[Pipindula]

I stated that the situation is different in the private sector.

And my poit was to ask WHY is it different and HOW can it be changed to more resemble the private sector.

I knew what you said zip and I was not disagreeing with it.

This was not a reward for work done. The money flowed in the opposite direction. The incentives you refer to are acceptable in the MTA. They are being used in the South Ferry IRT project. I was not making a direct comparison, that is why I said so at the end Zip. I was just illustrating some of the differences that need to be rectified.

They are only starting to be used. But a lot of projects that come through, such as infrastructure, are still delt with by making sure you spend every last dime in the contract. Kind of a different flavor than the private sector.

Job performance does not guarantee you another job when it comes to government contracts.

Public agencies have specific rules of conduct involving these situations. In NYC govt, there's the COIB. Appreciated. I will read it later.

In the private sector, I have had much experience with zero-tolerance policies. Several years ago, an employee in one of the Manhattan AT&T buildings was suspended for an argument with another employee. The argument involved the threat of violence, and he was fired. I had pulled many asses out of the flames for more serious work violations, but when I found out that the allegations were correct, I knew I would have a hard time winning the grievance because the company had a zero-tolerance policy concerning violence in the workplace.

I lost the case, and the dismissal stood. I understand that, but this is a wee bit different that threatening to hurt someone at the workplace. Something like that can cost the company lots of money in litegation if they do not have a policy in place to counter it.

I understand the context that you were using it for. I know there are hard lines drawn on some issues....

I'll give you two contrasting examples of acceptiing gifts. When we were a monopoly and quasi-public company, the same code-of-conduct forbade us from accepting gifts from customers.

Once, after a large project was completed on time for a brokerage house, the customer sent my group a case of champagne. We knew we had to send it back, knowing that it might be taken as an insult.

On another occasion, we put in a new switching machine for Morgan Stanley at 1585 Bway. After the system was successfully cut into their network, there was a party on premises. We were invited and attended. That was acceptable.

People usually know when they are violating rules, and in the case of the MTA officials, they admitted that they were wrong - so I don't quite understand what your gripe is.
The second is more like what these guys were doing.

It was definitely a gift, but it was not like it was being given right out. I also know of a lot of people that have, although they have work connections, gone out and paid for lunch on the companies dollar.

This gets EXTREMELY bad when you start going legal, but that is another profession entirely.

I guess this is an issue that gets really hard to draw a strait line to enforce on. It is sort of like designing with concrete.

A lot of it is engineering judgement.





BUT, back to BR's original post. I do not think, in the SLIGHTEST bit, that this kind of thing has any comparable weight to a large bribery scandal.

If you want that, come on over to Hoboken where they do it right...