T readies handoff of money room
The MBTA is looking to get its money room into the hands of a private contractor as quickly as possible and is planning on awarding a contract within months, officials said yesterday.
At a presentation to prospective bidders for the contract to handle the T’s money, Nick Easley, the agency’s director of flexible contracting, said the authority hopes to award a contract by October.
“Not even Bank of America manages its own cash rooms. Bank of America is the biggest bank in America, and if cash management is not core to them, it’s hard for me to believe it’s core to the MBTA,” said Brian Shortsleeve, the MBTA’s chief administrator. “There are great companies out there that can do things much more efficiently.”
A recent audit of the facility — where workers handle nearly $200 million in cash each year, including from Boston and Cambridge — uncovered a laundry list of security flaws, including broken locks and doors that had been left propped open.
Although yesterday’s presentation was meant to allow companies looking to submit an application the opportunity to ask questions, the only questions came from union reps in the room who wondered about the future of the employees.
Representatives from Garda World Security and Brinks attended the meeting.
The Boston Carmen’s Union was quick to slam the privatization move.
“Time and time again the MBTA has commissioned consultants to produce reports that point to failures of management and a lack of investment as the root problems at the MBTA,” Carmen’s Union President James O’Brien said in a statement. “But the current MBTA leadership chooses to blame the workers in an attempt to justify privatization at any cost.”
Shortsleeve said 32 of the money room employees are operators, and will be moved to other jobs within the T.
He said all options are on the table for the other eight workers.