Outsourcing Plans at the MBTA

Wishful Thinking at the MBTA

For over 15 years, the MBTA has subcontracted its Commuter Raile Service to private companies. It is generally viewed that the Commuter rail has not been well run.

Now, the T -- relying on hope over experience -- plans to outsource its maintenance activities to the private sector. This is madness. Managing a contrattor is at least as difficult as managin in-house employees. In house, you have diorect influence over employees' behavior. With contractors you don't. All you can do in the face of poor performace is abrogate the contract and then suffer the disruption of trying to find a replacement.

It is an embarrassment that in a city with half a dozen world class business schools full of Operations Managemnt faculty memebers that the T cannot manage its maintenance operations effectively. This is not rocket science; this is a well undertood process. 

The T should not outsource this problem. It should work hard to get its house in order and improve its operations.

Sent to Boston Globe

I was distressed to read in your editorial (Boston Globe, April 29, 2013: A10) an attack on one of the few remaining protections for state workers: the anti-privatizing laws (Pacheco Law).

In a world in which private sector wages, except for top management, have been beaten down, it is worth keeping in mind that public sector jobs provide a buffer against severe declines. Since 2000, according the the Bureau of Labor Statistics, income for the lowest 10% of wage earners has declined by 3% (corrected for inflation); while wages for the top 10% have risen 9% (also corrected for inflation).

So, do we really want the work that needs to be done on behalf of the Commonwealth to be done by workers who are exploited by their employers, or do we want to ensure that the work is done by our public servants who, despite the publicity about patronage and corruption, are in the main honest and competent workers.

The House did well to preserve these protections.


Sent to Boston Globe

Hyatt's Risky Gamble

I am appalled by the duplicity of Hyatt's management. No company that treats workers well lies about the people they are training.

There is also a business case not to outsource your key staff. I point this out in my Cambridge Chronicle op-ed.