Job Security and Higher Pay for Station Agents

Stations Vice President Robert Kelley has negotiated a landmark agreement to protect Station Agent jobs – while raising the pay rate by $1 an hour – as the MTA moves towards full implementation of its digital OMNY fare-payment system. Station Agents will get training for new roles providing customer service outside booths. They also will retain access to the booths and can spend time during their tours inside as well.    

Watch the video of the press conference here.

The Station Agent title has been under a very serious threat from OMNY, which is now in every station and on every bus. OMNY allows riders to instantly buy trips at turnstiles with credit cards, debit cards, and smartphones. Riders also can now purchase and load OMNY cards at Walgreens, 7-Eleven, CVS, and other stores across the city. But with this agreement, the MTA is now stating clearly that it intends on preserving the Station Agent title and jobs. In fact, the authority hired nearly 300 new Station Agents over the last year and plans on hiring about 230 more in 2023. 

“This is about protecting the employment of Station Agents so they can continue to take care of their families,” Kelley said. “OMNY posed a very real threat. We can’t sit back and watch our members get phased out along with the MetroCard. We are forging a new path with a new role that makes their presence in stations even more vital.”

NYC Transit Richard Davey said: “The reason we came into this agreement, frankly, was to put a stake in the ground and say, for NYC Transit, the Station Agent of the future is critically important to the kind of service we want to provide. This is our commitment, our joint commitment, to say the intent is for these 2,000-plus station agents to continue to be part of our transit family and to provide a heightened level of customer service.” 

Asked by a reporter about the possibility of layoffs, Davey said the MTA’s need for additional government funding to fill budget gaps must be acknowledged, but “the intent is for no layoffs whatsoever.”

Station Agents will get new roles and spend parts of each shift outside the booth to provide customer service, such as helping riders with OMNY equipment, giving directions, assisting the elderly and disabled, assessing station conditions, and reporting conditions or situations that need to be addressed. Agents will get cellular telephones and training, including de-escalation training.