News
Legislative & 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 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 MoreVeteran driver wins 3rd straight MBTA bus roadeo
Congrats to our union brother, Tyrell Sullivan, and all our other union brothers and sisters who competed in this past Sunday’s annual bus roadeo. This was the 3rd consecutive win for Tyrell, who operates buses on the Route 73 between Harvard Square and Waverly Square. The all-time leader of the T’s competition is the legendary…
Read MoreWhy Wasn’t The Globe’s Joan Vennochi Fired A Long Time Ago?
One of our members passed along an article about the Boston Globe’s Joan Vennochi (or as some like to call her―”Vennochi-O”) who was caught plagiarizing a WBUR article. Of course, Joan was never fired because she gets to play by different rules than everyone else. A more recent example of Vennochi-O “calling it in” was on…
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 MoreMBTA bus driver suspended after fight with passenger
Boston Globe | By Sara DiNatale and Steve Annear | August 26, 2015 A woman gets up briskly and calls to a young girl, presumably her daughter, to get off an MBTA bus parked on Warren Street. Just before the woman steps off the bus, she rips the cover off a plastic cup and tosses…
Read MoreLegislative Alert: Protect the Taxpayer Protection Act
A harmful provision contained in the House version of the state budget seeks to exempt the MBTA from the Taxpayer Protection Act; a state law that requires private contractors to demonstrate at least one penny of savings to taxpayers before state services can be privatized. The State Senate chose not to go along with the…
Read MoreCritics fault key findings in Baker panel MBTA report
Boston Globe | By David Scharfenberg and Nicole Dungca | May 19, 2015 When Governor Charlie Baker announced his plan to overhaul the beleaguered MBTA, he repeatedly cited a critical report by his own T review panel. But a closer look at the document suggests some of the panel’s signature findings are not as clear-cut…
Read MoreSenate leaders reject Baker’s plan to shake up MBTA
Boston Globe | By David Scharfenberg and Nicole Dungca | May 12, 2015 Senate leaders are rejecting Governor Charlie Baker’s plan to shake up the beleaguered Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, mounting a significant challenge to the administration’s top legislative priority. The leadership, which plans to roll out its own, more modest T legislation Tuesday, is…
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