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Um... woah. How is this going to be helpful? They're shutting down entire lines at a time?
Quote:
The MTA plans to shut down segments of subway lines with two programs to get more work done in shorter periods of time. Maintenance Line Segment Closures on consecutive weeknights between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. Jan. 9-13 – 4, 5, 6: Grand Central to Atlantic Ave., B’klyn. Feb. 13-17 – 1, 2, 3: 34th St. to Atlantic Ave. Feb. 20-24 – B, D, F, M: 59th St. to W. Fourth St. March 12-16 – A, C, E: 59th St to Jay St., B’klyn.
They save money and inconvenience fewer riders than they would if they did it on the weekends.
Plus, although the riders are stuck with making extra transfers while the subway runs on 20 minute headways, they don't have to deal with as much crowding that would happen if they shut them down on the weekends.
But then again, are they really saving that much money. They're shutting down the line for 7 hours, but realistically, they're only working for 4-5 hours and probably getting paid for a full 7-8 hour shift. I'm not begrudging those workers their pay, but that's 30-40% of the savings right there.
Strike-Fearing MTA Starts Negotiating New Union Contract
A scene from the 2005 strike we'd rather not see again (hbomb1947's flickr).
Welcome to the MTA, John Lhota—now deal with the union! The MTA's new chairman only just started his job yesterday and already he is being thrown into the fire. Nearly six years after the Transit Workers Union struck and ground the city to a halt for three days negotiations for a new worker's union have begun. Luckily, one of the first things Lhota has done to differentiate himself from his predecessor, Jay Walder, is start buddying up with the union.
The MTA is trying to keep its bloated budget frozen for the next three years, but TWU Local 100 workers want more money. "We're looking for a fair wage increase, and a fair wage increase is not three zeroes," explained John Samuelsen, president of Transport Workers Union Local 100.
The current three-year contract between the MTA and TWU 100 expires January 15, so at least there is some time for both sides to let out their grievances before (hopefully!) coming to a good solution. And right now at least the MTA seems to be taking the union's desire for more money seriously (with some catches). "They can have an increase in their wages as long as we get work rule changes or other contributions to reduce the cost in the budget to zero," Robert Foran, the MTA's chief financial officer, told reporters.
One bad sign for TWU workers? This year, Governor Andrew Cuomo successfully got some major concessions from two big unions, putting major pressure on the Authority to do the same. Interestingly, the MTA's new plans for consecutive nightly subway shutdownsjust happens to start right when worker's current contracts expire
They save money and inconvenience fewer riders than they would if they did it on the weekends.
Plus, although the riders are stuck with making extra transfers while the subway runs on 20 minute headways, they don't have to deal with as much crowding that would happen if they shut them down on the weekends.
But then again, are they really saving that much money. They're shutting down the line for 7 hours, but realistically, they're only working for 4-5 hours and probably getting paid for a full 7-8 hour shift. I'm not begrudging those workers their pay, but that's 30-40% of the savings right there.
I wonder how they are saving money, when they have or borrowing millions of dollars to build a 2nd ave line and extend the 7th ave line
The mta needs to fire whoever is in charge, with these interuptions and mismanagement with money.
I wonder how they are saving money, when they have or borrowing millions of dollars to build a 2nd ave line and extend the 7th ave line
What does new construction have to do with maintenance? Those are two completely different things.
The problem right now is that they can only work on Sundays, which is 1 day a week, 4 days a month. Only like 45 working days in a year (if you include the holidays)!
What does new construction have to do with maintenance? Those are two completely different things.
The problem right now is that they can only work on Sundays, which is 1 day a week, 4 days a month. Only like 45 working days in a year (if you include the holidays)!
I was waiting patiently to see if anyone would look at the situation rationally. And you did it fairly early on in the thread.
(On the downside of things, this proposal comes as a direct result of the Hurricane Irene experience. Nobody had ever considered shutting down entire lines--let alone the whole system--before. You can call that an "emergency response" if you want to; I believe that it was actually a precedent, and we're going to see this sort of thing from now on. Remember these words when the weather bureau predicts a major blizzard coming to New York!)
Incidentally, when they decide to shut everything down, their detailed plans generally have no provisions for getting those of us who actually work for MTA to and from our scheduled locations. If this doesn't seem to make sense to you...you're not alone.
Incidentally, when they decide to shut everything down, their detailed plans generally have no provisions for getting those of us who actually work for MTA to and from our scheduled locations.
Fred,
Make sure you always carry a sandwich and a thermos full of icy martinis.
I wonder how they are saving money, when they have or borrowing millions of dollars to build a 2nd ave line and extend the 7th ave line
The mta needs to fire whoever is in charge, with these interuptions and mismanagement with money.
The Second Avenue Subway is one of the most needed projects in the city. The Lexington Avenue Line is over capacity and the M15 +SBS+ isn't going to cut it as a long term replacement.
They're not extending the 7th Avenue Line anywhere. Do you mean the Flushing Line, which is being extended to the Javits Center?
In any case, they're still (supposedly) saving money by doing this. The fact that they spend money on other projects has nothing to do with this plan.
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