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The Long Island Rail Road's largest union will vote Wednesday night on whether it will go on strike as early as next month -- potentially stranding 300,000 daily commuters.
LIRR unions have been without a contract since June 2010. The unions have balked at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's demands that they accept a three-year freeze in labor costs. Workers could get raises, but only if they were funded through other concessions, including eliminating some work rules and increasing employee contributions to health care benefits.
Without the unions' acceptance of the "three net zeros" proposal, the MTA has said it would have to raise fares by as much as 12 percent next year.
These union people want big pay raises, but refuse to make any changes to their work rules. Among other things, these are examples of items on the books that taxpayers have to deal with:
"Rule 24," has racked up an immense amount of overtime for a handful of mechanics at the Richmond Hill facility, and only the Richmond Hill facility, stipulates that the LIRR is required to fill all vacant work slots at the LIRR's main diesel facility regardless of weather or not the manpower is actually needed. This archaic rule means that if an employee were to be away on vacation or out sick, the LIRR would have to get someone else to fill his place, even if that person would have to be paid overtime. There have been multiple instances where mechanics have worked shifts as long as 32 hours straight (all the while getting time and a half or double time for their troubles) all because the spots had to be filled. This rule netted several mechanics who work at "Rich Man's Hill" almost three times their base salary.
"Co-mingling", blatant problem. As per a rule that has been on the books since the 1960's, if an engineer operates both diesel and electric equipment during the same shift, he or she is entitled to an entire extra day's pay. So if an engineer that starts out on an electric run moves a diesel, even for a couple of feet, they get an entire extra day's worth of pay. As you might imagine, the penalty pay resulting from this rule can be pretty staggering at times when the railroad is recovering from service disruptions or when a piece of equipment malfunctions. And as per the LIRR's operating rules, the Dual-Mode engines (the 500 series engines that can operate on both diesel power and third rail) are considered electric equipment while the DE's (the 400 series engines that look almost identical to the DM's and can be used interchangeably) are not.
So an engineer that operates a DM to start out his shift and then switches to a DE at some point will be entitled to an extra day's pay. What's worse, if by some odd chance that a train is fitted out with a DE on one end and a DM on the other, the engineer will get double the pay anyways without having to leave his train. This such condition can make things uncomfortable for the equipment manager in particular. The LIRR has made a concerted effort to make Oyster Bay have all DM's and Port Jefferson and Montauk to have all DE's (with the exception of the actual DM runs into New York). However, with only 24 DE's and 21 DM's, there is very little wiggle room in terms of engines, and there is always that odd chance that a stray DE that ended up in Oyster Bay yard could end up costing the LIRR a ton
This rule has been on the books since 1924 and involves a crew doing something outside their normal assignment. If an engineer operates a train that is other than his or her regularly assigned train, then that engineer can get an additional straight-time hour of pay for every hour spent operating that train. This rule in particular does not favor service disruptions, as in the event one train is late, the LIRR could be forced to choose between delaying the second train until the first one arrives, or pressing another crew into service to get the train out on-time and incurring the penalty pay. It's a troubling conundrum that is often forced on the hands of the dispatchers. Do they anger the commuters by making them wait for the inbound crew or do they anger the bookkeepers by sending a different crew out in hopes of keeping the schedule and getting the passengers home on-time?
The MTA should just fire them all if they go on strike. If they want wage increases, fine, negotiate the percentage and cut out all those ridiculous rules. Tax payers shouldn't have to suffer through another fare increase just because of greedy unions.
union people want big pay raises, but refuse to make any changes to ... work rules.
How about this: On the LIRR website, publicly disclose the entire compensation (salaries, benefits & perks) of every employee. Not just the union workers, but all the bosses, all the way up the line.
People can then see how much LIRR employees are paid, and how it is calculated. There may be a public outcry, but transparency is the catchword here. Also disclose how many days each worked, how many vacation, sick personal, comp & other leave days were accrued & used, etc. Some big shots are awarded lot of those days, just so they can be cashed in upon separation or retirement.
The public may be rightfully outraged over archaic work rules, but should also know the perks of the big shots. Who gets a free car, for working on the railroad? Why? Who attends conferences all over the country and world, flying business class, staying at expensive hotels, and eating at fancy restaurants on the public dime, while earning frequent flyer miles for their personal use?
The public may be rightfully outraged over archaic work rules, but should also know the perks of the big shots. Who gets a free car, for working on the railroad? Why? Who attends conferences all over the country and world, flying business class, staying at expensive hotels, and eating at fancy restaurants on the public dime, while earning frequent flyer miles for their personal use?
In this day and age I find it funny that these workers are willing to strike as if replacements are hard to find. I'm sure plenty of recent college graduates have the capability of doing the job of the majority of these workers at a much more reasonable rate.
In this day and age I find it funny that these workers are willing to strike as if replacements are hard to find. I'm sure plenty of recent college graduates have the capability of doing the job of the majority of these workers at a much more reasonable rate.
Do you have any idea what it takes to operate a locomotive safely? Perform track work?
Your average college graduate would wet themselves and then sit down and weep if they had to do what most RR workers must on a daily basis.
How much do they make? I always felt like the LIRR was overpriced, slightly unreliable, and slow. Are they asking for a raise to be able to afford continuing to live in Long Island or because they are truly due a raise?
How much do they make? I always felt like the LIRR was overpriced, slightly unreliable, and slow. Are they asking for a raise to be able to afford continuing to live in Long Island or because they are truly due a raise?
Salaries are very good for most positions, but the biggest burden to taxpayers is the antiquated defined benefits pension system. All government agencies need to move to 401K's. Employees should be entitled to retire on what they put into the system, not some fantasyland pyramid scheme that requires an unrealistic compounded annual investment return
Do you have any idea what it takes to operate a locomotive safely? Perform track work?
Your average college graduate would wet themselves and then sit down and weep if they had to do what most RR workers must on a daily basis.
I was talking about the ticket handlers, management, and administrative staff. The ones who have technical knowledge would be much harder to replace but skills like these can be taught to someone willing to learn under a cheaper fellowship contract.
Back in the 80's Reagen fired air traffic controllers for god's sake...I'm sure there are skilled workers lined 100 deep...if they strike fire them all...
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