MTA employees call for increased staffing after violent incident

MTA workers and union members are calling for more staff to improve safety conditions after a train driver was recently stabbed.

The Transport Workers Union (TWU) has called on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to deploy more personnel to help clear train cars at the ends of its routes, such as relay locations like Euclid Avenue.

The call to action came after Myran Pollack, a train operator, was stabbed multiple times by a passenger at the Crown Heights-Utica Avenue station in Brooklyn. Pollack was working alone at the time, completing the routine task of clearing the train, which means the train drivers must ensure all passengers have disembarked before the train changes direction.

“All Mr. Pollack did was say 'last stop.' “Now we try to avoid conversations and when we talk to passengers we do it remotely,” said Jesse Argueta, chairman of the conductor/tower department the TWU.

According to Argueta, conductors and conductors often have to clear trains alone, which the union believes is much safer if done in pairs. Newer train models make the process easier, but older trains require workers to spend more time keeping the cars empty.

In response, the TWU held a rally last week demanding that the MTA assign at least two workers to handle trains at the end of the line.

Argueta said Euclid Avenue had more visible staff than usual this week.

“When I spoke to some employees, they said that earlier only one person used to handle the trains; now there are one or two, but today we had four or five workers,” Argueta said.

An MTA spokesman did not confirm whether the agency plans to increase train dispatch staff, but said it would deploy more resources if necessary. The MTA did not respond to questions last week regarding the increased staff presence on Euclid Avenue.