Posts tagged New England
Encore Boston Harbor Unionization Continues as Cage Workers Join Teamsters
September 11, 2025 // Proponents of unions say collective bargaining leads to better pay and benefits for workers, and gives employees a stronger voice against management and ownership. Opponents claim unions harm businesses by raising costs, hindering productivity, limiting worker autonomy, and contributing to economic instability.
Stop & Shop says it will close Mass. distribution center if no contract is reached
February 25, 2025 // The statement went on to say that if an agreement is not reached by Feb. 28, the company will outsource the warehouse work and shut the facility down. "This is not a decision we take lightly, and we care deeply about protecting these union jobs and maintaining our presence in Freetown. It is critical that the local collaborates with us in achieving the labor savings needed to do so," the statement reads.
Commentary: New Hampshire could boost manufacturing jobs with one simple trick: becoming a right-to-work state
December 17, 2024 // Policymakers hoping to help specific industries tend to suggest protectionist measures (such as tariffs). But with manufacturing, as with the economy as a whole, recent research shows that enhancing individual freedom by repealing protectionist regulations is a more effective way to stimulate significant job growth. To create a surge in domestic manufacturing jobs, all a state has to do is pass a right-to-work law.
Unionized Women & Infants Hospital workers prepare to launch strike Dec. 12
December 2, 2024 // The hospital highlighted its “generous proposal,” crafted over two months’ worth of “good faith” negotiations, according to a hospital press release. The current offer includes a $19 million wage and pension package over three years. That package would sport a minimum 5.5% wage increase for union employees, with some receiving higher bonuses, as well as low-cost health plans for workers. A strike, however, would cost the hospital at least $9 million just to continue operations as normal, and striking workers would not be paid for any shifts missed, Sullivan said.
Frank Ricci: CT legislators want unemployment for striking workers
May 25, 2023 // S.B. 938 would upend this balance by forcing businesses to fund striking workers through unemployment. It thereby puts a thumb on the scale in labor’s favor, in a way that no other New England state does — nor do 49 other states, leaving New York as the lone exception. The consequence would be to apply severe financial pressure on employers — both by increasing the duration of strikes and by tapping unemployment, which is a self-contained system paid for by employers and administered by the state. One Stop & Shop worker testified in 2022 that a previous bill with identical requirements was designed to increase employee “leverage” and admitted, “Had we had unemployment benefits to rely on during the 2019 strike, we might’ve been able to stay out longer. The bill places no restriction on union strike funds, however, so striking workers may collect funds from the unions as well. The result? Workers could be paid more to go and stay on strike than they would have made working — this will incentivize labor unrest.