Union Vows to Fight MBTA Overhaul Efforts

Gov. Charlie Baker's efforts to overhaul the MBTA have hit a roadblock with the transit agency's largest employees union, which has vowed to sue the state, or petition the federal government to cut off millions of dollars in transit aid, if a key provision of the plan is approved by lawmakers.

The Boston Carmen's Union Local 589 argues that a proposal that gives a Baker-appointed board final approval of labor contracts runs afoul of federal law designed to protect the collective bargaining rights of public transit employees.

Union President James O'Brien tells The Boston Globe the plan amounts to a reckless and unfair shift in the bargaining process.

The Baker administration countered that the proposed change is a modest, procedural one rather than a substantial blow to collective bargaining.