A brand new union contract between the MBTA and almost half its workforce gives an 18% pay hike, incentives to remain on the transit company, and focused hiring objectives for hard-to-fill positions, officers stated Wednesday.
The contract nonetheless must be permitted by the MBTA board, which meets subsequent on Thursday, however MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng and Boston Carmen’s Local 589 boss Jim Evers gave their stamp of approval at a press convention exterior of the MBTA’s Cabot Yard.
The contract — which covers upkeep staff, bus drivers, prepare drivers, and different frontline workers — will present an 18% wage enhance over 4 years, codifies “a number of attraction and retention” measures, higher pay development for brand spanking new hires, and sign-on bonuses, Gov. Maura Healey stated.
“It also expands benefits, adding 10 days of paid parental leave, bereavement leave for domestic partners, and dental and vision coverage for part time workers,” she stated. “These are opportunities that current T workers deserve. And they will help us bring more workers into the workforce to meet the needs of our system now and going forward.”
It was not instantly clear how a lot the brand new contract prices taxpayers and an MBTA spokesperson didn’t instantly reply to an inquiry.
Evers stated the brand new contract is a “game changer” for the general public transit system.
“It’s designed to attract top talent, prioritize safety and ensure that our services remain accessible to all,” he stated. “Not only does this contract memorialize a range of recruitment incentives, including signing bonuses, but it has targeted increases aimed at hard to fill positions such as bus drivers, train operators, along with maintenance and folks that are working overnight shifts.”
Eng stated the contract demonstrates how a lot the state “values” MBTA staff.
“They will have more time in their day, they will have more time to be able to build their career as well and that’s another key part to retention,” he stated.
A report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation launched earlier this yr discovered the MBTA should rent 2,800 staff throughout the subsequent yr to fulfill its budgeted headcount of seven,600 personnel. That is factoring in 1,000 anticipated departures from April to the top of fiscal yr 2024.
Eng stated the MBTA is on monitor to herald 1,300 new workers this yr if “we continued at this pace.”
“This new contract, with five months to go, we hope to change those numbers,” Eng stated. “… We’re not behind on hiring. We have hired almost 800 new employees to-date. That doesn’t count the over 300 promotions that we’ve made internally.”
Healey stated there was “an exponential increase” in MBTA hires.
“We haven’t seen that in a long, long, long time, if ever,” she stated. “And the T is also working on retention. Retention is very important … What’s in this contract is going to help fight some of that attrition and deal with the retention.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”