GATRA workers in Taunton vote to authorize strike

Sep. 17--TAUNTON -- GATRA workers have taken a step that eventually could lead to a strike.

At least 50 union members of Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority voted Sunday to authorize a strike, according to John Troxell, president and business agent for Brockton-based Local 1547 of Amalgamated Transit Union.

"The last thing we want is to inconvenience the public," Troxell said. "But if health insurance was a little more reasonable then they could live off their wages."

Troxell said about half the take-home pay of an average, full-time GATRA worker, who has enrolled in a family plan through medical-insurance provider Harvard Pilgrim, goes to pay his or her health-insurance premium.

He said those workers contribute 25% to the overall cost of the family plans.

Troxell said some younger GATRA employees are going without any health coverage in lieu of paying for a family plan, which he says costs approximately $300 a week.

Some others, he said, are signing up for public assistance through the MassHealth program.

"That's disgusting," Troxell said.

He said GATRA administrator Francis J. Gay, in contrast, contributes just 5%t to his own health-plan premium.

Everything would be fine, Troxell said, "if we could get what Frank has."

Troxell said Gay, who is approaching retirement, apparently has been "asleep at the switch" coming to terms with the amount workers contribute to their family-plan, health-care coverage.

Gay on Tuesday said that GATRA functions as a "silent partner" and is not part of negotiations.

"We're not at the table," Gay said.

He said that an international company called Transdev North America and their subsidiary, Professional Transit Management of Attleboro (PTMA), is negotiating the contract.

PTMA area manager Alex Roman said Tuesday that all buses are on schedule and that the most recent contract has been extended through the end of October.

He said PTMA is under contract to GATRA as the employer of the union workers but offered no further comment.

Troxell said he's hopeful an agreement can be hammered out to avoid a general strike; he said meetings with GATRA representatives have been scheduled for Oct. 3 and Oct. 10.

In the meantime, Troxell said, there's a chance workers might hold an "informational picket" in front of the GATRA bus station, maintenance facility and office at 10 Oak St.

The last time that happened was 2010, when workers threatened to strike during contract negotiations in which health insurance was a central point of disagreement.

Troxell said negotiations have dragged on for at least two months.

"We're still at the table, but so far it's been a snail's pace. But they have agreed to meet us," he said.

In the event of a strike, Troxell said a wide range of customers would be inconvenienced.

Those include seniors, folks who don't own vehicles and some public school students, the latter of whom he says don't qualify for the city's school bus program and take GATRA buses instead of walking to school.

Troxell said the roughly 70 GATRA employees -- consisting mostly of bus and van drivers, but also call takers and maintenance workers -- haven't had a new contract since July.

He said the "top tier" hourly salary for a driver of a large transit bus, which travels to various destinations in the commonwealth, is now $23.57.

GATRA, besides its usual bus routes, also uses smaller buses and specialized vans for its Dial-a-Ride program, which caters to people with physical disabilities.

Troxell said the state's fiscal 2020 budget included an additional $8 million for the more than a dozen regional transit authorities operating in the commonwealth.

He said the extra funding should help mitigate a portion of any reduction of family-plan contributions being paid by GATRA workers.

Troxell said the most recent contract for GATRA workers expired in July but has been extended.

Bus drivers on Martha's Vineyard, he noted, approved a new contract in late July after striking nearly a month.

Troxell said those drivers are the lowest paid among the state's pool of regional transit authorities.

Next in line in terms of the lowest, comparative pay rate, he said, are GATRA drivers with routes in Taunton and Plymouth.

"They run neck and neck," Troxell said.

GATRA in February raised bus fare rates in the Taunton region for the first time in 15 years.

Normal bus fares increased from $1 to $1.50, and the price of a ticket for senior citizens, people on Medicare or with disabilities went from 50 cents to 75 cents.

GATRA at the same time eliminated a 50-cent transfer charge for riders taking a bus within a single municipality.

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