(The following article by Raja Mishra was posted on the Boston Globe website on June 29.)
BOSTON — MBTA officials said subways, buses, and trains would serve passengers as usual even as labor contracts with transit worker unions expire tomorrow.
T officials and transit unions have been haggling for months over new contracts, including negotiations over pension benefits and healthcare coverage for workers.
Contracts covering 29 of the 30 transit unions involved are set to expire tomorrow. MBTA officials said that the two sides would continue to follow the expired contracts until negotiations are resolved and that a work stoppage appears unlikely.
“The talks continue,” said T spokesman Joe Pesaturo , characterizing the negotiations as “robust.” He would not discuss any aspect of the contract dispute, citing a tradition of keeping negotiations private until a deal is struck. Likewise, officials from the Boston Carmen’s Union , among the largest unions involved, refused to comment.
Pesaturo said service would be unaffected this weekend and beyond. “As in the past, when the contract has expired before a new one was in place, management and the unions will continue to adhere to the conditions of the old contract,” he said.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is in the midst of cost-cutting as it faces rising healthcare and pension costs. It also plans to raise fares in January 2007, the second hike in three years, to generate revenue.
Under current contracts, retirees receive free medical care and 57 percent of their average salary during their three highest-earning years. The average MBTA salary in 2002 was $54,981. In the last negotiations, in 2002, the Carmen’s Union agreed to its lowest wage increases in history.