EDITORIAL
READERS WRITE
Are you really shocked by LIRR overtime scandal?
LIRR employee overtime and
pension abuse has been going on
for years. It has been repeatedly
documented by internal MTA,
Office of MTA Inspector General,
State Comptroller, Citizens
Budget Commission, Empire
Center for Public Policy audits
and reports, along with numerous
newspaper stories.
Governor Andrew Cuomo and
his appointed MTA Chairman
Patrick Foye and MTA Finance
Committee Chairperson Larry
Schwartz all expressed outrage
over this issue. It reminds
me of Captain Renault from
“Casablanca,” who said “I’m
shocked — shocked — to find
that gambling is going on,”
while at the same time collecting
his winnings.
Union leadership has outnegotiated
management at
contract renewal time for
decades. It is evident that MTA
& LIRR do not have an up-to-date
payroll system which would flag
such abuses. Supervisors who
routinely sign off on overtime
work hour abuses by employees
need to be held accountable.
At the upcoming contract
negotiations, will the MTA insist
that future union contracts include
more flexible work assignments
and reduce salary increases?
What about contracting out
more work to the private sector
or hiring part time employees?
Will they ask employees to
increase their contributions
toward medical coverage
(LIRR non-union workers
only have to contribute 2%) for
medical insurance and
retirement pensions?
Why have Governor Cuomo,
Comptroller DiNapoli, State
Senate Majority Leader Andrea
Stewart Cousins, State Assembly
Speaker Carl Heastie and most
of their colleagues not signed
on and endorsed Assemblyman
Michael Fitzpatrick submitted
legislation that would prohibit
overtime payments from
being factored into a retiree’s
pension calculations?
Larry Penner, Great Neck
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NOW THEY INVESTIGATE?
Mayor Bill de Blasio launched a joint investigation
into the predatory lending practices of taxi medallion
brokers by the Taxi and Limousine Commission,
the Department of Finance and the Department of
Consumer Affairs.
A 45-day review that “will identify and penalize
brokers who have taken advantage of buyers and
misled city authorities,” said the mayor, adding
that it is unacceptable to prey on hardworking New
Yorkers trying to support their families.
We agree. We also agree with state Attorney
General Letitia James starting an inquiry into
the lending and business practices that may have
created the taxi medallion crisis. Her office called
the allegations serious and must be scrutinized.
Where were the mayor and the AG before
the New York Times published its report on the
financial struggles of taxi medallion owners who
were victimized by predatory lenders before the
market collapsed?
The series found that “a handful of powerful
industry leaders artificially drove up the
prices of taxi medallions, creating a bubble that
eventually burst.”
Now they investigate?
Did they not see the rally in March 2018 as yellow
cab drivers placed four coffins at the foot of the steps
to City Hall dropping white flowers atop the caskets?
The protest was in memory of their comrades who
committed suicide in the face of financial ruination
while the city, and the state, did nothing.
Where were the Mayor and the Public Advocate
when 65-year-old Nicanor Ochisor, a Romanian
immigrant who had been driving a yellow taxi since
1989, hung himself in his Maspeth garage just over
a year ago?
According to his GoFundMe page, Ochisor started
to pay off his medallion so his wife could retire but over
the past five years the yellow cab industry weakened
and his income fell nearly 30 percent, making it
impossible to keep up with operating expenses
as his medallion’s value dropped from $1 million
to $180,000.
Where were they a month later when Flushing
resident Yu Mein Chow, 56, was found floating in the
East River, his family claiming the yellow cab driver
committed suicide as a result of crippling debt? Or
Bayside’s Roy Kim, 58, who hanged himself with a
belt in his home after finding himself more than
$500,000 in debt from his medallion deal?
The current mayor and former public advocate
failed them all by their failure to act earlier. We hope
the current probes get results before the body count
rises again.
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TIMESLEDGER,16 MAY 24-30, 2019 BT QNS.COM
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