MBTA to Continue to Contract Commuter Rail (Veolia/MBCR)

sery2831 wrote:....since the last one was thrown out.

? When did that happen?

DAW

A while back. And they had a request for a consulting firm to help restart the process put out as well.

sery2831 wrote:A while back. And they had a request for a consulting firm to help restart the process put out as well.

By "restarting" do you mean a rebid?

It was for a consulting firm to rewrite the bid process. Seems to be like an entire reboot. And what I am hearing it's only going to be a 8 to 10 year contract that is being offered. If it was just a rebid, I think you would have seen less than a year extension.

I haven't seen any news elsewhere, was the extension awarded a one-year extension?

Yes, 12 months.

Makes me wonder if MBCR was going to lose the bid.

The state seems to have no love for MBCR so I doubt they're protecting them. More likely that their ambitious plan to have a long-term award and the bidder invest their own capital dollars into equipment had no serious takers.

I think you hit the nail on the head! I am hearing this time around it will be a 8 to 10 year contract.

What happens to MBCR conductors if a new bidder comes in? Do they get preferential treatment by the new operator? Or automatically all get hired by the new guys? Or are they all just out of a job?

I would imagine that most of the low-level guys stick around, and it's mostly a management shake-up?

The way it worked last time, (and I think when Amtrak took over from B&M as well) is that almost all the current employees will be given the option to sign on with the new contractor. The only exception I think would be the uppermost levels of management. This allows for a fairly seamless transition.

The only difference this time is that there will be nowhere to go but with the new operator. B&M guys could have gone with Amtrak or Guilford (I assume), and when MBCR took over employees had the option to stay with Amtrak or stay on the Commuter Rail. If MBCR loses the contract, the company will liquidate so the option to stay with them won't exist.

CRail wrote:The only difference this time is that there will be nowhere to go but with the new operator. B&M guys could have gone with Amtrak or Guilford (I assume), and when MBCR took over employees had the option to stay with Amtrak or stay on the Commuter Rail. If MBCR loses the contract, the company will liquidate so the option to stay with them won't exist.

That's the way it should be...although it might make it harder for MBCR to retain their best employees if it looks like they will lose the contract.

BandA wrote:

CRail wrote:The only difference this time is that there will be nowhere to go but with the new operator. B&M guys could have gone with Amtrak or Guilford (I assume), and when MBCR took over employees had the option to stay with Amtrak or stay on the Commuter Rail. If MBCR loses the contract, the company will liquidate so the option to stay with them won't exist.

That's the way it should be...although it might make it harder for MBCR to retain their best employees if it looks like they will lose the contract.

Huh? I'm not completely sure I get what you're saying.

If MBCR wins the contract, all employees will stay with MBCR (unless they decide for whatever reason to quit, which probably wouldn't have anything to do with the contract change/renewal).

If Keolis wins the contract, they will first offer all of their positions to MBCR crews, before being able to hire completely new employees. Because MBCR would then go away forever, and crews would have no choice to transfer into another crew pool within the company, they would likely all just keep their jobs, just as employees of Keolis rather than of MBCR.

NS has it right. If a new company comes in and brings in some of their own employees, the current people will have prior rights and maintain their seniority above anyone brought in. All of this, of course, applies to craft employees and not management.