To the eventual applause of those in the room, the MBTA Board of Directors unanimously accepted an agreement between the T the union representing frontline workers for a pay hike.
The contract between the state’s beleaguered transportation system and Carmen’s Local 589 — the union representing the T’s maintenance workers, bus drivers, train drivers, and other mostly non-management employees — will provide an 18% wage increase over the next four years while codifying a number of attraction and retention measures, such as sign-on bonuses and sick leave, and offers better pay progression for new hires.
“The four-year contract is going to give the agency and our workforce long-term stability and that’s very important to us as we look forward to the future here, but also to immediate needs,” MBTA General Manager Philip Eng told the Board before their vote.
Coming in at a cost of about $55 million, the new contract will be paid for as time advances, Eng told the Board, with the first year’s costs baked into current state and MBTA budgets and allowing for the expectation the same will occur in following years.
About $20 million of the contract’s costs will be covered by funding contained in a supplemental budget recently signed by Gov. Maura Healey, the Board was told.
“The four year contract is one that we will tackle yearly,” Eng said. “The important part here is to be able to grow us stronger and make sure that we have the right resources internally.”
The MBTA is in the midst of a worker shortfall and like many employers is struggling to bring on new staff. It’s a problem that’s being seen nationwide which Eng says he has been working to solve at the MBTA since he took the job in March. According to the GM, the state’s transportation system has hired 800 new workers already this year.
A report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation found the MBTA must hire 2,800 workers within the next year to meet its budgeted headcount of 7,600 personnel, and that’s including 1,000 expected employee departures between April and the end of fiscal 2024.
The new contract, according to the union’s boss, will help fill that gap.
“This agreement really focuses on giving the MBTA the ability to recruit and retain new and experienced employees/members,” Carman’s Local President Jim Evers said. “Now is a critical time for the Commonwealth to take the lead with labor to ensure the MBTA reclaims its title as a world class transit agency.”