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To the editor:
Congestion pricing is not about congestion or pollution, which will just be transferred elsewhere. It's about revenue. But now the MTA’s management is complaining that it will not raise enough money.
If management is truly concerned about having more money to run their system, perhaps they should deal with other issues. Harassing good workers with an abusive disciplinary system wastes money. Random crime which includes people being pushed in front of trains causes more people to avoid the subway and that costs them revenue. Fare-beating that is so common that paying for a ride is considered a voluntary option and costs the MTA money.
As someone who retired from New York City Transit in 2011, I raise these questions. Has half of New York City Transit's workforce still been hit with disciplinary charges? Are these charges still mostly bogus? Are supervisors still told to discipline good workers because the fact that others are bad workers means you already have something on them?
Are supervisors who do a good job and not only refuse to discipline good workers but defend them still denied promotions? Are supervisors who discipline more workers still likely to be promoted?
One union rep told me she was asked by a manager why she never tried for a promotion. She answered, "Because I like to eat. If a manager tells me to write somebody up who doesn't deserve it and I refuse, I'll be taken out of service. Then I won't be paid and I won't be able to eat."
Richard Warren
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