The Queens District Attorney has joined the investigation on overtime abuse by MTA and LIRR workers. This could result in criminal charges against those employees.
One LIRR employee made more than $300,000 in overtime last year. That’s more than the salary of the railroad president and the MTA’s managing director. The officer has since retired. The MTA recently disciplined five other employees for overtime abuses.
MTA police now monitor employee time cards, but union leaders have criticized the new policy.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo says the potential abuse is theft from taxpayers, though he says that overtime abuse is not a reflection on the work ethic of most LIRR workers.
“The overwhelming majority of Long Island Rail Road workers and New York City transit workers, I believe, are great people. I work with them, I’m on the tracks with them, I’m there in the middle of the night with them, they do great work under difficult conditions, and dangerous conditions by the way.”
MTA police visited several work sites last week to monitor attendance and employee time sheets.
Cuomo acknowledges that there has been significant legitimate overtime as the LIRR struggles to improve on-time performance.
