BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has reached a new labor agreement with its largest union, affecting more than 6,000 workers including bus and train operators.
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey and Boston Carmen’s Amalgamated Transit Union Local 589 announced the agreement on Wednesday. WBUR reports it will provide an 18% wage increase over four years, which Healey said is the largest pay increase for MBTA workers since the 1990s.
The MBTA board is scheduled to meet to ratify the deal today.
An MBTA press release said the agreement focuses on improving employee retention and improvement. Efforts to retain frontline employees include longevity bonuses with increases at 10, 15, 20, and 25 years, plus select increases targeted for hard-to-fill positions such as welders and overnight shifts. It also addresses recruitment incentives such as signing bonuses.
MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said the agreement makes the agency’s jobs more competitive in the transit industry and more attractive to potential employees. Jim Evers, president of Local 589, said it addresses longstanding issues such as “improving employee restroom access, expanding bereavement leave to include domestic partners and clarifying language pertaining to assaults on our drivers.”
