Posts by Local589 Admin
The Pioneer Institute does acrobatic logical twists re the Pacheco Law
COFAR Blog | By David Kassel | July 13, 2015 In what has been widely viewed as a setback for state employee unions in Massachusetts, state legislators last week approved a state budget for Fiscal Year 2016 that includes a provision freezing the Pacheco Law for three years with regard to the MBTA. The Pioneer Institute apparently…
Read MoreGreen Line Operator Applauded For Helping Blind Man Across Street
WBZ-TV | By Jim Armstrong | July 9, 2015 Catrina Mitchell has been a Green Line trolley operator for seven years — since she was just 21 years old. It can get chaotic. “I have to be the eyes of myself, the cars, the bikes, and the buses because we are all on the road at the…
Read MoreMassachusetts Legislature Puts Taxpayers at Risk
Yesterday, the Massachusetts legislature did a great disservice to working families, T riders, and taxpayers across the Commonwealth with the suspension of the Taxpayer Protection Act (or Pacheco Law) for the next three years. The goal of the Taxpayer Protection Act (or Pacheco Law) was to protect the Commonwealth from the waste, fraud, and abuse…
Read MoreSen. Warren Defends Taxpayer Protection Act
Watch the video below as U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren defends the Taxpayer Protection Act (Pacheco Law) at a Banking Committee hearing. The following is an excerpt from her remarks: “I think it’s clear we need to address our long term transportation funding issues but in a manner that provides the same quality of service and…
Read MoreThe Myth That Privatization Is Always the Solution
Governing Magazine | By Suzanne M. Bump | June 26, 2015 When it comes to regulating the privatization of government services, it seems that one person’s mindless bureaucratic obstacle is another’s essential accountability mechanism. Thus it is in Massachusetts, where an exemption from a state law governing privatization is being sought in the name of fixing…
Read MoreColumn: In defense of the Pacheco Law
Salem News | By Marc R. Pacheco | Sunday, July 5, 2015 In a recent column for The Salem News, Eileen McAnneny states that the Taxpayer Protection Act has “hindered the T’s fundamental ability to maintain and repair its assets. Over the past five years, the barriers created by the Pacheco Law have contributed to…
Read MoreCarmen’s Union calls for audit of MBTA pension plan
Boston Globe | By Beth Healy | July 2, 2015 Two top officers of the Boston Carmen’s Union, Local 589, who serve on the MBTA pension fund board, issued a statement Thursday calling for “an immediate, open and complete audit” of the retirement system for transit workers. According to the statement, by president James O’Brien…
Read MoreMBTA Looking To Privatize Bus Routes, Increase Service
State House News Service | By Andy Metzger | August 20, 2015 The MBTA plans to test the appetite among private bus companies to provide service on all of the express bus routes, the lesser-traveled routes in Boston and the suburbs and late night service. All 93 buses and their 65 drivers that would be…
Read MoreThe Politically-Driven, Koch-Backed Campaign to Undermine Boston Transit
StreetBlogsUSA | By Angie Schmitt | Thursday, August 20, 2015 Boston’s MBTA has been having a tough year. Following a disastrous winter season marked by extreme weather and service disruptions, the agency has been inundated with charges of mismanagement. While the MBTA has its flaws, the charges against it don’t stem from a good government campaign so much as…
Read MoreCalling on the Koch-funded Pioneer Institute to Stop Their Lies
Thanks to the 100+ members who turned out for Wednesday’s rally outside the Koch-funded Pioneer Institute. Our message to them was simple, stop STOP YOUR LIES! Click here to view photos from the rally. The following is some of the press coverage our rally received: NECN – Video: MBTA Workers Hit the Streets to Protest…
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