Dear brothers and sisters,

As you know, we were back in court today regarding the arbitration award.

Judge Troy, who was originally assigned our case, is retiring soon and asked Judge Sanders to take over. Thankfully, Judge Sanders had read every word of every pleading and understood the issues well. She had sharp questions for all of the lawyers, but was very fair minded. We believe she will write a good opinion.

She said she would try to finish by Christmas, which is good news for us. We are hopeful and feel as though we had better arguments than the MBTA. It was very helpful that she saw 40-50 uniformed MBTA workers in the courtroom – everyone was respectful and attentive.

If we prevail, the Garraty decision will be confirmed, the members will receive raises and back-pay under the award, and we will migrate from our current health care plan to the GIC. Meanwhile, we will set up a health and welfare trust to pay for some of the coverage that GIC does not provide.

We will continue to keep you updated on any new developments.

In solidarity,

Executive Board
Boston Carmen’s Union, Local 589