NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — In a dire warning, MTA officials are pleading with recently retired MTA train operators to return to work amid an ongoing workplace shortage that cripples the city's subway service and a vaccine mandate set to take effect next Monday.
The New York Daily News reports an MTA official sent a letter warning of a "critical and urgent need for fully trained and qualified train operators" went to about 700 retirees who left their posts in the last three years.
"If you choose to apply and are accepted, you will be temporarily appointed by NYC Transit for a period not exceeding 90 days and your gross earnings, which are not pensionable, may not exceed $35,000," a human resources employee wrote.
Agency data, provided by the Daily News, reports the agency has lost roughly 5,000 jobs with many retiring and a hiring freeze that was implemented earlier this year.
To adjust, MTA officials have reportedly shortened the training time required to train crews.
Yet the shortage has caused over 10% of rush hour trains to be canceled in August — the worst monthly subway service since at least 2015, according to The Daily News.
"We are exhausting every avenue in the quest to quickly increase the number of available train crews," MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan said.
Tony Utano, president of Local 100 — a transit worker union, said MTA officials need to address the retirree-hiring program with his union.
"That hasn't happened ... I highly doubt workers who retired before or during the pandemic are going to come back with the pandemic still going on." Utano said.
A looming vaccine mandate for the agency's workers could also complicate efforts to boost employment efforts, with those unwilling to prove their vaccination status or undergo weekly testing forced to the sidelines.
The Daily News reports only 58% of the MTA's 50,000 transit employees have confirmed they're vaccinated.
