How much do conductors make?

So coming back from the end of line today, I met a conductor just coming off shift. His name was I don't remember, I am terrible with names. He sat next to me and we chitty chatted about baseball. He told me where to get the best meat patties (Kingston Tropical Bakery, underneath the 2 train at 226th street). He also told me how much conductors make.

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Wait for it...

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$25,000 a year. Wtf? I asked him about their union and obviously he says it sucks, although they do have very good benefits. He is applying for an operator (i.e. train driver) position, because they make 29 grand.