NY concerns over OPO trains

Ikar, I am not sure that I have understood your comment 100%. But if you read the article again, what the people interviewed are concerned about is that the NYCTA is not taking enough appropriate measures to ensure the safety of the trains with only one person on board.

Since the NY subway has used two-man crews since the beginning, all their regulations and procedures are based on that fact. Now, if they want to change over to OPO, they will probably have to change a lot of those procedures and regulations, install new equipment and so on. The people interviewed are worried that not enough is done, and that the single person left on board will be responsible for tasks that are, in practice, impossible. They are concerened that the MTA is blinded by the cost-cutting potential, and not looking at things realistically.

Sorry, have been knackered with union duties. Have barely had any time to get on the internet, let alone here (still working on union duties until the first week in October).

In regards to what's been happening here with OPTO, the NYCTA and the Transport Workers Union, which represents the rail workers, went to binding arbitration. The arbiter sided with the union which would've stopped OPTO on the L, right?

Wrong. The NYCTA is defying the arbiter's order and is going to court to try to keep the OPTO expansion alive. Until then, OPTO is still in operation on the L; in plain defiance of the arbiter's ruling. In general, US judges always side on the part of the arbiter so that's some good news for us.

Up until now, there has been an agreement on OPTO in that trains that are no longer than 300 feet long (generally four to five cars) can be operated in OPTO service. The TA is attempting to expand OPTO to 480 foot trains (8 cars - the length on the L line) and then to 600 foot trains (10 cars) which are operated systemwide. It's a big worry here and it's something that's gotten quite a bit of press in NY. Stay tuned.

Yeah , but trying to get guys to do the right thing here is like pulling teeth with a rubberband.

I tell guys time and time again to do the posted speed limits, do 10 mph (per rule) over switches, come in proper uniform, etc. In other words: don't attract trouble. But most just do whatever they want to do and then wonder why they later get written up.

Effective Monday, Sept. 24th at 12:01 am, the NYCTA will comply with the arbiter's ruling and return conductors (aka guards) to the L line 24 hours a day. Article from the NY Times:
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Conductors Are Returning to the Subway's L Line
By JENNIFER LEE and SHADI RAHIMI, Eric Dash contributed reporting for this article.
Published: September 24, 2005

New York City Transit annnounced yesterday that it would comply with a labor abritrator's ruling and put conductors back on the L subway line at all times.

The conductors will resume work on nights and weekends starting with the midnight shift on Monday, reversing a policy that started in June in which only the train operator worked on L-line trains during nonpeak periods. The transit agency said it might still appeal the arbitrator's ruling, which found that the conductorless trains violated the agency's contract with its major union, to the State Supreme Court.

"We still reserve the right to challenge the validity of the ruling," said Deirdre Parker, a spokeswoman for the transit agency, which is part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

The agency also said that it was still planning to remove conductors from the G line at all times starting in December. The G line is now conductorless only on weekends.

The union involved in the dispute, Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union of America, declined to comment on the agency's announcement. Traditionally, subway trains have an operator who sits at the front of the train and a conductor who opens and closes doors and makes announcements. The agency wanted to reassign the 70 L-line conductors.

The union insisted that the contract allowed a single transit employee only on lines with few cars, like shuttles or the G train, which has only four cars. The L train, which has eight cars, did not fall under those provisions of the contract.

But the transit agency had upgraded the L line to be the first of several planned computerized train lines. The mechanical signals of the L line were replaced by a system that uses radio frequencies and microprocessors to communicate train movements. The line employs a new generation of car, the R143, which is built to be run by computers and without a conductor. To compensate for the fewer workers on board, the transit agency installed closed-circuit television cameras on the platforms of L line subway stations that let operators monitor the platforms.

But the union has said that having only a single employee on a relatively busy train line posed safety concerns.
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FYI, OPTO is currently in effect, and in accordance with the contract, on the following lines:
5 between midnight and 5 am, A (Lefferts Blvd. Shuttle) midnight-5am, G Sat & Sun--all times beginning in December, M on Sat & Sun, Rockaway Park Shuttle, Franklin Shuttle and the 42nd Street Shuttle.

They will, unfortunately get their way in the end just as LUL did by dangling carrots in front of the men. The carrot being dangled obviously will have a string and the string will be consolidation in the pay scale exactly like LUL did beforehand. I.E = A standard yearly rate and abolition of bonus's and overtime etc.

Money talks! (Says f*ck all to me though)

Thinking about giving things up, zman, did you ever have spreadover duties (split shifts) in which you did morning and evening peaks with time off in between? LT (in the older days) did and you got paid the whole 12 hours, 4 at overtime rates, and still got 4 hours off in the middle of the day. One of these shifts every once in a while felt like winning the lottery (well nearly ).
Needless to say the unions negotiated them away about 25 years (is that right Q8?) ago in exchange for consolidation into basic rates. Who won? LT of course, but they fooled the men into thinking they were the winners.

Geez, 32 days for a response. Sorry about that (I'm whipped, thank God my union duties have finished, for now...plus I was in France for two weeks)
Split shifts still exist within the Bus division, but one is only paid for half the split. In other words, if you get a 4 hour break during the split shift, you'd only be paid for 2.
The Subway division no longer have splits (but they did exist back in the 70's.) You work anywhere from 6 to 10 hours a day (depending on the trick) and you're paid overtime at 1½x for any time over 8 hours in a day. Unlike LUL, we only get 6+ hour shifts when you start at one terminal but end at another (i.e. start at Upminster and finish at Richmond.) You're then paid for the approximate time it would take to travel back to Upminster.
The Bus division historically has more overtime available, but there are opportunities to be had in the Subways as well. Believe it or not, there are Bus Operators and Train Operators that make $100,000 a year in New York, but they work six days a week...every week, plus added overtime after their normal shifts. We call them "soap hounds."