The nurses overwhelmingly authorized an indefinite strike last week, after their five-day work stoppage in July failed to break the contract negotiation stalemate.
unions
Posted inThe Codcast
Where organized labor hits the ballot
Organized labor has been out in force on ballot measures — recently literally trying to secure bargaining power through the ballot — and that means manpower, mobilization, and money funneling toward a set of policy measures that the Legislature has waved away. This week on The Codcast, CommonWealth Beacon reporter Jennifer Smith looks at unions and direct democracy with two guests.
Nick Juravich, associate professor of history and labor studies and associate director of the Labor Resource Center at UMass Boston, breaks down where we sit in the history of unions and ballot efforts. Then Chrissy Lynch, head of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, explains how the unions themselves pick their targets.
Posted inEnergy
In New Bedford, Healey celebrates completion of Vineyard Wind project as the company faces financial disputes
Gov. Maura Healey along with Massachusetts labor and energy leaders celebrated the completion of the country’s first commercial-scale offshore wind project, which concluded construction in March. She touted its benefits while shrugging off the wind development company’s recent financial disputes that have made headlines and threatened the project.
Posted inEducation
The dividing line on millionaires tax money
One of the main backers of the 2022 ballot question says a split between education and transportation shouldn’t be locked in.
Posted inOpinion
Unions key in ramp up to the next industrial revolution
As the presidents of the labor union federations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, we have communicated the importance of a worker-centered approach to building out offshore wind in discussions with state officials and offshore wind developers.
Posted inGovernment
The ‘labor whisperer’ inside Boston City Hall
“Don’t demonize your opponent. Don’t question your opponent’s motives. I mean, I’m actually slipping here by even saying opponent,” said Lou Mandarini, who was called Mayor Michelle Wu’s “labor whisperer.”
Posted inPolitics
Wu-aligned unions funnel cash into super PAC backing Boston council candidate
Four left-leaning unions closely aligned with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu are directing money to a newly formed outside super PAC that is backing Boston City Council candidate Henry Santana, a former Wu aide who is considered a top hopeful for one of the four at-large seats in the November 7 election.
Posted inEconomy
Secret ballot vital in union elections
THE LATEST real-life parable that reminds us why the Founding Fathers made secret-ballot elections a centerpiece of American democracy comes from a distinctly 21st-century source – the video game industry. […]
Posted inState Government, State House News Service
Spilka sees no path forward for staff unionization
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE LEGISLATIVE STAFF have waited around four months to learn whether Senate President Karen Spilka would recognize their unionization effort with IBEW Local 2222, and on Thursday […]
Posted inOpinion
Biden’s PLA order is way off the mark
A FEW DAYS AGO, President Biden signed an executive order requiring that all federal construction projects over $35 million be conducted under a project labor agreement, or PLA. The executive […]
Posted inOpinion
PLAs get a big lift from Biden
PRESIDENT BIDEN’S recent executive order #14063 on the use of project labor agreements for federal construction projects is a major step toward fulfilling the pledge to build America back better. It’s […]
Posted inOpinion
Anti-union actions reflect racist attitudes
THE CIVIL RIGHTS movement did not end with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1968. We are still in the midst of it. The work continues as we […]
Posted inEconomy
Young workers key to a resurgent labor movement
A DECADE THAT started with the worst recession in 75 years ended with a booming economy and record low unemployment rate. The “too big to fail” era also ushered in […]
Posted inUncategorized
Corruption or advocacy?
When two aides to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh were convicted earlier this month on federal charges of conspiring to extort organizers of the Boston Calling music festival in 2014, US […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: Corruption or advocacy?
When two aides to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh were convicted earlier this month on federal charges of conspiring to extort organizers of the Boston Calling music festival in 2014, US […]
Posted inEconomy
Was Stop & Shop strike a turning point?
THE STOP & SHOP STRIKE earlier this year cost the company about $100 million and resulted in a contract the workers could agree to, but whether the power on display […]
Posted inThe Download
Was Stop & Shop strike a turning point?
THE STOP & SHOP STRIKE earlier this year cost the company about $100 million and resulted in a contract the workers could agree to, but whether the power on display […]
Posted inPolitics
Unions look for another win with Janus bill
HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DeLEO will bring a bill to the floor for a vote this week that would allow unions to charge non-members fees for certain services, a response to […]
Posted inOpinion
Union chief: Grid workers did not break
UNIONS MATTER. That’s the lesson of National Grid’s six-month lockout of 1,250 United Steelworkers. Withstanding the latest in a series of attacks on workers nationally, the men and women of […]
Posted inEconomy
Natl. Grid, steelworkers reach tentative deal
NATIONAL GRID and the union locals representing 1,250 steelworkers said late Wednesday night that they have negotiated a new contract that, if ratified, would end a bitter, six-month lockout that […]
Posted inEconomy
Baker signs National Grid legislation
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER signed into law on Monday morning a bill that extends the unemployment benefits of workers locked out by their employers, giving a legislative victory to steelworkers locked […]
Posted inEconomy
National Grid, union fail to reach agreement
NATIONAL GRID and the two union locals representing 1,250 locked-out steelworkers failed to negotiate a new contract by their self-imposed deadline of Friday, but the two sides have agreed to […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service
Lawmakers revive bill to pressure National Grid
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE HOUSE APPEARS ready to begin ratcheting up the pressure on National Grid to end its lockout of more 1,250 union gas workers, reviving a three-month-old […]
