Amtrak strike would cripple transit, says MBTA official

BOSTON – A possible strike by Amtrak workers “would have a crippling effect” on public transit between Boston and Providence, Daniel A. Grabauskas, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, told Providence Business News last week.
“No trains would be able to arrive at – or depart from – South Station. There would be no service whatsoever on the Providence and Stoughton Commuter Rail Lines, which are dispatched by Amtrak employees,” he said.
But, “while some of Amtrak’s unions are legally free to strike on Jan. 30, there is no guarantee that a strike will occur,” Cliff Cole, a spokesman for the national passenger railroad, told PBN on Jan. 10. “Amtrak plans to operate normally.”
A presidential panel – created to seek a settlement – issued a set of non-binding recommendations that call for the railroad to pay $62 million in back wages and eliminate proposed work-rule changes that Amtrak management has said would make the railroad more efficient. “The board essentially, on the major issues, embraced our position,” Joel Parker, international vice president of the Transportation Communications Union, told Bloomberg News.
The unions and Amtrak have been in negotiations for eight years. If they fail to agree, a strike could still be averted if Congress opts to intervene and impose a settlement.