Updated: Not just anybody can show up to shovel out the Red Line.
The MBTA is working with local unions to get lots of people working to shovel out the Braintree branch of the Red Line tomorrow.
The T contact the Boston Building Trades and the SEIU, who in turn asked members with shovels to show up tomorrow at the Bayside Expo Center for a 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. shift digging out the tracks, which have not been used to carry passengers since the last storm.
They'll be paid $30 an hour.
A T spokesman says the move is part of "an all out snow removal offensive on the Braintree branch tomorrow."
He adds that the Red Cross has agreed to provide coffee, water and food to the snow fighters.
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Comments
Union jobs for Union wages.
By tolman
Sun, 02/15/2015 - 11:03pm
Union jobs for Union wages. Massachusetts is a right to work state?
Of course they are.
By anon
Sun, 02/15/2015 - 11:16pm
How poorly was this special project publicized?
Great.
By Sally
Sun, 02/15/2015 - 11:21pm
So now how many poor non-Union dopes who saw the original notice are going to show up tomorrow with shovels and then have to flog back home through the snow? Poorly handled.
Unfortunately
By Steeve
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 12:36am
This could be fodder for those trying to pin the current issues on the MBTA's union structure. That non-union members are frozen out of this probably won't be good for optics of it all.
Figures. No way the union
By DTP
Sun, 02/15/2015 - 11:23pm
Figures. No way the union would allow anyone else to have any of that work.
Help is help? No?
By exMasshole
Sun, 02/15/2015 - 11:34pm
Help is help? No? Do they want the snow cleared or not? There's probably a lot of people who aren't being paid while their workplaces are closed (or can't get to them because of no T) What a way to let the unions hijack another useful and much needed program that would undoubtedly benefit many Bostonians.
I suppose
By Steeve
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 12:49am
but help is better help when two people are willing to work for that $30 than one. On what planet is en masse shoveling $30 an hour work? I'm completely in the MBTA's corner on most of this, but I can't see why we should be paying anyone $30 an hour to shovel snow, particularly when it's obviously a nod to the unions of the city.
$30 is nothing
By BlackKat
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 1:30am
When you think about the nature of the work it's hardly high pay. Long hours out in the cold. The isolation of the tracks. And Shoveling tracks is a lot more involved than shoveling a sidewalk.
To shovel out that mess
By jmeltzer
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 8:16am
I'd want people who are in shape and can work through the cold, not just any schmuck who happens to show up at a labor call.
The Laborer's Union should have that. If not, they'll see the consequences when contract renewal is up. That's how the system should work.
Union jobs like this, they can pretty much "fire" you on spot.
By Pete Nice
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 8:21am
If you aren't working up to the supervisors expectations, you can be sent home and replaced with another Union worker. I've seen it happen when these Union workers show up late to jobs. The union rep (who will be there not shoveling snow for probably $60 an hour) will monitor the work being done, and replace those other workers.
Actually, sometimes the union stewards/reps are working supervisors too.
...posted by someone who has
By anon
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 6:02am
...posted by someone who has never done a hard day's work of physically demanded labor! This is 8 hours of back-breaking labor. McDonald's pays nearly half that just to serve french fries. I think $30 is the minimum they should be paying.
I suppose
By Steeve
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 2:44pm
I'm also getting paid more than that an hour to lie in bed today, so perhaps I don't have the right perspective.
And for what it's worth, under $10 an hour isn't "nearly half" of $30. It's even less than a third. Hell, the $15 an hour I mentioned is closer to "nearly half", so perhaps we are in accidental agreement here.
Not so simple as that
By SwirlyGrrl
Sun, 02/15/2015 - 11:38pm
Something about all of the things that the union can provide for a short-time assignment that matters here. Benefits, worker's comp, etc. Takes care of a load of headaches that could arise.
So then it's the lawyers
By exMasshole
Sun, 02/15/2015 - 11:45pm
So then it's the lawyers fault? How about all participants sign a bullet-proof waiver releasing the MBTA and it's contractors from all liability? The Buffalo Bills were going to hire citizens to shovel out the stadium before the game was moved to Detroit back in December. It can be done. This is just another union hijack job.
You can't sign away legal rights
By SwirlyGrrl
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 12:20am
If someone did get hurt doing this work, they have rights. You cannot sign away those rights.
Going with union workers takes care of a lot of potential hassles regarding contract labor - including liability issues and state rules governing contract labor and other labor rights laws.
I know very little about
By exMasshole
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 4:17am
I know very little about contact and employment law but I just can't believe that there isn't a better way. I was just always under the impression that you could waive your rights as long as you are of sound enough mind to do so. Or even like getting hit by a line drive at Fenway where you enter the contract of buying the ticket with the understanding that you may be injured. I'm still sticking with this being a 589 "snow job"! Wonder if they'll be any detail cops watching said snow shoveling? Jeez......I really need to join a Union.
Legally binding collective bargaining agreements
By Reggae Ambassador
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 3:14am
I'm not sure 589 covers clearing the tracks but you can bet the T has a union contract with some local that covers this work.
They, nor the union, can just willy-nilly opt out. That's not how it works. Seems like some concessions were made due to the extraordinary circumstances, or perhaps these types of emergencies are covered in the contract.
Either way both parties have to abide by the contract or negotiate new terms. As they should.
You know what?
By SwirlyGrrl
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 10:53am
You would be the first to cry foul if they took all-comers and:
- some were not in the US legally
- some were underage
- someone with a preexisting back problem managed to pin the injury on the MBTA
- multiple underdressed people got frostbite
- multiple lawsuits resulted from inadequate working conditions
This way, they get people covered by insurance and boilerplate contracts to show up with the right equipment and clothing and fit to work through a very cold, physical day.
sources?
By Vanzetti
Sun, 02/15/2015 - 11:41pm
I'm a building trades union member but haven't heard about this beyond this article. Can you direct me toward an original source from the MBTA? Thanks.
Sources
By adamg
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 12:18am
My original source was a Facebook post by an organizer at Painters and Allied Trades District Council 35, who then took down the post. Also:
mbta
By anon
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 12:19am
Why is the national guard not involved?
They are. I saw a group of
By Rob
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 12:43am
They are. I saw a group of them working on Ruggles Station Sunday.
What is the snow shoveling union?
By Markk02474
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 12:20am
Local nnn of American Brotherhood of snow shovelers?
Laborers
By SwirlyGrrl
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 12:21am
This is what Laborers do, among other things.
shoveling the T
By Mae Burke
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 5:39am
I saw a posting asking for ANYONE not just Union workers to come and help for the $30 pr her last night. BUT when I got up this morning to drive my 20 yr old son the posting is different and he would have to be a union worker. Wth Thanks FO making us get up crazy early and shovel out our car for nothing when it could have been fixed at a normal hour
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Finally, a smart idea! People
By anon
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 6:04am
Finally, a smart idea! People need to get back to work.
If the MBTA really needs
By anon
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 6:57am
If the MBTA really needs bodies to do this work why is it limited to union members only? This seems like a make work patronage scheme now instead of an all hands on deck let's solve a crisis move.
And has anyone been able to get an answer out of the MBTA why they aren't using their snow blowers in the first place? Equipment failure that can't be fixed? What's the deal?
JOBS
By Charli on the MTA
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 7:22am
How many juristictional agreements are broken in this PR stunt by the T? Will all of the new hire be covered by workers comp? Does every worker have training to work around the tracks and do they all have OSHA 10 hour safety training. Are there pre-employment drug screenings. This is very unnerving. A first year journalism student could secure a position w a major daily newspaper by just asking very simple questions of the MBTA and the unions that are sending people to these job fairs. Does a non union hire automatically get representation by the union? Cmon please call these frauds. Frauds who are sitting in their heated living rooms watching Law and Order marathons and putting ghosts on the payroll cash grab that we are paying for.
Not a PR stunt
By adamg
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 9:11am
Not to toot my own horn or anything (especially since I missed the union-only thing at first), but the only reason you even knew about this beforehand was because I happened to be friends on Facebook with somebody who linked to the post by the union organizer announcing this to his friends - and then I asked the T PR guy about it and he happened to be looking at his mail Sunday night and answered me.
That's not how PR stunts are done.
Shhhh!
By TommyJeff
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 9:44am
Just let him ramble, see how worked up he can get.
Not a Pr Stunt
By Charli on the MTA
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 10:48am
i will agree that it is not a Pr stunt. would you agree that it is a cash grab by the painter union. can you cross check to make sure that all of the monies paid out goes to people that actually showed up and worked. Where does the money go and to whom. Someone is making money off of this other than the poor bastards that are freezing all day. Who vets and has oversight of this works project.
WHY NOT HIRE
By anon
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 7:30am
High School seniors are off all week hire them and pay them and credit them with school days. Empty out South Bay and all the other prisons and credit them with time served for shoveling, even if a few of them escape they will soon return because they will freeze to death on the outside. Finally have all the T phonies who have a politically connected job at Park Plaza grab a shovel and help out.
Spoken like ...
By SwirlyGrrl
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 11:00am
Somebody who has never worked a full physical day outside when the forecast high is 15F. A typical walk-to-school parka and boots is not going to cut it here. Not all day, while working. Most teenagers don't have gloves for this, even. Construction workers do.
That's why Work-n-Gear and other stores catering to the trades often have the best gear at he most reasonable prices - you need it, or you don't work. Not trendy fashionable, but high value.
I still have some of my dad's gear from his years of working highway construction in the winter near the Idaho border (now I-84). I only bring it out for extended cross-country trips when it is under 15F - it is too warm at temps above that. I wore out the blaze orange down jacket years ago when biking to work through several tough winters.
People have to remember
By Fsr6379
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 8:17am
Just how long back in 1978 that the T was shut down continuously and at least today they are running sporadically to try and do what they can. Back then the equipment was a lot newer than it is today and believe it or not they are doing better if you look at the overall picture. I really don't think people realize just how tough it is to keep service running with all the factors figured in. Yes they could do better but give them a break because there are people who have been working round the clock to get the service up and running. Anyone who thinks they can do better should contact the T and tell them how it should be.
Looks like they are allowing everyone
By cybah
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 9:10am
Looks like they are allowing everyone..
.
And yes I asked, and she replied with:
Edit:
Confirmation (more confirmation.. above tweet was removed):
Good
By Sally
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 8:37am
I just hated the idea of guys going out there and being turned away.
shoveling the T
By Charli on the MTA
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 8:52am
have these employees passed a pre-employment drug screening and have they had background checks?
Always one guy
By Gregg
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 10:01am
There's always gonna be one guy, unfortunately today that is you!
wth
By M
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 10:34am
If some soul is gonna be out there in 4-degree weather with eyeball-slicing windchill so that I can take the red line to work sometime before July, I don't care if s/he's all hopped up on every illegal substance I could name, I am THRILLED.
Yeah they really had time to
By anon
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 11:41am
Yeah they really had time to do that at 6:30 this morning...
I've got an idea, let's just
By exMasshole
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 3:58pm
I've got an idea, let's just let the damn tracks stay buried till April then!
Favoritism: the unfair
By anon
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 9:17am
Favoritism: the unfair favoring of one person or group over others. Isn't this unlawful? The same thing applies to choosing all men over women. Why don't the masses that aren't Union EVER stand up for themselves and fight back against this atrocity instead of just complaining about it?
Aren't YOU people sick of these worthless Unions yet?
Yea, let's offer them Mississippi wages...
By Pete Nice
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 10:05am
For massachusetts living costs. If you don't like it, boycott the MBTA. Or vote. Or move. Or get a job with management and fight them. Or get a car. Or go down there and be a non Union worker, or organize something.
http://boston.cbslocal.com
By anon
Mon, 02/16/2015 - 11:54am
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2015/02/16/general-publ...
Unions
By J. Goodwin
Tue, 02/17/2015 - 5:59am
What about other Union workers who are basically sitting at home not being paid wages because of snow days? Do they not get a chance at reaping some of this State money? Like AFSCME ?
when is the last day to sign up and were do you sign up at
By Eric Torres
Tue, 02/17/2015 - 6:40am
Im coming from sc (I am a boston native and looking to support my hometown)were do you go to sign up for employment,and is there a cut off period? please feel free to contact me at 910 416 2238eric
volunteers for metro rail snow removal
By antwan buchanan
Tue, 02/17/2015 - 9:25am
Where do I have to go in order to work and offer my help and give my support
Pay
By j defili
Sun, 03/01/2015 - 9:32am
The pay for the outside workers is starting to lag in delivery-----------basically they told them "we won't need you tomorrow and you'll get paid in a week to 10 days" (mailed cheque), so, it reaches the two week mark starting tomorrow...
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