Every day’s a half-day at work — at least for hundreds of MTA employees.
Outdoor subway-track workers routinely get paid for a full day’s work, even though they are busy for only four hours out of their eight-hour shift, according to a new report by MTA Inspector General Barry Kluger.
“Four hours of track maintenance on an eight-hour shift is not acceptable,” Kluger said
The MTA allows outdoor track workers on the rails only from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. — even though the full shift is 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. — because they don’t want employees to slow down rush-hour trains or be at risk, the report said.
As a result, the agency shells out about $10 million each year in wages and benefits to 455 workers who are reading, chatting or fiddling with iPods instead of repairing the rails.
Kluger said the MTA and Transport Workers Union Local 100 need to find a way to “get more weekend work” on outdoor tracks.
MTA officials said they would talk to union officials this month about placing more workers on weekend shifts.
Unlike the underground tracks, the agency does not allow work on outdoor tracks at night.