Chief Janno Lieber says MTA will put pressure on LIRR unions after Post finds embezzlement

MTA chairman Janno Lieber told state lawmakers on Monday he will push powerful unions on the Long Island railroad to reform work rules after the Post exposed the agency’s widespread waste and inefficiency, which cost hundreds of millions of dollars a year.

The contracts allow engineers to earn four times as much time on a standard eight-hour shift, and conductors get paid double for running a train for a Mets game; while the LIRR’s labor practice includes placing up to half a dozen ticket collectors on a single train.

The investigation found that simply bringing LIRR pay and workforce efficiency in line with Metro-North would save the MTA over $200 million a year.

“My predecessors had railroad agreements, many of which date back to the early 20th century because the Long Island Railroad has been around for so long,” Lieber said. “Sometimes you need to upgrade. And that’s what we’ll be doing. We will put these questions up for discussion.”

Lieber added that, in the meantime, he appointed Metro-North president Catherine Rinaldi as interim head of the LIRR to “look for opportunities to benchmark and benchmark performance” on the railroad.

Lieber’s question came from influential state senator Liz Kruger (R-Manhattan), who chairs the upper house finance committee and will play a major role in deliberating the state budget, which includes at least $1.6 billion for the MTA.

Good-faith government groups and MTA watchdogs are pushing for lawmakers to require the MTA to make more reforms to operations and labor relations before handing over the money.