Gothamist: Why Are So Many LIRR Retirees on Disability?

soopaman

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 14:08:11 -0500

What!!!!!!! Unions are scrwing us? No way this is news to me. Renamp the whole system and dump those lazy G.E.D grads.

smokedgouda

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:11:30 -0500

You right wingers sure use this to bolster other, unrelated arguments... Ides_of_march: please show us your proof that the NYT sent a plane full of reporters to report on Palin's daughter. It's a silly statement but it comes across like you're serious. Nannystate: these ex-employees scamming the LIRR would do this whether there was nationalized healthcare or not. Thanks to the NYT for great investigative journalism.

Spiritof76

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 23:04:15 -0500

Are you saying that if only Lehman had been unionized, it would have prevented the market meltdown? Paterson has announced AG Cuomo will be investigating this. Good. I think criminal charges are in order. Then maybe a little union-busting.

WestVillageVintage

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 20:25:44 -0500

@Spiritof76 This would not be the week to put out an anti union rant based on the "free market" not being able to ..whatever you said

ntwrkguy

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 15:24:51 -0500

Finally, the New York Times conducts investigative journalism! A new day has arrived!

Rolltide23

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 14:57:31 -0500

What? Unions? No. They couldnt possibly be the problem. 77K to drive an MTA bus is reasonable.

NannyState

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 14:52:57 -0500

This is what happens when you don't have a national healthcare system. Private and public employers get stuck with these bills and fraudulent claims while their competitors abroad have no such burdens. Add unions to the mix with their contracts laden with clauses that prevent you from trimming payrolls and eliminating positions that aren't needed, plus guaranteeing these healthcare claims and is it any wonder the MTA is broke, GM is begging Congress for $25 billion, and stories like this come out. We the people are paying for these garbages anyway so why don't we pay for ourselves while we're at it?

eyekantspel

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 14:41:46 -0500

unions

Mr Mel

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:46:28 -0500

In the case of how the guy whose $50,000 salary mushroomed to $250,000, it was no secret, it has been done for years. I think might have been in the Daily News or Post some years ago. Everybody that was complicit in this fraud should be exposed and punished. They abused the system and stole from the riders, The stationmasters, the supervisors, the union et al. To knowingly let a guy sleep in the station to pad his income is unconscionable. The people who receive (probably tax free) disability income when the take early retirement should make restitution. If members of the MTA hierarchy were aware of it, they too should be accountable, ditto the union officials.

ides_of_march

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:37:51 -0500

The Times should do more stories like this instead of sending a plane load of reporters to dig up dirt on Sarah Palin's daughter.

Spiritof76

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:35:09 -0500

Heads should roll in MTA management - as much as you can blame the union, it sounds like nobody in management was even aware of it. Why should they be aware of it? The MTA does not approve disability payments. That's all up to the Railroad Retirement Board, a federal agency. There's no reason the MTA is even told and the RRB rubber-stamps almost every claim. The MTA can't seem to win. If they fight the TWU, people scream that they're anti-union. If they give the TWU anything, people scream that they should be more aggressive negotiators. If the MTA stands firm against a strike threat, people scream that they don't care about the riders. I'm not saying the MTA is blameless, but the blame is by far on the stinking union. If you can't tell, I hate unions with a passion. They're outdated, early 20th century institutions based on the premise that the free market can't provide working conditions and that other people should not be allowed to take a job that "rightfully belongs" to you and only you at lower pay if they so desire.

Spiritof76

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:20:13 -0500

Abolish the damn union. How can anybody find it defensible when "union contracts have various rules that allow some workers to earn many times their usual daily wage"? Yeah, these union members desperately need the protection of organized labor. That's nothing but bull. The MTA needs to nail these cheaters, charge them with fraud and threaten them with prison terms if they don't repay the money they took, plus interest and penalties. The riders shouldn't have to pay higher fares so these crooks can have cushy lives. I hope people remember this the next time the TWU starts making noises about a strike to get wage increases. But I doubt they will.

JacqueMehoff

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:14:15 -0500

Next should be a story on NYPD retirees on disability.

NeatEngine

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:09:57 -0500

This is EXACTLY the type of story I've been wanting to see since the MTA announced its budget shortfalls. Bravo to The New York Times for this investigative journalism! All of us who take mass transit and who live in the New York metropolitan area should (a) demand more stories like this from our media and (b) insist that the MTA, the LIRR and the transportation unions seriously examine its pension structure. After a story like this, the MTA, the LIRR and transportation unions should seriously think twice before asking the good people of New York to pay higher fares or our politicians in NYC and Albany to contribute more taxpayer dollars.

arsguide

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:04:16 -0500

anytime the mta or a city agency complains about a budget shortfall...they should remember this..its ALWAYS BS...they can make look like whatever they want by wasting money six days to sunday..how any has love for the city despite all its corruption is beyond me.

handsomedevil

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:38:03 -0500

On the same weekend as the $700bill bailout, we get this story about bloat and abuse in the MTA. I mean, good job NYT, but jesus... Hope somebody out there can actually fix this, maybe even get some of that money back. Heads should roll in MTA management - as much as you can blame the union, it sounds like nobody in management was even aware of it.

ides_of_march

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:28:53 -0500

I'll take a wild shot in the dark here and guess that some of them are scamming the system.