Its political action committee, which poured thousands into the campaign coffers for sitting members of the Transportation Committee and has doled out more than $58,000 in campaign donations to more than 100 politicians and committees since 2014 alone. That’s more than twice the political cash handed out by the powerful Boston Teachers Union during that time.
The union spent nearly $360,000 lobbying Beacon Hill in the past five years and doubled its lobbying budget, bringing on the firm Travaglini, Eisenberg & Kiley for two years as lawmakers debated 2009 transportation reform.
The union has skirted reforms through binding arbitration settlements, which are not subject to approval from any board — an advantage held by no other public unions, outside of the MBTA, in the state.