Hard To Beat Workin' On This Railroad

NYT: 90% Of Long Island Rail Road Retirees Get Federal Disability Benefits

(AP)  The New York Times says that its analysis of data from the Railroad Retirement Board found that "virtually every employee" retiring from the Long Island Rail Road after age 50 in recent years has received federal disability benefits.

The newspaper said the disability payments amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars.

The rate peaked at 97 percent in 2004 and last year was 94 percent, according to the paper, which went on to describe a state-owned golf course on Long Island where it said former LIRR workers gather by the dozens to play golf free, and even walk the course although officially listed as having been disabled on the job.

The Times said the LIRR disability rate "suggests it is one of the nation's most dangerous places to work," even though the railroad has earned national awards for worker safety in recent years.

The head of the Long Island Rail Road says the company has no role in the granting of federal disability pensions.

Responding to the Times report, president Helena Williams described the awards by the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board pension system as "alarming and out of sync with our workplace safety record," and "inconsistent with social security disability rates."

In a statement, Williams said she asked the inspectors general of both the Railroad Retirement Board and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the LIRR's parent body, to review the situation.

Gov. David Paterson called on Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to look into the disability payments.

"At a time when our state and national economies are facing unprecedented strain and families are worried about meeting the cost of basic necessities, we must ensure the most appropriate, efficient use of taxpayer dollars," the governor said.

Cuomo said he was "troubled" by the allegations in the report and would be "aggressively investigating the issue."

Williams said a "sustained effort" to improve safety had led to a decline in injury rates, and less than 1 percent of employees had received disability pensions from the MTA. She said the MTA has taken the position that it could save millions yearly by having its pensions under Social Security rather than the rail board.

[beehive21-2009]

Everyone''s scamming the systems,the Pres. n VP,r trying too take us on a bail out, AIG that holds one trillion in assets.
Greed has taken hold of your hearts, and mines,disgusting,DISGUSTING.

[ldnearthesea]

Okay, some of these people might be gaming the system. What about all the CEOs and lobbyists? Now were talking about billions of dollars. Now Bush wants to bail out his billionaire banking and Wall Street friends. These railroad workers are mere pikers in comparison! Let''s seize the assets of these billionaires and pay off the national debt with their legal theft money (via de-regulation), money they never would have had if not for guys like Gramm and Gingrich and McCain changing the rules and gutting FDR''s regulations!

[jqtaxpayer]

So many justifying comments in here defending lying, cheating and stealing. How appropriate for the times we live in.

I ride that crappy railroad everyday and see these fat ignorant slobs punch holes in paper for a living and charging us exorbitant rates to do it. It%u2019s disgusting that a job that could be done by monkeys or least be automated has been ripping us off for years. Gotta love these %u201Cunionized%u201D blue collar monopolies especially in NY. And that BS excuse about dangerous? Go tell it to the coal miners, crab fisherman and fireman. How come you don%u2019t hear them whining about their lot in life. TO F%u2019N BAD! You took the job, if it sucks you shoulda gone to college not figure out ways to rip the system off to make equal wages. Send the whole lot of slobs to jail and give me back my money.

[c-mo6]

Most of these workers are Black and Union Members so naturally the Billions in Fraud is not even looked at by regulators because these are Democrats. Lets find something Republican to get angry at.


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Posted by demslie2u at 01:12 PM : Sep 22, 2008
+ report abuse
I want some of what he''s smoking.

[jd2408]

The Times article noted that some workers, who appear to be completely healthy and yet receiving these fraudulent payments are getting more than $250,000 a year.
Posted by Rillifane at 05:25 PM : Sep 22, 2008
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I will go back and check my facts but I think you are mistaken. The report was saying their wages at the time they were working for some amounted to $250,000.00. I don''t recall any amount given on their penion/social security.

[dewbug2]

hey brdlkbissss,how did you smuggle a computer into your group home? Is your ward manager aware of you writing your gibberish on here?Make some sense, you ignorant dipstick.

[mytoosense]

I don''''t doubt that some railroad jobs are dangerous, but if they weren''''t disabled when they worked, how come 97% of them were all of a sudden disabled the day after they retired? Posted by Braniff77

Easy, Old Age is Disabling;)

[braniff77]

The money is there for a reason because working on the Railroad is an extremely dangerous job. We are not talking carple tunnel syndrome claims here we are talking about actual life altering disabilities.
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Posted by mkcscbs at 04:20 PM


I don''t doubt that some railroad jobs are dangerous, but if they weren''t disabled when they worked, how come 97% of them were all of a sudden disabled the day after they retired?

[o2brich]

It doesn''t seem to matter whether you''re talking about railroad workers, longshoreman or social security, frauds are everywhere trying to milk the system for a free ride. The cost of sufficient oversight to reduce it is high enough that no one wants to pay it. So these programs continue to be understaffed and taken advantage of.

[rillifane]

The Times article noted that some workers, who appear to be completely healthy and yet receiving these fraudulent payments are getting more than $250,000 a year.

[mkcscbs]

For those who don''t know Railroad Retirement benefits are not paid by the general populations taxes. They are paid by those of us who pay Railroad Retirement specific taxes. Railroad workers and their emoployers pay into this account instead of social security. We will not receive social security benefits. The percentage I pay into Railroad Retirment is double what you pay into social security and the employer portion is almost triple. The money is there for a reason because working on the Railroad is an extremely dangerous job. We are not talking carple tunnel syndrome claims here we are talking about actual life altering disabilities.

[presjfk]

Its called fraud.

[xmanborg]

Ya Haul 16 tons and what do you get ?????

Another day older and deeper in debt.

[blackyowe]

I have gone insane thinking about Palin becoming president when the old fossil falls off the twig. Can I get full disability?

[pollroller1]

Man, that job is almost as good as those government workers that are having all of those parties paid for by the oil companies. If I were younger and knew then what I know now. LOL

[mytoosense]

Who do these retired government workers think they are? Senators? Congressmen?

In todays age they are lucky they are not depending on their evaporating 401K to live on like most of us.

Lets send "Vinnie the Fist" to visit each of them to make sure they have a disability.

[random_radar]

Its nice to hear that ordinary citizens are getting government support. I hate to think just rich bankers are getting all the money.

[jd2408]

Since when do pensions go under Social Security ? What is this all about. Another scam on Social Security ? I bet there are many more out there. Do we wonder why Social Security is going broke ? MTA should have to pay every penny back.

[jsmithcsa]

==Cuomo said he was "troubled" by the allegations in the report and would be "aggressively investigating the issue."==

Check to see how much they donate to his campaign. That will tell you if he will do anything about it or not. My guess is they''ll write him and his party another check and he''ll do nothing.