I don’t think I’ve watched a local newscast in years, but for some reason I was watching ABC last night here in New York City and they had a great investigative piece on NYC transit workers and how little work they actually do. The video is hilarious with lots of undercover scenes of transit workers going to bars, sitting in parks, lifting weights, etc., all during their work hours. An excerpt from the online story:

NEW YORK (WABC) — He’s supposed to be working, instead a transit track inspector is headed home after a little grocery shopping.
Other transit employees caught on tape should be working too, instead they’re using the MTA dump truck to drive 30 miles to a beach on Long Island to hang out, chat and catch an ocean breeze.
Other transit workers have so much free time during their 8-hour shift, they set up an outdoor gym where they can exercise at all hours of the work day.
“How many hours do you actually work on the track in an 8 hour shift?” I asked a track worker, who asked not to be identified.
“Typically it’s about 1 hour, an-hour-and-a-half of actual work,” he responded.

And get this…

The head of the transport workers union says there’s a reason why we found so many workers killing time. It’s because, he says, they’re not allowed on the tracks during rush hours and their bosses want them to lay low.
“Transit workers are discouraged from assembling on the station platform or in the entrances to station out of concern that the public can easily misunderstand that they’re just hanging out or lounging,” TWU President Roger Toussaint said.
Hanging out in parks, lounging at the bar, passing time lifting weights while those running the railroad threaten fare hikes.
“If there’s only two hours of work for the track workers to do, can’t we do with fewer track workers?” I asked Toussaint.
“I don’t think so. I actually think it is very untypical what you describe. Two hours of work, very untypical,” he said.

Part two airs tonight on just how often this behavior occurs. I would expect Robert Toussaint will end up looking pretty foolish.

All in all, great job from ABC.