T’s new enemies

Just as the MBTA is beginning to realize savings from the privatization of some of its ancillary operations, a handful of state lawmakers want to pull the rug out from under T leaders ahead of schedule.

With the T in a major financial crisis, the Legislature gave the Baker administration a three-year respite from the more onerous requirements of the so-called Pacheco law — one that virtually prohibited the outsourcing of state government functions — just for the T.

The administration has been using it to great advantage to save taxpayer dollars while improving operations. For example, the cash room was nothing short of a scandal. Today by contracting out its operations it not only runs well but has cut monthly costs from nearly $1 million to under $300,000 a month.

Similarly outsourcing warehouse operations — where once the parts departments kept bankers’ hours more or less — has also resulted in better service and millions in savings.

Now the T has set its sights on privatizing bus maintenance, and the howling from T unions — and now their friends in the Legislature — has reached fever pitch.

So Rep. Michelle DuBois (DBrockton), a few fellow travelers like Rep. Marjorie Decker (DCambridge) and a dozen or so of their colleagues want to scuttle the T’s exemption from the Pacheco law now — before it can be used on the bus maintenance contract, which right now is about a $132 million-a-year item.

Decker went so far as to suggest that the MBTA maintenance workers, if laid off from their jobs, would “not be able to pay their mortgages” and could end up on public assistance. Apparently Decker doesn’t think much about the skill level of those workers — but perhaps she knows something we don’t.

Now keep in mind every dollar that goes to pay for things like MBTA maintenance or the previously ill-managed cash room, is a dollar that can’t be used for education or MassHealth or the myriad of programs lawmakers crave. You’d think saving money would be a good thing — unless you’re Decker or DuBois or Sen. Marc Pacheco himself. Then it’s your union pals who matter more.