Boston Globe | By Nicole Dungca | Sept. 04, 2015

When President Barack Obama arrives at the Greater Labor Boston Council’s Labor Day breakfast on Monday, he’ll be greeted by Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority workers rallying against privatization.

The Boston Carmen’s Union, the T’s largest labor group, plans to protest the T’s recent proposal to outsource the operation of certain bus routes at 7 a.m. Monday near the annual event, according to James O’Brien, the union’s president.

“We want to send a strong message to these private companies that think they’re going to come here and do our work,” O’Brien said. “We want to tell the governor and the MBTA that this isn’t going to be easy.”

In August, T officials unveiled that they were exploring the privatization of 32 bus routes, which could affect about 65 bus drivers and 93 buses currently operated by union members.

The plan shouldn’t have come as a big surprise. For months, the governor had been pushing lawmakers to temporarily suspend a law that puts up hurdles to outsourcing public services, and he later won that victory in the Legislature.

The governor and T officials have promised to use the suspension of the law judiciously. T officials guaranteed the union that no bus drivers would be laid off — instead, affected drivers would be moved to new routes.

Still, O’Brien said he felt the plan was a “betrayal,” and that he doesn’t trust the word of T officials. Though T officials have promised the step is meant to meant to increase service and cost-efficiency, O’Brien believes the privatization is just one step to “diminishing service and increasing fares.”

Union members had planned Monday’s rally for weeks, and had nothing to do with Obama’s visit, O’Brien said. In fact, union leaders had even worried that the president’s tight security could affect their event.

O’Brien added that Monday’s protests will just be one of several events aimed at the T’s privatization proposals. He said there will be several rallies down the line, and they could take to the air waves in the form of radio ads to “educate the public.”