Policy
State House Update
On Thursday, September 1, MBTA leadership submitted this annual procurement report to the Massachusetts House and Massachusetts Senate, pursuant to the transportation reform law passed in 2015. This report continues to use the same flawed logic that has shaped the MBTA reform debate for months – that outsourcing will somehow fix decades of neglect, woefully…
Read MoreMBTA moves toward privatizing some bus routes
Boston Globe | By Nicole Dungca | August 20, 2015 The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is exploring the privatization of more than two dozen bus routes, a move that the president of the T’s largest union says amounts to a “betrayal” from Governor Charlie Baker’s administration. James O’Brien, the president of the Boston Carmen’s Union, said…
Read MoreRecap of Last Night’s Union Meeting (8/18/15)
Dear brothers and sisters, As you may have heard, last night’s regular meeting of the membership was standing room only (click here to see more photos). President O’Brien went over the recent legislative and privatization update, and then informed the membership of a meeting with the new MBTA chief administrator, Brian Shortsleeve, who is a…
Read MoreLegislative & Privatization Update
Dear members, Effective July 7, 2015, Governor Baker signed a $38 billion dollar budget in law, which included the relaxation of the Taxpayer Protection Act (TPA), otherwise known as the Pacheco Law, for three years. For those who were not able to attend our most recent membership meeting on Thursday, July 21, 2015, below is…
Read MoreUnions sensing budget betrayal by House Top Democrats could be target for challenge
Boston Globe | By Jim O’Sullivan | July 17, 2015 AFL-CIO President Steven Tolman spoke at an MBTA union workers rally at the State House in May. Labor unions, stung by legislative maneuvering to ease privatization at the MBTA, are targeting top House Democrats, meeting privately to strategize, and discussing the possibility of running more pro-union candidates…
Read MoreThe 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 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 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 MoreIs The Boston Globe’s Joan Vennochi Too Lazy To Read Her Own Story Or Simply A Pawn For Privatization?
Last Friday, Boston Globe columnist, Joan Vennochi, wrote a column titled: “Labor’s hot rhetoric grows cool without facts.” Judging by the title of her column, the only one light on facts appears to be Joan Vennochi herself. In her column, Vennochi criticizes organized labor for attacking the Pioneer Institute. Pump the breaks right now and think about…
Read More