Posted on 10/08/2018 7:50:27 PM PDT by Olog-hai
Need a career change? NJ Transit is hiring — and the job comes with big bucks.
The nation’s second-busiest rail system has been struggling to keep its trains running on time, sometimes canceling as many as two dozen a day.
Officials blame this commuting nightmare in part on a lack of engineers — the people who operate the trains. The shortage is exacerbated whenever a slew of engineers call out sick.
The agency has been scrambling to fill training classes with recruits. Prospective job applicants might jump at the opportunity when they find out just how much the job pays.
The median engineer pay at NJ Transit is nearly $122,000 a year. But a handful make even more. Much more.
A New Jersey 101.5 analysis of the agency’s nearly 11,200-employee payroll finds that five engineers and five conductors made more than $200,000 last year in base pay and overtime.
Another 10 engineers and five conductors also topped $200,000 thanks to retroactive pay awarded in the 2016 contract negotiation that averted a shutdown. …
(Excerpt) Read more at nj1015.com ...
I suspect the union doesn’t want positions filled. When somebody calls in sick, somebody else racks up overtime.
Hasn’t been working well, given all the canceled trains. There are also limitations on working hours, so one guy on overtime can’t work several trains for a long time over 24 hours.
And what union would not want its ranks swelled? It seems many do not, which seems counterintuitive. Definitely politicking here, and reminiscent of Red China and the way they use unions (the USSR too).
They would have to pay me a lot more to get me to live in New Jersey!
Beat me to it.
Good Lord -
I was a Boeing 767 captain for a major US airline - I never made anything close to that...
I can definitely understand that.
Now imagine having to live in NY or CT and work for the MTA’s commuter railroads.
You notice that the article doesn't give the starting salary for a NJ Transit Engineer. It's $25.85 per hour, with a new hire getting all of the crappy nighttime shifts.
Is it worth $26 per hour to get mugged monthly?
I just said what had to be said
;)
And in a state where CCW is almost impossible to get.
Hey! I live here! Jeez. Do you think we’re all liberals in this state?
Don’t mind them. They don’t have anything to add to the discussion of the actual story but need to make sure they weigh in with their two cents anyway so they revert to the “I’d never live there” routine. I guess we’re supposed to think that it’s a big loss for New Jersey LOL
A darn conductor on NJ Transit making 200,000 a year?
I used to take New Jersey Transit to work everyday. The conductors don’t do much of anything except sell tickets(when needed) and punch tickets. That’s about it. It’s about the most low skill job you can get. And for that, some of them were pulling up to $200,000 a year, not to mention full medical and pension?
What an upside down crazy world!
I doubt if the engineers get mugged much more than any other job. The conductors on the NJ trains maybe. And even then I took the NJ trains for years and never actually saw any conductor mugged or physically attacked in any way.
I know there are some good people up there but based on the couple months I spent up there years ago and what I read about the taxes, gun laws, etc I’m going to have to take a pass.
I hear you. Used to ride them damn trains myself. 200,000 k a years is roughly half the salary of the president of The United States.
My sympathies. I lived in Elizabeth for eighteen years. Watched the Elmora section go from halfway decent to close to being like the Port.
We were almost neighbors. I was born and raised in Kearny.
NJT got rid of railroad service to the Arlington section of Kearny back in 2002. I used to visit the area for Irish bacon, sausages and other groceries since it was closer than Woodside in Queens or Woodlawn Heights on the Bronx/Yonkers border.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.