


















Nearly a dozen Long Island Rail Road workers are hauling in more than $200,000 a year in overtime alone — a mind-boggling figure that rivals Gov. Kathy Hochul’s entire salary.
The transit arm’s latest payroll records reveal that a slew of its unionized workers — whose strike is wreaking havoc on the metro area’s hard-working masses — are personally striking gold at the taxpayer’s expense.
More than 325 Long Island Rail Road workers are raking in over $100,000 a year in overtime on top of their lucrative salaries, with 11 of them netting at least twice that huge figure in OT.
Overtime costs account for a staggering 22% of the LIRR’s payroll, noted Ken Girardin, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute think tank.
“Gov. Kathy Hochul needs to use the bully pulpit and explain why the LIRR shouldn’t cave,’’ Girardin told The Post on Sunday, referring to the MTA’s contentious contract talks with five LIRR unions repping thousands of workers.
“She can start by talking about how, thanks to inefficient union contracts, the LIRR had 11 employees last year collect over $200,000 each in overtime,” Girardin said.
“The LIRR workers are already the best compensated transit workers in the United States,” he said.
Among the commuter railroads’ top OT kings are:
By comparison, Hochul makes $250,000 annually as governor of the state of New York, a post that also makes her the de facto boss of the LIRR.
Espinosa, meanwhile, was fingered last year as one of three dozen LIRR workers who allegedly used a fake ID scheme to avoid work while still getting paid, according to a probe conducted by MTA Inspector General Daniel Cort.
In 2021, The Post wrote a series of stories about OT fraud at the LIRR, which resulted in federal indictments and “OT King” Thomas Caputo getting sentenced to eight months in prison after copping to fraud theft that netted him thousands of dollars.
The Empire Center for Public Policy, for years, has highlighted massive OT at the MTA’s agencies, which also include NYC Transit subways and buses, Metro-North and Bridges and Tunnels.
“The LIRR fraud problem has taken many forms over the years,’’ Girardin said.
“The system is so distorted that it’s hard to tell what is legal waste and illegal waste.’’
The union is reportedly demanding a retroactive increase totaling 9.5% for the past three years and a 5% boost this year.
But management is said to only be agreeing to a 3% raise this year on top of a one-time lump-sum payment that would raise the total to 4.5%.
MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said in a statement to The Post on Sunday, “We’re outraged by these [OT] numbers.
“That’s why we are fighting hard to put work rules changes on the table, but so far the unions have adamantly refused to consider any changes.’’
Gov. Hochul’s office declined to comment on the OT issue Sunday — well into the second straight day of the shutdown for the crucial LIRR commuter service.
Kyle Strober, executive director of the Association for a Better Long Island, cautioned that “the key here is not to make a deal just to please the unions and get the trains running if it’s not sustainable.
Any pact has to be “sustainable in the long run,” the advocate said.
Strober said there are three pressure points that can impact the regional economy if the LIRR labor deal gets too expense: fare hikes, an increase in the payroll tax or a higher congestion toll.
“It will make the region less affordable and drive more people out of New York,” he said.
An MTA source noted that the LIRR is the most heavily subsidized operation at the agency
It gets more of its operating budget from subsidies and taxes than the city subway, buses or Metro-North, the source said.
That’s at least partly because the current work rules — which don’t exist anywhere besides the LIRR — require the MTA to spend this much on overtime, the source said.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Blakeman has called for suspending the $9 congestion pricing toll for motorists crossing into core Manhattan during the strike.
Hochul retorted that there is “actually no legal mechanism to do that.’’
此内容由惯性聚合(RSS阅读器)自动聚合整理,仅供阅读参考。 原文来自 — 版权归原作者所有。