The Boston Carmen’s Union Local 589, facing a vote to privatize their work at the MBTA Money Room today, took a stand against the outsourcing of their work to a private company. Members of the Executive Board, joined by fellow MBTA Union leaders and members, formed a picket line at the Money Room in Charlestown, preventing Money Room workers and armored trucks from leaving the site.

“We never wanted it to come to this, we have tried for months to convince the MBTA to join us for constructive negotiations at the bargaining table. But under the leadership of Acting General Manager Brian Shortsleeve and Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack the MBTA has repeatedly used misleading or incomplete financial projections to pursue privatization of the MBTA’s Money Room at all costs,” said James O’Brien, President of the Boston Carmen’s Union Local 589. “Today, we’re taking action to stop an outsourcing attempt. Nothing about this process has been transparent – the numbers, the audits, or the decision-making. This leadership team was handed a blank check to privatize and they are doing whatever it takes to cash it. We cannot stand by while they privatize our public transportation system and turn the keys over to a private company seeking to profit from our riders’ fares and the public’s tax dollars.”

O’Brien also called for the full release of the audit that the MBTA says has proven the need for outsourcing. The audit, conducted by Shellie Crandall of 4Demand, was the source of  a baseless charge from Governor Baker that “someone cut sunroofs into two of the armored trucks used by the T to transport money.”