"The calendar for the next two weeks is creating some interesting interplay between a benefit bill for locked-out workers, Christmas and the end of the 2017-2018 session, and contract talks between National Grid and its 1,200 locked-out natural gas workers.
Lawmakers on Friday agreed to the details of a bill extending unemployment benefits for locked-out workers and it appears they may take enactment votes to send that bill to Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk on Monday, Christmas Eve.
Meantime, National Grid has been saying for days that it hoped to strike a deal with two employee unions by Christmas. However, a company spokeswoman on Saturday confirmed to the News Service that after seven consecutive weekdays of bargaining, the next session won’t be held until Wednesday, Dec. 26.
And in another new wrinkle, the unions and the company issued a rare joint statement Friday night that suggested some optimism about a potential deal and markedly contrasted with the snippy statements that both sides have regularly issued after unsuccessful talks."Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20181223/national-grid-union-hope-to-end-impasse-by-friday
"Ready or not, Massachusetts is speeding headlong into a brave new transportation world.
It may not include flying cars, but state leaders are looking to help pave the way for self-driving cars, an all-electric car future, a transportation grid resilient to climate change and a planned “reinvention” of the commuter rail system serving metropolitan Boston.
Among the recommendations laid out in a hefty, two-volume report released this month by a state commission on the future of transportation in Massachusetts is for the state to set a goal “that all new cars, light duty trucks, and buses sold in Massachusetts will be electric by 2040.”
It’s part of a wider blueprint to create what the commission called “a 21st-century mobility infrastructure” that will help the state and its cities and towns both manage and make the most of emerging changes in transportation technology and behavior."Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20181223/brave-new-world-for-mass-transportation
In case you missed the post shared here last week:
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2018/12/focused-on-big-picture-on-what-and-why.html
Visit the Commission page
https://www.mass.gov/orgs/commission-on-the-future-of-transportation
Report - Volume 1:
Choices for Stewardship: Recommendations to Meet the Transportation Future
https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2018/12/14/FOTCVolume1_1.pdf
Report - Volume 2:
Choices for Stewardship: Background Books – Facts, Trends, and Issues
https://www.mass.gov/files/documents/2018/12/14/FOTCVolume2.pdf
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| Commission on the Future of Transportation, recommends 18 ways the state should prepare for potential changes in transportation |
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