Boston Globe | By Nicole Dungca | June 30, 2016

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s warehouse operations could be run by a private company by October, as T officials take a major step toward outsourcing a part of the agency.

MBTA officials on Thursday released a request for proposals from outside firms for the operations of its warehouse, which T executives have blasted for being inefficient and dysfunctional.

The move is already prompting fierce opposition — and a request for arbitration — from the agency’s largest labor union, whose members could lose jobs. James O’Brien, president of the Boston Carmen’s Union, pledged to appeal the move, under a federal process that — if successful — the union argues could eventually cost the T significant federal funding.

“Transit workers are being unfairly blamed for management’s failures,” he said in a statement. “The fact that MBTA leadership remains committed to moving forward with outsourcing without first addressing these problems is proof that they will seek privatization at any cost.”

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