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Metro's biggest problem is.. and always has been.. their lazy, rude and incompetent staff who are grossly overpaid and basically bleeding metro dry while offering little value in return.
Grossly overpaid? Compared to what exactly? If you compare the front line metro workers and their first level supervisory positions to federal employees, they would be GS 5/7/9's at best.
Or do you want these folks to be operating these trains and buses on a minimum wage salary?
Grossly overpaid? Compared to what exactly? If you compare the front line metro workers and their first level supervisory positions to federal employees, they would be GS 5/7/9's at best.
Or do you want these folks to be operating these trains and buses on a minimum wage salary?
They are overpaid for the value they bring. They are incompetent. All incompetent employees.. no matter where they work are overpaid. If you flip burgers and you are incompetent at that.. then you are overpaid even if you make one dollar a day.
The ideologies of those complaining the loudest on Twitter, Facebook tend to have strong libertarian, pro-capitalist leanings. The kind of people who prefer labor to take a back seat to the interests of bosses and capital. The kind of people who want to privatize every public transit system in the United States just so they can shrink "government into the the size of a bathtub".
I fully support public transit (and agree with you), but please note that mass transit was not subsidized by government at its inception. The same cannot be said about the expansive and overbuilt highway/road networks to the suburbs.
I'd only support WMATA cuts if the endless horizontal expansion stopped. It's financially unsustainable.
They are overpaid for the value they bring. They are incompetent. All incompetent employees.. no matter where they work are overpaid. If you flip burgers and you are incompetent at that.. then you are overpaid even if you make one dollar a day.
Grossly overpaid? Compared to what exactly? If you compare the front line metro workers and their first level supervisory positions to federal employees, they would be GS 5/7/9's at best.
Or do you want these folks to be operating these trains and buses on a minimum wage salary?
Actually, if you add in their essentially 'free' pension, they're making much more.
I have a close friend who works for WMATA and it's considered a weekly event when he tells stories of what happens behind closed doors.
Most of the people he describes would be working at Mcdonald's if they weren't with WMATA (even that may be a stretch at times). This particular friend gets paid quite well for a very simplistic job. Up until the crack down on overtime these people were bringing home pretty hefty paychecks.
I'm not knocking his gig, just stating facts.
Last edited by Ibanezguitar; 10-17-2015 at 02:05 PM..
Reason: grammar
Actually, if you add in their essentially 'free' pension, they're making much more.
I have a close friend who works for WMATA and it's considered a weekly event when he tells stories of what happens behind closed doors.
Most of the people he describes would be working at Mcdonald's if they weren't with WMATA (even that may be a stretch at times). This particular friend gets paid quite well for a very simplistic job. Up until the crack down on overtime these people were bringing home pretty hefty paychecks.
I'm not knocking his gig, just stating facts.
Yep.
All the incompetent WMATA employees need to be canned and replaced. Salaries also need to match value. Metro basically pays incompetent people high salaries to do EASY jobs, then begs for more money because the system is falling apart.
If ANYONE can do your job after a few hours of training.. then it ain't that difficult. Which means the pay should not be very high.
The people at WMATA who need to be replaced are at the top and the Board of Directors. The rank and file workers are fine. The incompetence has been at the Board and CEO level. A federal takeover like DC had a few years ago will help. I wonder if Tony Williams is willing to step in?
I don't know enough about the Metro financing or operations to know if the system is underfunded or poorly run.
But, it does seem to suffer from the "job for life" mentality that affects most government jobs. People get hired young at relatively low pay and then over the years see their pay rise based more on longevity than job performance. Many, maybe even most people, are naturally hard working and will be very good employees. But, others will realize they will get paid the same regardless of whether they work their buts off or do just enough to get by. This is compounded by the fact that after a few years, most "front line" Metro workers are making a lot more money than they otherwise would be making on the outside. They leads many people to "ride it out for the pension" even if they hate the job. Being stuck in a job happens in lots of organizations, but at least in the private sector there is a possibility of being fired for mediocre performance.
I'm not sure how you fix this issue? I wouldn't want to seem Metro employment turned into some sort of low paid Mcjob. But, it does seem metro still largely runs as a 1950s style bureaucracy. Perhaps the airlines offer a middle ground. Not as cushy as a metro job, but not exactly a dead end job either.
They are overpaid for the value they bring. They are incompetent. All incompetent employees.. no matter where they work are overpaid. If you flip burgers and you are incompetent at that.. then you are overpaid even if you make one dollar a day.
Incompetent = Overpaid
Quote:
Originally Posted by dkf747
I think it is more accurate to say:
Right Salary, wrong person.
I agree with Chriz. There is no need for PCness.
I have had rash of instances recently where the finance department dropped the ball and employees are out of pay checks for month or so. This goes on all the time. Or the HR of huge federal departments have no clue on how to process veterans or new employees. No consequence to their actions, just business as usual.
Incompetent = Overpaid **especially when your job is to **** (cut by poster) ensure employees are getting paid and you mismanage funding while your *** is getting paid on time... Incompetent = loss of job = NO Pay.
But then again, that would be us living in a perfect world.
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