MBTA Roundup: Janitors Could Strike Friday, Late-Night Boston Bus Service Pitch

BOSTON, MA — The Mass. Bay Transit Authority's fiscal control board on Monday weighed an overnight bus proposal for Boston, and confronted a group of MBTA janitors who said they could strike as early as Friday, when their contracts expire.

The MBTA janitors' union, 32BJ SEIU, reportedly stormed the meeting in protest of cuts, where union reps alleged the companies employing MBTA custodial staff laid of 50 and cut hours for another 83 janitors, according to The Boston Globe.

According to the paper, some janitors at the meeting "said their schedules were cut by a single hour so they didn’t qualify for health benefits." At least one board member responded that an investigation could be in order and that the MBTA rebid janitors' contracts if it found the allegations to be true, the Globe reports.

At the same meeting, advocacy group Transit Matters put forward a proposal to supplement Boston's shuttered late-night T service with an overnight bus service.

Transit Matters' pitch hinges on low-income workers who need to access shifts as early as 5 a.m.

"Overnight bus service fills the transit gap in service to provide job access to late and early shift workers. Many are transit dependent," its proposal states. "Boston is a world-class city that never stops working; neither should its transit network."

An array of Boston city officials also lined up to support Transit Matter's proposal at the meeting, The Boston Globe reports.

Read the full story from the Boston Globe here.

Photo via mass.gov