MABA task force lobbies for increase in labor rates

The Massachusetts Auto Body Association (MABA) formed a Labor Rate Review Committee less than a year ago to draw awareness to what the organization considers the unacceptably low labor rate that insurers have paid collision repairers in Massachusetts for almost 20 years.

After enduring what seems like an uphill battle to the committee, its efforts did not prove fruitless. In late January/early February, a few of the Massachusetts insurance companies raised their labor rates, says Robert Del Gallo of Factory Collision and Restoration in Weymouth, Mass., an MABA Labor Rates Committee board member.

He cited Amica as going from $32 to $36 and Premier/Travelers making the same …