Hundreds of workers that have failed to report to work during Hurricane Sandy will be docked pay worth two days according to information released by MTA. In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the transit system of New York City was shut down and workers had to go around the clock in order to get subways back in operation. As a result there is tension between workers of the Metropolitan Transit Authority workers and its management.
Officials announced that workers who did not report to work or get in touch with supervisors when Sandy arrived between October 29th and 30th will not be receiving pay for those days. While the management understands workers were affected by the storm, there was still a duty to report to management regarding their ability to work. Those who did not alert management as to their work status will lose wages for the two days. Absent workers may apply for vacation or sick time use for the days they did not report to work. The wages earned by hourly workers through MTA ranges between $16.11 and $35.51 an hour per the union.
Union officials however are arguing that some of the transit workers were advised to not report to work. Others in the city did not have a method for getting to work as the bus services and subway lines had been shut down effective October 28th. More than 36.000 hourly wage transit employees are represented by the Transport Workers Union Local 100. They also have argued that those living in the hardest hit areas also did not have access to telephone service after the storm hit.
Many transit workers joined with other staff to work 24 hour shifts for cleanup efforts starting October 30th to get the subway back in operation. Some of those workers reported that the MTA sent vans to areas near their home so they could report to work. Bus services went back into operation on November 1st along with partial subway operation.