Larry Penner in his 8/18 letter on MTA overtime made several misleading statements. He misleads the readers when he states that overtime is included in the employee’s last year’s base salary. Under Tier 4 and 5 pension reform, only 15% of the overtime earnings can be used for pension purposes.
He gives the false impression that the pension is calculated on 100% of their final year overtime salary. Furthermore, he states that “salary increases should never exceed the Consumer Price Index.”
If this was true for all the nation’s workers, there could never be an improvement in the standard of living. He fails to mention that in 2022, there was an 8% increase in the cost of living, but employees only received a 3% increase. Does he propose we make up the difference?
David Torby
Great Neck
