LOWELL — Lowell Mayor John Leahy called for both sides of the ongoing strike of drivers for the LRTA’s Road Runner paratransit service to come together for the sake of the population they serve Friday, and said the disruption caused by the strike shows how valuable the drivers are.
Meanwhile, Jeff Womack, chief marketing officer for MV Transportation, the LRTA contractor who the drivers work for and are negotiating with, said the company is working with local councils on aging and ride sharing services to get passengers where they need to go.
“While I know that the decision for Teamsters Local 170 to initiate a strike was not made lightly, the ongoing service stoppage has posed a severe detriment to our community and particularly to some of the most vulnerable members of our community, including elderly and disabled passengers who rely on Road Runner paratransit services,” Leahy said in a prepared statement. “The impact of this halt to services demonstrates the value of the work that paratransit drivers provide to our community every day, and I believe they should be fairly compensated and benefited for it.”
LRTA Administrator James Scanlan, who is not directly involved in negotiations since the LRTA uses a contractor for the drivers, said the strike, which started Monday, is the first in his 17-year career as administrator, even among workers for a subcontractor.
Scanlan said MV Transportation’s offer to the union included no cutback in benefits, and what he described as “increases in a number of areas.”
“I was disappointed that the union didn’t think that was a fair offer and chose to strike,” Scanlan said. “I would hope that as we go forward that they would look at that offer and try to see how they could work with it and move forward.”
But in statements to The Sun on Friday, MV Transportation and Teamsters Local 170 Business Agent Ken Bergen each indicated the ball was in the other’s court.
Bergen said that while MV Transportation says passengers are being picked up, the striking drivers have heard from customers who say that’s not always the case.
Bergen said the union hasn’t gotten a new offer from MV Transportation since going on strike, just warnings that striking could cost people’s jobs.
He said workers want the company to cover 80% of their health insurance costs instead of the current 70% that is covered by the company. Womack said the company already covers 75% of costs for some grandfathered employees.
But Bergen said the bottom line is that the drivers can’t afford the health insurance they were offered in the company’s last proposal.
“A starting, full-time employee, with a family, would spend 29% of their annual gross earnings on healthcare. That’s a huge amount. That’s before taxes are taken out,” Bergen said. “The drivers care about the job they do. They have relationships with the passengers they transport and they are torn about having to take a stand like this because of the ill effects it has on those passengers and friends, but they also have to provide for their families.”
Bergen said the union appreciates the mayor’s input, but that “the company has failed to reach out to us at any point in time.”
Womack said MV Transportation is willing to meet, though, and stands by its offer.
“MV has negotiated in good faith with the Teamsters and believes that our offer is fair and competitive with guaranteed wage increases for each of the next three years that far outpaces the cost of living and any potential increase in benefit cost, in addition to many other substantial job enhancements,” Womack said in an email. “We continue to be willing to meet with the union but they are more interested in striking, negotiating through the media and putting our customer’s transportation needs at risk.”
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Lowell mayor, citing the vulnerable, weighs in on Road Runner strike - Lowell Sun
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