Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority General Manager John Catoe told the union representing Metro workers he would not have disclosed salary information that prompted Congress to drastically cut overtime and pension payments to Metro employees.
Following reports by The Examiner of Metro hourly employees taking home annual earnings in the six figures, the House Government Reform committee included provisions in the $1.5 billion Metro spending bill requiring the agency to cap overtime pay at one-third of base salary and to exclude overtime pay when calculating pension benefits.
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These reports were based upon information disclosed by former interim General Manager Dan Tangherlini and obtained under Metro’s open-records policy.
Taxpayers last year contributed more than $500 million to Metro, with nearly $200 million coming from taxpayers in the District.
Amalgamated Transit Union 689 President Jackie Lynn Jeter, in a letter to union members posted on the groups’ Web site, said Catoe told her he would not have released the information. Calls to Catoe and the union were not returned. Metro spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein confirmed Catoe would not have released the information. “He believes the employees have a right to privacy,” she said.
The union called an April 23 emergency meeting after an Examiner analysis revealed overtime payments totaling $70 million. These payments triggered bloated pension payments, accordingto critics, because Metro calculates pension payments as a percentage of an employee’s average earnings during his or her four highest-paid years. The current labor contract, which expires next year, requires overtime be included in that calculation, giving some workers a larger annual payment in retirement than their highest on-the-job base salary.
Reports on overtime payments, the generous pension benefit and Catoe’s position on the release of salary information drew questions from some Metro critics about whether the union is too powerful.
“Over the years, [the Metro board] has kind of given the union a whole lot of authority over things they probably shouldn’t have,” said Charles Deegan, former chair of the Metro board. “You’ve got to run it like a business.”
Metro Rider Advisory Council member Dennis Jaffe said he hoped Catoe can get control of the authority’s finances. Already, Catoe has scrapped a plan to raise the minimum fare about $2 to close a $116 million deficit next year.
“I have great hope with John Catoe,” he said. “It seems like the agency was on autopilot for a few years. It has come home to roost.”
Anyone with information on these issues can call David Francis at 202-459-4970.
