Massachusetts

Ahead Of Halloween, Sysco Teamsters Give Corporate Ghouls Heebie-Jeebies

October 26, 2022 Luis Feliz Leon, Labor Notes. Resist! Food and Agriculture, Massachusetts, Protests, Unions, Victory, Worker Rights and Jobs

Plympton, Massachusetts - Teamsters in Plympton, Massachusetts, won their strike at America's largest wholesale food distributor with an old-fashioned militant tactic: the mass picket line. The Sysco strike broke out on October 1. At first there were 100 workers, each with a picket sign, walking a little circle in the driveway leading to the warehouse. But in the early morning of Monday, October 17, a throng of fellow Teamsters swelled the crowd to 400. A dozen positioned their tractor-trailers athwart exits to block scabs from leaving and entering. Thirteen workers got arrested. And three days later, Teamster Local 653 members ratified a new contract, 215-2, with an $11 boost in pay over five years, improved retirement, and untouched health insurance benefits.

Harvard/MIT Students Shut Down Exxon Recruiting Event

October 13, 2022 Divest Harvard. Resist! Education, Exxon, Harvard, Massachusetts, MIT, Recruitment

Cambridge, Massachusetts - On Wednesday, around 30 members of the Harvard and MIT communities disrupted a recruiting event by ExxonMobil. The presentation, which was held in the offices of the MIT Earth and Planetary Sciences department and advertised to Harvard science students, was intended to convince students to participate in the company’s hiring process. Students at the event, however, sent a message loud and clear: So long as Exxon is undermining young people’s futures, it won’t be welcome on campus. The disruption — and a similar one, also this week at Brown — come in the wake of Exxon’s track record of exploiting vulnerable peoples and environments for its oil and gas development, while lying to the public about its ostensible pivot to greener initiatives.

Boston Marches For Statewide Indigenous People’s Day

October 9, 2022 Jean-Luc Pierite and Mahtowin Munro, Popular Resistance. Resist! American genocide, Indigenous Activism, Indigenous Peoples Day, Massachusetts

Indigenous people and their allies rallied and marched in Boston on Saturday, October 8, 2022 to observe Indigenous Peoples Day in Boston and demand that the MA state legislature vote to establish the day statewide which will replace Columbus Day. They called on the presumed next Governor, Maura Healey, to make it a priority to support this and other Indigenous-centered legislation (MAIndigenousAgenda.org). Furthermore, because Indigenous liberation is intertwined with Black liberation, they also call edfor Faneuil Hall, named after a slaver, to be renamed. Marchers celebrated the declaration of Indigenous Peoples Day in Boston and urged city, state and federal governments to take further steps to address Indigenous community concerns.

Anti-War Activists Protest Harvard Kennedy School Professor With Ties To Defense Contractor

October 5, 2022 Miles J. Herszenhorn, The Crimson. Resist! Harvard, Higher Education, Massachusetts, Weapons Maker

Over a dozen anti-war activists staged a protest against Harvard Kennedy School professor Meghan L. O’Sullivan Tuesday morning, disrupting a class she was teaching to first-year master’s of public policy students. The protesters denounced O’Sullivan’s affiliation with Raytheon Technologies, a weapons manufacturing firm, and her role in the Bush administration during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. O’Sullivan served as deputy national security advisor for Iraq and Afghanistan in the Bush administration prior to joining the Harvard Kennedy School. She currently sits on Raytheon’s board of directors. The protestors, most of whom were not affiliated with Harvard, burst into the classroom chanting “Meghan O’Sullivan, you can’t hide, we can see your war crimes” and “When missiles fly, people die, and O’Sullivan’s profits multiply,” while holding up a banner critical of O’Sullivan in front of the class.

How Undocumented Immigrants Won Driver’s Licenses In Massachusetts

October 1, 2022 Miles Meth, Waging Nonviolence. Strategize! Driver's License, Immigration, Massachusetts, Victory

Boston, Massachusetts - On May 5, under a scorching Boston afternoon sun, a motley group of Central American immigrant leaders and their families were strewn across the steps under the towering, ornate cast iron gates of the Massachusetts State House. Joined by mostly younger, non-immigrant allied organizers, the air was charged with nervous anticipation. An eclectic mix of Latin-American music, from traditional mariachi to Bad Bunny, boomed over a mobile PA system. Spontaneous chants of “Que queremos? Licencias! Cuando? Ahora!” or “What do we want? Licenses! When? Now!” broke out amongst ongoing laughter and chatter. Sometime around 2 p.m. the news was finally announced: in a veto-proof majority, the state senate voted 32-8 to pass the Work and Family Mobility Act, a bill that would allow undocumented people to apply for a driver’s license.

Massachusetts First To End Renewable Energy Subsidies For Biomass

August 12, 2022 Climate Action Now Massachusetts, Popular Resistance. Create! Biomass, Massachusetts, Renewable Energy, State legislature

Environmental groups today celebrated the enactment of Massachusetts’ new climate law, An Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind, which will expand clean energy development and end renewable energy subsidies for wood-burning power plants. The new law makes Massachusetts the first state in the nation to remove woody biomass from its Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard (RPS). While there are only two small biomass plants that currently qualify for MA’s RPS, that number was poised to balloon as a result of imminent changes to the program advanced by the Department of Energy Resources (DOER). By removing woody biomass from the RPS program altogether, the new law will prevent DOER’s rule changes from going into effect.

Massachusetts Trader Joe’s Becomes First To Unionize

July 31, 2022 Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams. Organize! Massachusetts, Trader Joe’s, Unions, Victory, Worker Rights and Jobs

Massachusetts - Workers at a Massachusetts Trader Joe's on Thursday voted to become the first of the supermarket chain's more than 500 locations to unionize, a historic development that comes amid a nationwide labor organizing wave. Employees at the Trader Joe's in Hadley, a suburb of Springfield, voted 45-31 to form a union, according to the National Labor Relations Board. "WE WON!!! Today, Trader Joe's Hadley became the first unionized Trader Joe's location, ever," the new union, Trader Joe's United, tweeted. "This victory is historic, but not a surprise. Since the moment we announced our campaign, a majority of the crew have enthusiastically supported our union, and despite the company's best efforts to bust us, our majority has never wavered."

Boston Starbucks Workers Go On Strike Against Union-Busting

July 27, 2022 Madeleine Freeman, Left Voice. Resist! Massachusetts, Starbucks, Strike, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Unionized Starbucks workers at the 874 Commonwealth Avenue location in Boston, Massachusetts are on strike indefinitely, demanding guaranteed hours, adequate staffing, and the removal of a store manager who has created a “chaotic and hostile work environment,” including making racist and homophobic comments against staff and customers. The store, which is located on the main thoroughfare of Boston University’s campus and services many of its students and staff, has been shut down since July 18; workers and their supporters have been picketing each day outside the store even as an intense heat wave strikes much of the country. They say they will prevent any deliveries from coming to the store. In response, Teamsters local 25 is refusing to make deliveries to the store in solidarity with the strike.

How Foreign Private Equity Hooked New England’s Fishing Industry

July 18, 2022 Will Sennott, Pro Publica. Educate! Deregulation, Fishing, Massachusetts, Worker Rights and Jobs

New Bedford, Massachusetts - Before dawn, Jerry Leeman churned through inky black waters, clutching the wheel of the fishing vessel Harmony. The 85-foot trawler, deep green and speckled with rust, was returning from a grueling fishing trip deep into the Atlantic swells. Leeman and his crew of four had worked 10 consecutive days, 20 hours a day, to haul in more than 50,000 pounds of fish: pollock, haddock and ocean perch, a trio known as groundfish in the industry and as whitefish in the freezer aisle. As sunrise broke over New Bedford harbor, the fish were offloaded in plastic crates onto the asphalt dock of Blue Harvest Fisheries, one of the largest fishing companies on the East Coast. About 390 million pounds of seafood move each year through New Bedford’s waterfront, the top-earning commercial fishing port in the nation.

How Educators In Brookline, Massachusetts, Won An Illegal Strike

July 16, 2022 Maggie Canniff, Labor Notes. Organize! Education, Massachusetts, Strike, Teachers

Brookline, Massachusetts - Striking has been illegal for public employees in Massachusetts since 1919. But in Brookline, a small suburb of Boston, we did it anyway. Out of a membership of 1,100, more than 900 signed in on the picket lines May 16. The strike culminated with a thousand educators descending on town hall for a rally with allies from around the state. Our bargaining team negotiated into the early hours of the next morning. When the sun rose, we had won two back-to-back three-year contracts with guaranteed prep periods for all educators, a fair pay raise including important changes to longevity structures, and language aimed at attracting and retaining a more diverse workforce. In short, we won all our demands with minimal compromise. Perhaps more important, we ended a cycle of disrespect and showed that we are willing to take collective action.

An Oral History Of The 10-Month St. Vincent Hospital Strike

June 22, 2022 Gino Canella, The Real News Network. Resist! Health Care, Massachusetts, Nurses, Strike, Worker Rights and Jobs

Worcester, Massachusetts - The COVID-19 pandemic and the corresponding failure at every level of government to prevent its spread dealt a devastating blow to healthcare workers. Nurses, doctors, and other medical workers faced increasingly dangerous conditions, along with employers more concerned with increasing profits than saving the lives of their patients or employees. At St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts, nurses fought back against their corporate employer by organizing a strike of over 700 workers that lasted for 10 months. Filmed by TRNN contributor Gino Canella, these interviews with St. Vincent nurses comprise an oral history of a ferocious labor battle that became the longest nurses’ strike in Massachusetts state history.

Climate Justice Groups Take Their Pipeline Fight To City Hall

June 1, 2022 Springfield Climate Justice Coalition, Popular Resistance. Resist! Climate Justice, Massachusetts, Oil and Gas, Pipelines

The Springfield Climate Justice Coalition and Longmeadow Pipeline Awareness Group held a press conference on the steps of Springfield City Hall on May 31, highlighting the opposition of many Springfield and Longmeadow residents and organizations to Eversource Gas’ proposed high-pressure gas expansion pipeline that would run beneath the streets of Springfield and Longmeadow. The press conference was held in response to Eversource initiating the process it must go through to obtain all necessary permits to build and operate the pipeline. Speakers included Springfield City Council member Zaida Govan, Kristen Elechko from Senator Ed Markey’s office, Terry Gibson from Neighbor to Neighbor, Tanisha Arena from Arise for Social Justice.

Employees At Trader Joe’s In Hadley Look To Form Union

May 17, 2022 Bera Dunau, Daily Hampshire Gazette. Organize! Labor Movement, Massachusetts, Trader Joe’s, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Hadley, Massachusetts - Employees at the Trader Joe’s in Hadley are attempting to form a union, which if successful would make their workplace the first unionized Trader Joe’s in the country. “We feel that a union is the only way to protect the benefits that we have and to improve our pay and to improve our benefits and improve our workplace,” said Maeg Yosef, an 18-year employee of Trader Joe’s and an organizer of the union. The union effort at Store 512 went public on Saturday, with a letter from the union to Trader Joe’s CEO Dan Bane saying that more than half of the workers at the store support forming a union, and asking that he allow a union vote without interference. Their letter also references a letter sent to the workers two years ago by Bane that expressed opposition to employees unionizing.

Union Wins Two Elections Among Clinical Staff At McLean Hospital

April 28, 2022 Mark Herz, Portside. Organize! Healthcare workers, Massachusetts, Unions

Belmont, Massachusetts - Local union organizers have scored another victory at McLean Hospital in Belmont, after winning two votes on Friday to unionize all hourly clinical staff like nurses and mental health specialists who assist with patient care. In September, research assistants at the nationally prominent Harvard-affiliated psychiatric treatment and research institution formed a union — the first, the organizers say, in the hospital’s long history. All hourly clinical staff, excluding those with advanced degrees, will be part of the union if Friday's votes are confirmed. Through the effort, union organizers from AFSCME Council 93, which represents some 45,000 mostly state and municipal workers in New England, said about one-third of McLean’s approximately 2,400 employees may soon be unionized.

Nuclear Weapons: The Case For Creating A Citizen’s Commission

April 13, 2022 Massachusetts Peace Action and NuclearBan.US. Create! Just transition, Massachusetts, Nuclear War, Nuclear Weapons

There is currently heightened concern about nuclear threats being made in relation to the war in Ukraine, although the danger of nuclear war or accidental detonation is ever present. Massachusetts is a potential target, because it is home to important nuclear weapons facilities and corporations as well as culturally significant landmarks. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons entered into force as international law in January 2021. This “Nuclear Ban Treaty” is intended to reduce the nuclear danger to zero, but enforcing it may also affect jobs with Raytheon, General Dynamics, Draper Labs and ten other nuclear weapon-producing companies that have facilities in Massachusetts. The Commission would explore how those jobs might be converted to green technologies or other important industries.

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