(The following article by Mac Daniel appeared in the Boston Globe on June 12.)
BOSTON — Officials at the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co., the operator of the MBTA’s commuter rail lines as of July 1, announced yesterday that contracts have been ratified with all 14 unions, a major hurdle as the private consortium prepares to take over the rails from Amtrak.
As part of the deal, company officials said, the unions’ estimated 1,500 workers will each receive a $1,000 bonus for signing up with the new contractor during time off from their jobs with Amtrak, which will leave Boston and the T’s commuter rail operations at midnight June 30.
The new union contracts also include a 20 percent salary increase over five years, according to Tara Frier, spokeswoman for Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad.
Amtrak officials chose not to bid on the $1.7 billion contract, saying the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s new terms would cost the national rail carrier too much money.
Other than a few bureaucratic hurdles to settle with Amtrak before the July 1 transition, MBTA general manager Michael Mulhern said the union agreement is a major step.
In a letter sent recently to federal transit officials, Mulhern said some items still being worked out with Amtrak include an inventory of the T railcar fleet, reprogramming software that assists train dispatchers, and the handover of federal certificates from Amtrak to the new operator.
The T and Amtrak are also trying to resolve details about repairs to train equipment.
Amtrak workers dismantled a portion of the brake mechanism on some trains, and T officials want the parts replaced, although Mulhern said the change had no impact on safety.
The transition, which is being watched by federal officials and private rail companies, has had a few bumpy patches.
Amtrak officials canceled all vendor contracts in mid-May without notifying the new operator.
That was quickly fixed, said officials with the railroad consortium. Amtrak officials said they had warned the consortium about the canceled contracts well in advance.
”At this point in the game, I think we’re all moving forward,” said Frier. ”There are some bureaucratic logjams, but we’re working through them.”