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Originally Posted by JustJess
You should share the benefits of the surplus with those who work for it, shouldn't you? Why, especially knowing that they'll have deficits shortly, would they decide to give big discounts to riders etc rather than settle the contract with their workers? It's bad form to crow about a surplus and then try to cheap out on your employees.
I think guaranteed raises that exceed 3% qualifies as sharing a surplus. Although I agree that a fare discount was a bad way of squandering this temporary surplus, I do think that if you want to redistribute a surplus you give it back to the people that created it. After all, you and I paid for the MTA in the first place by buying metrocards and paying our taxes. A subsidized agency SHOULD give the money back to the people who paid it in the first place. THE MTA is not a non-profit organization - it is a government agency subsidized by taxes. At any rate, it is pretty well established at this point that this year's surplus is very temporary - even as currently projected the MTA is facing multi-billion dollar deficits in the near future.
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The surplus is not a million dollars sitting in the bank. But money they did not expect to have for projects so was not budgeted. They have a ton of work to do, not including the 2nd avenue line etc.. And their base salary rocks, retiring at 55, etc.. I am sorry they ask for respect, where is the respect for the millions of clients who use them. Seriously I wish the judge threw their board in jail for contempt as well. Heck the parent union even agrees.
But crippling the entire city, causing this amount of damage, is just wrong, there is nothing that can even begin to justify their actions.