The MTA’s labor costs reached an all-time high of $7.8 billion last year, according to the agency. fiscal watchdog organization Empire Public Policy Center;
State agency payrolls jumped by $663 million, or 9%, in 2023, and overtime expenditures increased by $75 million, or 6%, to a total of $1.37 billion.
The previous record was $1.35 billion in overtime pay in 2018.
A total of 724 MTA employees were each earning more than $100,000 in overtime in 2023, according to the Empire Center.
Of the MTA’s eight subsidiaries, Long Island Rail Road employees earned the highest per-employee overtime pay, averaging $26,028 in 2023, according to Empire Center research.
In addition, the agency’s subsidiaries disbursed $261 million in retroactive paychecks, according to payroll records reviewed by the Empire Center.
MTA spokeswoman Joanna Flores said the agency’s “overall budget is down in real dollars compared to last year.”
She also defended overtime in government agencies.
“The MTA is delivering more service with record on-time performance, and overtime, as permitted under collective bargaining agreements, is a strategic measure to maintain train operations and system safety. ” Flores said.
“The strategy has worked: crime has decreased and on-time performance has improved significantly with a schedule that includes significantly more trains.”
