Report: MTA workers brought in almost $1B in overtime in 2018

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - According to a report commissioned by the MTA Board, transit workers on New York City’s buses and subways alone racked up nearly one billion dollars in overtime in 2018.

Workers on the Long Island Railroad and the Metro-North Railroad combined to bring in another $345M.

The report begins with a quote from a 2010 report, saying “The MTA has not effectively managed and controlled its overtime costs…. Overtime has become the rule, rather than the exception.”

Nine years later, as costs balloon, improvements and upgrades are still stagnant.

“They’re still using attendance sheets, still using paper time cards for an organization that has more than 70,000 employees,” said Will Bredderman of Crain’s Business.

The report suggests that the number one necessity is a plan holding leadership, management and the worker to account. 

In a statement, the MTA called them “…well-thought-out recommendations, in light of the authority’s severe financial situation.”

The Transit Workers Union recommended that the MTA Board’s finance chair, Lawrence Schwartz, be fired.