Wednesday, MTA Chairman Pat Foye said the agency has OK’d a plan for outside consultants to do a 60-day analysis of its payroll systems. The review won’t focus specifically on overtime, but it comes just weeks after the Empire Center reported soaring levels of OT at the LIRR. Read More
Kluger’s departure comes as overtime abuse at the MTA and the LIRR are now the subject of a federal probe. The IG’s office launched its own investigation into the agency’s overtime practices earlier this month at Foye’s urging, following a report by the Empire Center for Public Policy that revealed skyrocketing pay rates among some MTA employees. Read More
Government watchdogs and transit advocates have put new pressure on the MTA to tackle its labor costs after fiscal watchdog group the Empire Center revealed it spent $1.3 billion on overtime in 2018. Read More
The heightened focus on overtime follows a report by the Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscally conservative, nonprofit think tank based in Albany, that revealed six of the top 10 earners at the MTA last year were LIRR laborers, whose senior status allowed them to significantly increase their take-home pay by piling on overtime. The MTA's highest-paid employee last year, LIRR chief measurement officer Thomas Caputo, made $344,147 in overtime on top of his base salary of $117,499, according to the report. Read More
When it comes to outrageous pensions and overtime at the MTA and public entities, we find ourselves at a crossroad. Thanks to the Empire Center for Public Policy's exposé of a railroad worker soaking up $344, 000 in overtime, the iron is suddenly hot for change. Read More
The MTA's accountability and time management issues differ with each branch. At New York City Transit, there are questions about whether all employees work their full shifts. Because of the size of those operations, that's where more taxpayer and rider dollars are. At the LIRR, which is governed by the Federal Railway Labor Act, a lack of modern record keeping allows overtime abuses. A report by the Empire Center watchdog organization showed some stunning examples. Read More
The source, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said federal prosecutors requested "payroll and other records" for the workers about two and a half weeks ago, shortly after the release of an Empire Center for Public Policy report detailing the authority's payroll in 2018. Read More
The revelation that a 33-year Long Island Rail Road track worker with a $54,989 base salary raked in $311,162 last year, outrageous as it was, came as no surprise. Every year veteran Metropolitan Transportation Authority employees cash in massively on overtime. Every year the abuse is flagged by salary-data hounds at the Empire Center for New York State Policy. Every year the media publishes the story. And every year the MTA pledges to act but does nothing. At the LIRR, overtime costs rose more than 50% in the past four years. Read More