Local 2054 Keolis Contract Fight

Keolis Commuter Railroad Workers Lowest Paid in Northeast

Blue-collar Massachusetts railroad workers are being shafted by a very profitable, and greedy, French conglomerate.

MBTA coach cleaners and car inspectors, who are employed by private-contractor Keolis, are the lowest paid commuter railroad workers in the entire Northeast. Some are paid so poorly by Keolis they are eligible for food stamps and public housing assistance. All are denied paid sick days – a basic necessity that nearly all other workers in the state have.

Keolis is a subsidiary of the Société Nationale des Chemins de Fer Français (The National Company of The French Railways, or SCNF), which is owned by the French government.  SNCF generated $45.5 billion in revenues last year – which is about the same size as Coca-Cola.

It spent billions upgrading and expanding transit in France – and giving French workers raises of 17% to 21% raises for 2021 to 2024.

Massachusetts rail workers, commuters, and taxpayers are subsidizing transit in France – and rail workers here are denied comparable raises.

“An American company would never be allowed to treat workers like this in France,” TWU International President John Samuelsen said. “They’d be tossed out on their arses. Keolis should give our Massachusetts workers a fair contract – or get a one-way ticket home.”

Workers have a message for Legislators

Message One  |  Message Two  |  Message Three

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