On Aug. 10, over 150 people attended the MBTA’s first and only public meeting on the agency’s proposal to raise fares and cut service. After numerous riders signed up to speak, the MBTA scratched its planned presentation. One after another, riders expressed outrage and concern over different elements of the proposal.
| In a great sign of contempt, only one member of the MBTA Board of Directors and the agency’s CFO attended the meeting. The Boston Globe reported, “A spokesman for Transportation Secretary James Aloisi Jr., who chairs the board, said it was not necessary for board members to be at the meeting because MBTA managers and staff would report back to them on what took place.” |
Less than 24 hours later, Governor Patrick directed the MBTA to cancel all of the 12 remaining meetings, including one to take place less than 3 hours after the governor’s directive was made public. While the cancellation postponed the fare hikes during a so-called “independent” financial review of the MBTA, it does not in any way rule out fare hikes, service reductions, layoffs or other cutbacks.
For the last several months, the Party for Socialism and Liberation has been waging a “Fight Back!” campaign, that includes collecting hundreds of signatures, passing out thousands of leaflets, holding a protest at the State Transportation building, attending MBTA-led meetings and organizing a community meeting.
An hour prior to the start of the meeting, the PSL co-organized a press conference with the T Riders Union to announce a “Community Call to Action” and to speak out against the proposal.
The conference was held on the front steps of the Massachusetts State House. The conference was chaired by Lee Matsueda of the TRU, and speakers included C. Gonçalves, member of the PSL and organizer with the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism); Taisha O’Bryant, TRU chairperson; Bob Terrell of the On the Move Coalition; Lizzi Weyant, attorney at MASSPIRG; and Roxbury City Councilor Chuck Turner.
The press conference was well attended by the mainstream and independent media, and the coverage the following day was widespread. PSL placards reading “Fight Back! No Fare Hikes! No Service Cuts!” were featured in the Boston Globe and the Boston Herald and on the front page of the free daily newspaper, The Metro. The press conference and workshop was the top story for cable news network NECN, leading off with C. Gonçalves of the PSL stating, “Public transportation is not a luxury—it is a need for tens of thousands of poor and working people and should be considered a basic right.”
Postponing of the original proposal while the so-called “independent” review of the MBTA’s finances is being conducted by former John Hancock CEO David D’Alessandro is an attempt to cool the people’s anger on a scorching hot issue in what will soon be an election year. While it is unknown what will come of this review, it will certainly not expose the relationship between the MBTA and the banking and financial industry, which pocket hundreds of millions a year in “debt servicing” payments.
The appointment of D’Alessandro, a long-time financial executive and multi-millionaire, is an insult to the tens of thousands of working people who ride the T everyday. In 2002, as profits at John Hancock dropped, his executive pay package jumped from $8.2 million to $21.7 million. The income of the average T rider, however, falls well below $50,000 a year.
Despite the abrupt cancellation of all public meetings, the PSL’s “Fight Back!” campaign will continue organizing. The cancellation exposes the government’s undemocratic subservience to the interests of the rich and reflects the strength of organizing and the importance of fighting back.
The PSL and its partners in the T Riders Union are organizing a “People’s Hearing” in response to the cancellation and the State’s attempt to shut out the voices of riders. Our demands must and will be heard: “No Fare Hikes! No Service Cuts! No Layoffs!”
