MTA lays off workers and makes budget cuts

The Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) outlined a plan for budget cuts that will result in laying off more than 1,000 workers due to their $750 million budget deficit. 
This downsize will also affect about 450 station agents and more than 600 administrative workers. 

By this summer, additional cuts are expected which will include the elimination of student MetroCards and reducing the A, L, N, Q, W, M, 1 and 7 subway service.  Five bus lines are also scheduled to be terminated.

"The MTA is jeopardizing children and their education in a way that's inexcusable.  The subway is extremely expensive and parents will have to fork up a heavy amount of cash for them to simply go to school. 

Schools may experience frequent absences due to children not being able to afford their school transportation fee," New York City (NYC) resident Jamie Khalifa said.

The firing of subway agents will affect many. "The subway can be a scary place for all New Yorkers. Late at night or even during a crazy rush hour, it's comforting to know that you are not alone and that there is always someone available to ask for directions," NYC resident Lois Cahill said.  

MTA Chairman Jay Walder defends the savings, saying it is necessary due to New York State's economic downfall. 

According to Gothamist.com, Walder defends the layoffs, "The State's economic crisis demands that the MTA move quickly and decisively to cut costs, and that is exactly what we are doing...These layoffs are extremely painful, but we must live within our means and make the tough decisions that businesses and families across New York are making."

MTA employees allegedly make a well paying salary complete with health benefits.  These may be contributing factors of why the MTA is struggling with finances.
Transport Workers Union Local 100 is the organization that employs the station agents and these layoffs will be a first for them in decades.

A station agent's role however has turned more obsolete due to the creation of the MetroCard and their electronic card dispensing systems.  Agents were once needed to sell subway tokens to customers.

The MTA plans to ask their staff for voluntary resignations and in return they will receive a severance package. If not enough people offer to resign then the MTA will be forced to lay off workers.

The original plan of the MTA intended to cut back their employees by not rehiring after staff members retire instead of firing their current workers.  Last fall, about 300 station agents who were currently employed as customer assistants were reassigned, however these plans have changed.

"I feel that the live personnel in the subway are the most important. I would have literally been lost without them many times. I can understand the reduction of services, it is better to be late somewhere then to be out of a job" NYC resident Gianni Barbera said.

On March 4, at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), the MTA held a public meeting where people forcefully protested the proposed service cuts. During the meeting commuters, parents and students spoke about their issues concerning the MTA's budget. 

The day before on March 3, five new people were arrested at the MTA hearings in Brooklyn, when a teenage activist was escorted out after she took over the podium. Tensions rose at the meeting due to police preventing some students from getting closer than two miles from the hearing.

During the meeting, Walder agreed to attend a meeting with the Urban Youth Cooperative on March 17 to discuss provisions to the proposed elimination of student MetroCards.

The City Council is aware of the public's opposition to the plan and they have collected over 40,000 signatures to help persuade the MTA to reconsider all of their cuts.
The MTA board is expected to vote on the budget cuts at their March 24 hearing.