Two union officials, including one with a state transportation management role, urged MBTA brass on Monday to work with labor organizations before privatizing services.
“I am requesting that now and in the future you partner with your employees and their respective representatives. Public-union partnerships before public-private partnerships,” said Russell Gittlen, the New England Area director of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and a former UPS mechanic, during the public comment period of the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board meeting.
In addition to representing his union, Gittlen is one of 11 appointees to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation board of directors, selected by Gov. Charlie Baker. Baker picked Gittlen from a list of three nominees put forward by the AFL-CIO Massachusetts, as spelled out in the law.
Labor groups have strenuously argued against privatization of MBTA service. Freed up to privatize with fewer hurdles for the next three years, the T is seeking feedback from private bus companies to provide service during early weekend mornings on less-traveled and express routes.
“We’re trying to gauge the level of interest,” said MBTA Interim General Manager Frank DePaola, adding that “several private bus companies” attended an informational session.
Among the recent reforms recommended by the governor and passed by the Legislature was the creation of the MBTA control board, which took over oversight of the transit agency from the board of which Gittlen is now a member.
“I don’t believe they should do privatization, not without first coming to their unions – their respective unions,” Gittlen told the Statehouse News Service.
Gittlen said he would consider both his desire to give workers good wages and MassDOT financial security when voting on contracts before the board, and likened his role to a labor trustee on a pension board.
Gittlen said MBTA officials would sit down with the machinists union later on Monday, where Gittlen himself would represent the union. DePaola told reporters he was going to do a tour of the MBTA’s Cabot Carhouse where the machinists work, but he said there is “no plan” to talk about bus privatization there.
The work the MBTA has undertaken upgrading tracks and signals ahead of winter this year is “positive,” said Gittlen.
“The T went a long time without the proper funding it should have had,” Gittlen said. He said, “They’re doing things they should have done.”
Gittlen was followed during the public comment period by James O’Brien, president of the Boston Carmen’s Union, who suggested the T should look to boost ridership before outsourcing service.
