Brothers and Sisters,

As you are all aware, a part of our last contract included the negotiation and mediation/arbitration, if necessary, of our pension benefits. We were scheduled to begin selecting dates for those negotiations shortly after the contract agreement was presented to, and ratified by, the Association in August of 2022.

Unfortunately, after we ratified our agreement, Local 589 had an unfavorable arbitration award given to them, which negatively affected their pension benefits. It was immediately evident to everyone involved that MBTA management was willing to renegotiate those benefits with the leaders of 589.

We have been patiently waiting for 589 to complete those negotiations over the last 7 months, during which we had a change of the General Manager of the MBTA, as well as the election and inauguration of a new Governor of the Commonwealth. We want to thank you for your patience and understanding during this time. We are aware many of you want this issue resolved in the manner it was negotiated, as did the E-Board. However due to the above reasons we did not feel it would benefit the Association to rush to the negotiation table, until 589 had come to an agreement and we had a clearer path towards a successful negotiation.

As of this past Sunday (3/12/23) Local 589 had completed those negotiations and ratified a new agreement which supersedes the conditions set in the arbitration award. What that means for us now is that we can proceed with completing the pension portion of our contract. The E-Board has secured a starting date for negotiations on this matter starting the first week of April. We wanted to update you all that although this process was not as swift as we had hoped when mediating our agreement, we stand steadfast in completing this portion and working to secure a better pension benefit for our members. As soon as we have an update on progress in this matter we will again update you. If you have any issues or concerns please reach out to an E-Board member.

Fraternally,

The Executive Boar