MTA Puts Brakes On Union-Endorsed Subway Slowdowns
Quote:
The Transport Workers Union is trying to slow down subway trains to increase safety, but the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is slamming the breaks on the efforts.
TWU officials sent an email to nearly 2,000 train operators Friday and started posting a flier asking them to slow down to about 10 mph when entering stations.
MTA leadership ordered the posters be taken down.
The union then wrote a letter to the MTA claiming current protocols are not meeting safety needs and recommended several ways to improve safety, including the slowdown.
In a statement released Monday, the MTA fires back, claiming safety is its top priority and saying, "Some of the actions they are recommending, if implemented, would result in even more hazardous conditions due to overcrowding on platforms and onboard trains. There are other, more effective ways of making the system safer than slowing down train service and we are committed to working towards them."
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http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stori...bway-slowdowns
Yeah, I support worker's rights to unionize, but this smacks of extortion. It wouldn't matter 10mph v the current 15-25mph for suicides (you go to the rear of the platform) or the occasional slip/push. It's a train, it's hard to stop. Might there be 1 or 2 deaths fewer every decade by slowing down trains entering a station? Perhaps, but overall the TWU doesn't really care about that. This is a cynical way to increase overtime pay by tragedy and I'm gonna call it "foul".