Commuter-rail engineers, conductors and union officials urged the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development to advance legislation (Senate Bill 13-42 / House Bill 2,139 referenced in testimony) to ensure railroad and transit workers receive earned sick time under Massachusetts law.

Senator John Keenan opened this portion of the hearing by outlining Senate Bill 1342, which he described as "an act relative to railroad workers earned sick time." Keenan said the current Railroad Retirement System requires workers to take 14 unpaid days before qualifying for benefits and that his bill would require the rail and transit division of MassDOT and private railroad companies, including subcontractors, to comply with the minimum earned-sick-leave standards in Chapter 149, Section 148C of Massachusetts law. "It really is quite incredible that you have to take 14 days off and without pay before you're eligible to get that benefit," Keenan told the committee.

Railroad employees described on-the-job realities and public-health concerns when sick workers have no earned leave. Joshua Cohen and other conductors and engineers with Smart Transportation and Teamsters told the committee Keolis, the private operator for parts of the commuter rail, has not provided the same earned-sick-time protections as other workers in the Commonwealth. "We didn't have that option [to work from home]; contrary to what the company may say, we actually do get sick," said Joshua Cohen, a conductor. "We are not asking for more than what is owed to us under the earned sick time law, only that we are afforded the same amenities as other workers in the Commonwealth."

Union witnesses pointed to prior legal disputes and enforcement actions. David Stevenson, a conductor and SmartTD safety and legislative director, recalled Attorney General Maura Healey's effort to enforce the state's earned sick-time law against railroad employers and said the bill would close a loophole left by court decisions. "This bill addresses that outcome directly. It would close the loophole that allows one of the state's largest contractors ... to sidestep the Massachusetts earned sick time law," Stevenson said.

Rail union witnesses asked the committee to tie contract procurement and RFP language to labor standards so contractors must adhere to state earned-sick-time rules as conditions of public contracts and operations. Senator Keenan and rail union officials requested a favorable report; no formal motion or vote was recorded during the hearing.