently being completed, thereby requiring additional overtime from other employees.

All in all, it points to very sloppy management by the MTA and LIRR of its existing workforce.

Keep in mind a worker at overtime is still cheaper than a second employee since benefits stay same.

say base pay for worker is $80 k if person works another 20 hours a week he makes $160k or if he works 40 hours he gets $240k
this one worker also cost LIRR about 100k in benefits and insurance and accommodations etc etc .


so hire second worker you say ?? ok $ 80 k times 2 plus $100k times 2 so now we pay $ 360 k

All the more reason to look at the overall efficiency of the MTA workforce. If the MTA is paying, in one example, an employee 3x his base salary in overtime, then there is something seriously wrong with how efficiently it is utilizing its workforce. Keep in mind this is taxpayer money. So efficiency of the workforce is paramount.

So, yes, I do believe people have every right to be outraged over learning that the MTA's overtime costs continue to go up by double digits. Without that level of civic engagement a lot of systems and programs would break down. We shouldn't deride those who are concerned over this rise in overtime costs. Instead, we should examine whether those concerns point to a bigger problem that is brewing that will eventually come to a boil.

I'm sure that the MTA and the State of New York celebrate your level of civic engagement. Your insightful comments here should launch a thorough investigation.

Datenail please stay on topic and leave politics out of this discussion.

Kelly is on the money with the craft being specialized. To further add onto what he said, typically MofW and MofE are highly regarded departments within the LIRR and they know it. This is not only specific to the LIRR but is common in the industry. Transportation has often played the role as the sacrificial lamb taking the brunt of criticism when the rank and file crack the top 10% of earners. It makes better headlines when Newsday ridicules a Conductor or Locomotive engineer verses a car inspector or a sheet metal worker.

The 2015 figures are inflated largely part because the back time pay was paid out. Anybody making in the $200K range as a craft employee are certainly logging in a lot of hours and working relief days. Let's also not forget the abundant amount of perks and allowances the high ranking officials get that are not publicized on SeeThruNY (housing allowances, security detail, company car, etc.)

The executives (political appointees) of the MTA receive a pension at age 60 equal to 1/2 their best annual pay after only five years' work. They receive full medical benefits for their families for the remainder of their life. Some also receive gasoline credit cards for their family members for life.

The outrage should be at the MTA political hires who can retire at 60 and get half the salary, etc.