THE MBTA said it has suspended 11 employees without pay for violating the transit authority’s policy on wearing face masks. Another 52 workers have received written warnings and 90 verbal warnings.
An MBTA spokesman said the suspensions have ranged from one to five days, depending on the employee’s past disciplinary record. The written warnings must be signed by the employee, who acknowledges another violation could result in a suspension.
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Editor, CommonWealth
About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
The T employs approximately 6,370 employees, so the face mask violations represent only a tiny fraction of the transit authority’s workforce.
The T reported on Thursday that 75 employees had active cases of COVID-19 – up from 63 as of Monday.
MBTA Deputy Manager Jeff Gonneville said on Monday that for every employee infected with the coronavirus two others face lost work time as they await test results or go into quarantine. To free up employees to fill in for the absent workers, Gonneville said the T is slightly increasing the intervals between subway trains during peak travel periods to reduce the number of workers needed to operate them.
