Posts tagged Massachusetts
Ocean State Media Staff Members Announce Intent To ‘Go Union,’ Join SAG-AFTRA
May 14, 2026 // Staff employed at Ocean State Media - Rhode Island’s NPR and PBS station, have announced their intention to form a Union with the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). A majority of Workers - including Hosts, Reporters, And Digital, Audio and Video Producers, have signed a petition to Unionize. Ocean State Media was formed following a merger between The Public’s Radio, Rhode Island’s NPR affiliate, and Rhode Island PBS. The combined organization provides news and cultural coverage on the unique stories of Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts.
First-Ever Bargaining Compact Unites Higher Ed Unions Across Northeastern US
May 5, 2026 // Together, they drafted a document called the Amherst Compact. While it is largely aspirational, it commits HELU to working “to coordinate bargaining priorities that raise the floor for workers of all job categories across the most densely-unionized region of the U.S.,” the Northeast. Moreover, the agreement pledges solidarity across job titles, even on campuses where multiple unions represent workers in different employment categories — buildings and grounds; clerical; custodial; food service; research; security; or teaching — and regardless of whether the workers are employed by university hospitals or degree-granting bodies.
Opinion: As Trump slashes research, California devises a solution
May 1, 2026 // The University of California system alone — where the United Auto Workers union, the organization I lead, represents 60,000 workers, including academic employees and researchers — risks losing between $5 billion and $6 billion every year from the Trump administration’s cuts. The UAW represents more than 120,000 academic workers across the country,
Fearing instability at Boston-area school, faculty ask for job protections if the school closes
May 1, 2026 // She and other faculty in low-enrollment programs are being asked to teach outside their fields because enrollment is too low to sustain courses within their areas of expertise. While education programs are facing declines at many universities, she attributes the downfall to administrative issues. She said shared governance and the institutional mission of social justice are being abandoned.
One of Oregon’s Most Powerful Unions Is Rebelling Against Democrats
April 23, 2026 // Although many donors contribute to individual candidates, OEA sends most of its legislative contributions to caucus leaders, who distribute the cash to candidates in tight races. That ensures maximum influence with leaders, who in turn decide which bills get hearings and who gets committee chairmanships. (A 2012 study by the Fordham Institute ranked OEA the second-most powerful teachers union in the country—only the Illinois teachers union ranked higher.) In addition to large and steady contributions, OEA also developed a reputation for punishing Democrats who failed to fall in line, as Sollman is now learning. One infamous example still echoes nearly two decades later.
Thousands of Harvard University graduate students go on strike
April 21, 2026 // Their demands include fair pay and raises that keep up with inflation, protections for non-citizen workers, and external processes with third-party arbitration for cases of harassment, discrimination, and abuse in the workplace. HGSU is made up of 4,000 workers.
Massachusetts House Democrats Kill Bill That Would’ve Let Legislative Staffers Unionize
April 6, 2026 // BARRING A SUDDEN REVERSAL by their ostensibly pro-labor bosses, the Massachusetts legislative staffers who have long fought to form a union will once again need to wait ‘til next year. House Democrats have quietly smothered legislation that would have given aides in both chambers a clear legal right to organize and collectively bargain. A similar bill is technically still alive in the Senate, but given that top lawmakers there have already voiced concerns about the legal framework for a staff union, the prospects appear dim.
Commentary: California on the Cusp
April 2, 2026 // The top three Democratic gubernatorial candidates enjoy strong backing from organized labor, including the state’s all-powerful public-employee unions. If elected, it’s nearly certain they’ll follow the union playbook of more taxes and regulations for the next four or even eight years.
Opinion: Unions are on a comeback. Americans are paying the price.
April 2, 2026 // So far, the union comeback has mostly been confined to courthouses and state legislatures. Membership hardly budged last year, rising from 9.9 percent of U.S. workers in 2024 to 10 percent in 2025. Yet if more states continue to mandate collective bargaining for public-sector workers — or decide to repeal right-to-work statutes for the private sector — rates can be expected to rise in those jurisdictions. If workers at a unionized shop are forced to pay dues regardless of their membership status, more will opt in as the financial incentive to remain unorganized slips away.
As Michigan’s childcare costs rise, workers debate risks of unionizing
March 31, 2026 // Instead of childcare workers unionizing against owners, the model most commonly seen in childcare unions across the country is owners unionizing against their state, as Henderson is advocating for — specifically, childcare owners who receive state reimbursement payments for care they provide low-income families and therefore can be considered state employees. The purpose is to get more robust and permanent public dollars through contract negotiation to fund things providers say they can’t currently afford because of limits on their revenue, like higher wages, insurance benefits, and overall more stability for the struggling industry. Critics of this model say childcare providers shouldn't be considered public employees just because they receive payments from the state or put in a position where they may feel they have to pay union dues. They also say the fractured layout of the industry doesn't lend itself well to unionization and could create division among already under-resourced owners and staff.