Thursday, February 28, 2008
Money Troubles?
The Port Authority has a backlog of cash? Apparently so as 26 barrels of cash and coins worth up to $1.5 million, about one month’s worth of fare collections, sits in a facility waiting to be processed. Normally the backlog is only two to four barrels.
Why the hold up? Port Authority management is claiming that in December the division responsible for counting and processing the cash had an unusually large number of missing days. The division’s 15 employees missed “769 hours for illness, vacation, or disability and family leave.” Of course the union representing these employees disputes this charge and instead points to personnel cutbacks as the culprit. Authority management notes that two positions were cut last year while the union says five to six positions were lost.
While the squabbling over the reason amounts to less than peanuts, it is a stark reminder that the mass transit system needs a major overhaul. This is a monopoly provider operating under heavy union influence. A rational person might ask why an employee from another division couldn’t be reassigned to help out. But as the authority’s spokesperson noted when asked that question: “We can’t reassign folks, with the work rules we have, we don’t have the ability to reassign people. We’re stuck.”
The spokesperson did reveal that the transit agency is considering outsourcing the counting operation saying “It’s something we’d be foolish not to look at.” But that would just be like skimming a snowball off an iceberg. What the Port Authority needs is to have its monopoly power revoked and to have parts of the system bid out to private and even other public transit operators. The process could be done gradually as was done in Denver to minimize disruptions, but a clear path to privatizing most if not all of this Authority is needed.
Why the hold up? Port Authority management is claiming that in December the division responsible for counting and processing the cash had an unusually large number of missing days. The division’s 15 employees missed “769 hours for illness, vacation, or disability and family leave.” Of course the union representing these employees disputes this charge and instead points to personnel cutbacks as the culprit. Authority management notes that two positions were cut last year while the union says five to six positions were lost.
While the squabbling over the reason amounts to less than peanuts, it is a stark reminder that the mass transit system needs a major overhaul. This is a monopoly provider operating under heavy union influence. A rational person might ask why an employee from another division couldn’t be reassigned to help out. But as the authority’s spokesperson noted when asked that question: “We can’t reassign folks, with the work rules we have, we don’t have the ability to reassign people. We’re stuck.”
The spokesperson did reveal that the transit agency is considering outsourcing the counting operation saying “It’s something we’d be foolish not to look at.” But that would just be like skimming a snowball off an iceberg. What the Port Authority needs is to have its monopoly power revoked and to have parts of the system bid out to private and even other public transit operators. The process could be done gradually as was done in Denver to minimize disruptions, but a clear path to privatizing most if not all of this Authority is needed.
