“I’m confident that this Congress, along with the new president coming in, will pass legislation to deal with transit. Transit has to be addressed in this country. We have crumbling roads and bridges all across America,” Walsh said. “If we don’t address that issue on a national level, infrastructure will crumble, and what type of country will be then?” Community Labor United Executive Director Lee Matsueda supported Walsh’s argument.
“We have to allow time for relief and funding from the federal government to roll out support for the T. We can’t jump to conclusions and make cuts that are going to be disastrous for our communities,” Matsueda said. “We have to allow time for the vaccine we have to protect opportunity for economic recovery.”
Walsh also referenced a recent study from the union-backed coalition, Public Transit Public Good, which estimated more than 800 jobs could be eliminated if the MBTA moves ahead with the service cuts.
“It’s simply reckless to be making these cuts on a budget for FY22 with everything that’s going on, especially when the impact is the greatest on those communities that have been hit hard by the pandemic,” Matsueda said.
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