Posts tagged Boston
Massachusetts: Defying Spilka, senate staffers vow to continue union fight
August 3, 2022 // Spilka invited staff members to meet with Senate counsel Friday afternoon to discuss a legal review that she said found no path forward for union recognition because of the unique structure of the senate. Two staffers who attended the closed-door meeting, Morgan Simko and Evan Berry, said afterwards the lawyers identified which state laws create hurdles to union recognition. They said changing those laws is a question of legislators' willpower. "Ball's in their court," Berry said. "If they really want to say to the unions that have supported them election cycle after election cycle that they are pro-labor, they will show up and say, regardless of where you are in Massachusetts, you deserve a union and Beacon Hill is no exception." Sen. Becca Rausch, Senate President Pro Tempore Will Brownsberger,
MFA union ratifies its first contract
June 30, 2022 // The MFA Union represents all non-managerial employees who are not already represented by another collective bargaining agreement, and includes hourly front-of-house staff and part-time educators as well as members of administrative, technical, curatorial and conservation departments. Union leaders said the salary minimums will improve pay equity across departments and raise salaries up to industry standards. Curators and conservators, who are typically paid less than salaried professionals in other departments, will see the biggest gains. “There is room for improvement in museum compensation as an industry, but this is a step in that direction … so hopefully we don’t get so behind industry standards in the future,” said Eve Mayberger, a member of the bargaining committee and an assistant objects conservator at the museum. “It is a huge improvement for many of our unit members.” Matthew Teitelbaum, Maida Rosenstein

Starbucks union creates $1 million fund to cover lost pay for striking baristas
June 3, 2022 // The union backing organizing efforts at Starbucks is creating a $1 million fund to cover lost pay for baristas who go on strike, giving workers more firepower in their fight to unionize.
UNIONS MAKE NEW INROADS INTO CHAINS
June 2, 2022 // Workers at more than 100 Starbucks units have now voted to organize, and employees of other coffee chains have taken steps to do likewise.

Biden Labor Secretary Covered for Police Union That Enabled a Convicted Child Rapist
May 9, 2022 // The Monday conviction of Patrick Rose on 21 counts related to sexual assault of minors puts the spotlight on Walsh, who as Boston's mayor blocked records showing the city's police department knew about Rose's sexual crimes for decades. The records, which were released by Walsh's successor, are damaging to the city's powerful police union, which was led by the now-convicted child rapist during Walsh's tenure as mayor.
This new union boss could start the biggest strike in decades
March 24, 2022 // O'Brien, a self-described "militant," is vowing to take a much harsher line with employers than his predecessor did. And that could lead to a strike at the nation's largest union employer when the Teamsters' UPS (UPS) contract expires on July 31 2023.
Boston, unions discussing hybrid work options
March 17, 2022 // “The City and its labor partners had a discussion about implementing hybrid work models through collective bargaining,” a city spokesman said in a statement to the Herald on Friday evening.
US unions see unusually promising moment amid wave of victories
March 16, 2022 // Gebre said the nation’s unions should send far more organizers and money to back the union drives at Starbucks and Amazon. “The rest of the labor movement should be willing to lend a hand,” even if they don’t get any of the members, said Gebre, who was recently named Greenpeace’s chief program officer. “That’s what solidarity means.”
Marty Walsh Offers to Help Resolve MLB Lockout
February 12, 2022 // The longtime Red Sox fan said he had spoken with representatives of the owners and the Major League Baseball Players Association about the ongoing negotiations