Tomorrow the MTA starts its prosecution of more than a thousand employees — and members of TWU Local 100 — who were potentially involved in a massive scandal to falsify MTA safety records. The system-wide scandal involves the dangerous practice of MTA signal workers failing to inspect signal devices, which tell trains when to stop and when to proceed while on the tracks. The signals also have hardware that prevent trains from crashing into each other. The criminal suit alleges that workers were routinely failing to inspect the devices, and instead were giving the appearance of fulfilling their responsibilities by scanning signal bar codes from their worker locker rooms. The unnamed employee is one of eight or nine signal maintainers who may also face charges. “While it is important to note that the result of this effort has reinforced that the signal system is safe, we will continue to implement new measures to eliminate this past culture from our signals division,” said MTA Spokesman Kevin Ortiz.
