MTA docks two days pay for NYC TWU100 transit workers who were MIA during Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath

MTA docks two days pay for NYC TWU100 transit workers who were MIA during Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath

Union enraged, claims many workers were stranded without mass transit

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/mta-docks-pay-mia-transit-workers-ar...

BY PETE DONOHUE / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2012, 10:33 AM

ALLISON JOYCE/GETTY IMAGES

Commuters wait for the D train November 4, 2012 in New York City.

The MTA has docked two days’ pay for hundreds of transit workers who were allegedly MIA during Hurricane Sandy, infuriating the union, the Daily News has learned.
An internal memo circulated Friday announced that all hourly employees who took the day off without calling in on Monday, Oct. 29, when the agency was moving equipment to higher ground in the runup to the storm, and the following day to deal with the aftermath, “are to be held WOP (Without Pay).”
The memo added that workers can later apply to get paid, but would have an equal amount of sick or vacation time taken away from them.
Transport Workers Union Local 100 President John Samuelsen was livid, saying many transit workers themselves rely on the subways and buses to get to their jobs, and couldn’t make it to their posts that Monday and Tuesday.
“How do you shut down the entire bus and subway system and then penalize people for not getting to work?” Samuelsen fumed.
He said thousands of workers who managed to get to work midweek and “busted their asses” for days getting the system back up and running are getting shafted.
“They worked around the clock getting the system back so people could get to their jobs and school, and the Transit Authority is now kicking dirt in their face,” Samuelsen said.
MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota referred questions about the pay issue to NYC Transit President Thomas Prendergast.
Prendergast told The News the agency understands some workers were grappling with the same problems as other area residents, including the loss of power and damage to their homes, so the agency would only penalize workers who failed to call in.
“But if someone never called in, never let us know what they were going to do, and never came into work, we’re not going to pay them,” Prendergast said.
Samuelsen said the agency is unfairly putting the onus on transit workers to prove they called a supervisor, or tried to call a supervisor, to explain why they couldn’t come to work during the storm.
Transit workers are paid every other week. For the vast majority, the next payday is Thursday.
Top-paid bus drivers could stand to lose $480.
Prendergast estimated that “hundreds, not thousands” of the agency’s roughly 34,000 workers would get their pay docked or be forced to use their sick days or vacation days.
“We will be understanding but we’re a vital component of the transportation element in times like this,” Prendergast said. “It’s important to get the system up and running as soon as possible .”
The agency has made arrangements for stranded workers to take shuttle buses or livery cars, Prendergast said. But they have to call their bosses so such arrangements can be extended.
If the agency “automatically” paid workers who were missing in action withou having a valid reason, it ran the risk of having more workers shirk their responsibilities in the future, Prendergast said. At some point, the authority could be faced with an emergency and not have sufficient manpower, he said.
pdonohue@nydailynews.com

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