News
ATU Acquires National Labor College Campus
Today marks a rebirth and reinvigorated commitment to education and progressive training for organized labor as the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) expands its long-standing union education and activism program to the newly acquired campus of the former National Labor College. The National Labor College, founded in 1970 by AFL-CIO President George Meany, has been the…
Read MoreLocal 589 COPE Golf Tournament A Success
The annual Boston Carmen’s Union ATU Local 589 Committee on Political Education (COPE) Golf Tournament featured a beautiful summer day, a large crowd, good food, and fun for all involved reports Vice President Peggy Lapaglia. Local 589 members, members from other unions on the T, and friends filled all the foursomes at what has become…
Read MoreUS Bus Drivers Still Coping With Bathroom Access Issues
International Business Times | By Cole Stangler | March 1, 2015 One afternoon during the summer of 2000, her first year as a bus driver in Oregon’s Portland, Hope Okazaki had a troubling episode of gastrointestinal distress while on the job. She had just finished an almost two-hour tour through the east side of town, and…
Read MoreOpinion: MBTA only one part of a fragile transportation network
Opinion: Boston Globe | By Kristina Egan | FEBRUARY 27, 2015 The MBTA’s performance in the record snow and cold temperatures gives us a glimpse of a possible future — one in which our transportation system completely fails us. When the T shuts down, businesses and workers lose millions of dollars. The torturous driving commutes…
Read MoreTransit activists hopeful MBTA shut downs will spur investment in system
Sandra Larson | Bay State Banner | 2/25/2015 In the aftermath of the historic January and February snowstorms in Boston that led to transit shutdowns, stuck trains, borrowed shuttle buses and frustrating delays at frigid platforms, the MBTA announced it could be another 30 days before full service resumes on its rail lines. If the…
Read MoreBeneath Your Feet: The Maintenance Crews That Keep The MBTA Running
WBUR | February 20, 2015 Gov. Charlie Baker announced Friday that he’s giving a special panel 30 days to come up with recommendations to fix the MBTA’s finances and operations. And for good reason. In the past couple of weeks, we’ve heard a lot about the failings of the MBTA — about systemic problems and…
Read MoreRosenberg sees transportation disconnect
Commonwealth Magazine | By BRUCE MOHL | Feb 17, 2015 Senate President Stanley Rosenberg said on Tuesday that the problems at the MBTA are straight out of “Democracy in America,” the book Alexis de Tocqueville wrote in the 1800s which suggested that Americans may vote themselves more benefits than they are willing to pay for.…
Read MoreSomerville Mayor on MBTA Crisis
Speaking with Joe Battenfeld yesterday, Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone said generations of chronic underfunding have put the MBTA behind both in terms of growing to meet its demand and in replacing its dated equipment. Any fix for the MBTA that doesn’t address both those issues isn’t a fix. Watch the interview below.
Read MoreAdrian Walker: MBTA workers share the strain
By Adrian Walker | Boston Globe | February 16, 2015 If you have been a frustrated customer of the MBTA in the past few weeks, Laverne Lassiter-Pina feels your pain. For the past 18 years, Lassiter-Pina has driven a train on the Red Line. She leaves her home in Avon before dawn to arrive at…
Read MoreEDITORIAL: T union’s smart move to let MBTA hire Peter Pan buses
Boston Globe | Editorial | February 13, 2015 The Boston Carmen’s Union earned a shoutout Thursday when it agreed to let the MBTA hire Peter Pan buses to shuttle passengers between Red Line stations that have been hit by weather-related service disruptions. Although running the 30 privately operated buses could be considered outsourcing — something…
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