Wait, did somebody cut sunroofs into the MBTA’s armored cars?
Baker, MBTA union in dispute over armored cars
The labor union representing the T’s “money room” workers is accusing Gov. Charlie Baker of misrepresenting facts as the two sides continue to bicker over whether to contract out the MBTA’s cash-counting operations.
Last week, while speaking to reporters about the last year at the T, Baker said sunroofs had been cut into two armored cars used to move money around. He didn’t offer much more in the way of detail, but suggested the issue was consistent with other problems MBTA management says it has found with security in the money room. An audit released by the state earlier this month found several security lapses, including a door that was improperly propped open and failures to keep track of keys.
But the Boston Carmen’s Union, which represents the money room employees and thousands of others, pushed back hard against Baker’s claim about the armored cars, calling it “pure fiction.” The Carmen’s Union said three cars in the money room’s fleet fit the description of having sunroofs — and that they all came that way.
“These trucks have the exact same roofs from when they were purchased two decades ago. This baseless allegation is proof that this administration will do anything to try to justify privatization,” Carmen’s Union President James O’Brien said in a statement. “All that we have asked for is for MBTA leadership and the Baker Administration to be truthful, but they have chosen time and again to say anything in an attempt to justify getting rid of hardworking public employees.”
The union sent the below photos of a truck made in 1995 to back up its point:
The inside of the truck.
The truck from the outside.
Billy Pitman, a spokesman for Baker, stood by the governor’s comments in response.
“The facts are clear: the money room’s operations are sub-par at best, from the alarms to the doors, and to the trucks, it is clear the status quo cannot continue at the MBTA and efforts to keep things the way they are will never deliver the service that riders deserve. The governor’s remarks are consistent with the MBTA’s independent security adviser’s report which found armored truck roofs had been altered after market and the administration will continue to reform the MBTA with every tool available,” Pitman said.
Privatization at the T has been a central issue for MBTA labor throughout Baker’s time in office. It has grown more tense as the agency moves closer to actually spinning divisions toward the private sector.
In the spring and summer of 2015, as he sought reforms at the MBTA following the system’s struggles in last winter’s snow, the Republican governor successfully convinced the legislature to give the T more unilateral power to privatize services, scoring a three-year reprieve from a law requiring a multi-step audit before the state could contract out a service provided by public employees. T officials have been pushing to privatize the agency’s cash-counting division since before the recent audit was released.
Baker and his administration say bringing in outside specialists will allow the agency to better deliver services at better costs.
“I don’t care if a service is provided publicly or privately. What I care about is performance, productivity and ensuring the money riders, taxpayers and cities and towns pay in to the system is well managed. The old way of doing things at the T is no longer viable or sensible,” Baker said in the media session last week.
Union leaders, meanwhile, have pointed to past issues with outside contractors to say privatization does not always work. They charge that Baker is unfairly blaming MBTA workers to push for more private-sector involvement in running the region’s transit system.
The union has offered to cut pay for new employees if the T agrees not to privatize services. But T officials say they are not interested in giving up the power to do so.
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