MBTA to begin furloughs

The MBTA is now on track for furloughs for some union members and executives as the coronavirus pandemic continues to hammer the transit agency’s bottom line.

General Manager Steve Poftak wrote in a December letter to employees that this applies to “non-affiliated executives, Steelworkers, Local 453, and TEA members.” Each will be furloughed for five days between February and the end of the fiscal year in June, he wrote.

“This is not a decision made lightly,” wrote Poftak, who is also furloughing himself from a week of his earnings, which were $345,000 in 2020. “You, our workforce, are the T. The men and women operating vehicles, maintaining the system and providing administrative support. Together we have met the challenge to provide essential service to our riders throughout the pandemic, thank you.”

The T said in a statement that it expects to save $2.5 million through furloughs. That will only go so far, as Poftak wrote in the letter that the T is projecting a budget gap of $54 million to $79 million for the current fiscal year and $577 million to $652 million in the next one, which starts in July. That’s potentially more than the $585 million the entire 7,412-person MBTA workforce made in 2020.

“When our riders will return and how much revenue we are able to collect remains uncertain for the foreseeable future, and is dictated by many factors out of our control,” the GM wrote. “In this challenging situation, there are always difficult decisions.”

Revenue plunged on all of the T’s systems as the pandemic set in. At the end of the year, the MBTA’s oversight board voted to cut service for subway, buses and Commuter Rail as demand remained vanishingly low for what was already a cash-strapped agency.

The MBTA spent more than $81 million in overtime last year, state payroll records show, including 35 employees who made more than $100,000 in OT.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2XaZdjX