BOSTON — Concerned that the Baker administration's effort to privatize some MBTA services could cost workers their jobs, union members gathered in protest on Wednesday, vowing to continue to call attention to the issue.
Wearing matching orange shirts, nearly 80 members of Boston Carmen's Union 589 turned out for the protest near their Devonshire Street headquarters. Aimee Daluz, an MBTA customer service worker, was among those passing out flyers.
An Uber bill pending in the State House would throttle the car-ride service in Massachusetts by saddling drivers with costly insurance requirements and intrusive background checks, according to both the company and a Pioneer Institute analysis.
The bill, H.3702, would force drivers for ride-sharing companies to take out $1 million liability policies that would cover them at all times, not just when picking up and transporting fares, the study from the nonprofit public-policy organization says. The measure would also go further than other proposed regulations in requiring would-be drivers for Lyft, Uber and others to provide fingerprints and submit to background checks against multiple databases for criminal records, according to Pioneer's analysis.
