Weekly Labor Reader, September 16 2019
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Unite Here Local 26 in Second Week of Strike
UNITE HERE Local 26 hotel workers are on strike at the Battery Wharf Hotel in Boston as of September 5th to fight for jobs that are enough to live on in the hospitality industry.
Striking workers are calling on the Battery Wharf Hotel to heed the call that One Job Should Be Enough, to preserve their healthcare plan, and to include the same immigration and sexual assault protections for workers that Marriotts across the city agreed to after the strike in 2018. Join the picket line and donate to their strike fund here
Click here to make a contribution
Click here to learn more about Strike
Teamsters Local 25 On Day 14 of Strike
24 truck drivers and trash collectors for Republic Services in Marshfield, members of Teamsters Local 25, went on strike at 1:00 a.m. Thursday, August 29. They are demanding adequate and affordable healthcare, comparable pay to other Republic Services drivers in towns as close as Quincy, and a union contract. Since the strike began, the Teamsters Local 25 members have walked the picket lines 24 hours a day, with solidarity from local unions and residents. Now, drivers in San Jose, Chula Vista, San Diego, and Fall River, MA have begun solidarity strikes in support of their brothers and sisters.
Please add your support to the picket line. Members of Teamsters Local 25 and their allies are picketing at the Marshfield location (965 Plain Street) 24/7 until a deal is reached. Join fellow union and community members and show solidarity on the picket line! Follow Teamsters 25 on Facebook or Twitter for frequent updates.
Vote For Labor's Endorsed Candidates
Municipal preliminary elections have begun. The Massachusetts AFL-CIO encourages all members and allies to vote. Please click here for a list of municipal preliminary dates and to see the current list of AFL-CIO endorsed candidates.
September 17: Braintree, Brockton, Chicopee, Everett, Fall River, Framingham, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Methuen, Salem
September 24: Boston, Chelsea, Fitchburg, Holyoke, Lawrence, Lowell, Taunton
Don't forget to check with your city on polling locations and remember to cast a ballot for strong, union candidates this September!
MA Democratic Convention Convened Saturday
Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Steven Tolman spoke to a packed arena at the 2019 Massachusetts Democratic Party Convention. Speaking out on the state of Labor and working people in Massachusetts, President Tolman said "Now is the time for working and middle class people to act and vote in their own best interest. We are in a unique time, and we must give a unique effort to move forward." Please click here for more on the convention.
Wellesley College takes heat from electrical union over female construction jobs
Wellesley College, the nation’s preeminent women’s campus is in unfamiliar territory: defending itself against charges of sexism in an in-your-face advertising campaign launched by the local electrical workers union.
The IBEW Local 103 has taken out newspaper and online ads — and over the summer hired a plane to fly over the campus during a Wellesley alumni event — criticizing the college’s commitment to hiring women electricians for its new $206 million science center construction project.
The union, part of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said that the college has “undermined women construction workers’’ by using a nonunion subcontractor to do the work on its new facility.
In Massachusetts, more than 90 percent of the female electricians who hold licenses and are in apprenticeship programs belong to the union, said Lou Antonellis, the business manager for the Local 103. By choosing a nonunion electrical shop, Wellesley is shutting many women from this project, he said.
Read more from the Boston Globe here.
MA AFL-CIO Biennial Convention, Sept 25-27
On September 25th - 27th, 2019, over 200 delegates and guests will gather for the Biennial Constitutional Convention of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO.
***Hotel Rooms in the MA AFL-CIO block are still available today but they will be released tomorrow and the convention rate will not apply. Please book today by clicking here.***
For early access to the agenda and for the most up-to-date notifications, please download the Massachusetts AFL-CIO app before the convention! Download from the Apple Store here and from Google Play here.
The Convention theme of unity will be reflected throughout the proceedings, from resolutions, to keynote speakers, to panels.
The convention will feature keynote speakers, David Webber and Steven Greenhouse. Webber is the author of "The Rise of the Working Class Shareholder: Labor's Last Best Weapon," and will sign copies of his books for attendees. Greenhouse is a New York Times Reporter and author and will be speaking and signing copies of, “Beaten Down, Worked Up - The Past, Present and Future of American Labor Movement."
The Convention is not open to the public and is closed to the press. Affiliated unions in good standing should have received their credentials by mail. Registration is due by September 10th. For more information and to download the agenda and the delegate and guest registrations, click here.
Join State Rep. and union member, Pete Capano at his Fall into Fun Cookout on Thursday, 9/19, 6-8pm at the Knights of Columbus, Nahant. Click for more information.
MA AFL-CIO Young Workers Sept. Meeting
MA AFL-CIO Young Workers Movement September Meeting: We are a group of young workers, activists, organizers, and leaders from across the labor movement coming together to support and train each other, organize our young coworkers, and make a plan to take on the challenges facing our movement. We are young teachers, bus drivers, nurses, pipefitters, electricians, painters, and janitors all in the same movement for justice for working people.
Join us at our monthly meeting, food and drink provided!
September 18th, 4:30-6:30pm
United Teachers of Lowell Office
169 Merrimack St # 4
Lowell, MA
For more information and to RSVP, contact Aaron Dockser: adockser@massaflcio.org.
Visions Of Labor: Film and Workers Voices
The UMass Labor Center invites you to join them November 8-10 for an exciting event, Visions of Labor: Film and Worker Voices. Together, as workers and social justice activists, participants will watch and discuss new and classic labor films, along with worker-created videos, and explore the power of worker stories and how these stories can be used to inspire reflection and spur creative action. There will be a sneak preview of a major labor film in-progress, and hear from the film’s director. The films and videos shown will reflect the diversity of the labor movement and working people, and discussion will highlight the many ways in which worker voices can be effectively heard and used to build the movement.
For more details and to register, click here.
Register for Union Member Candidate School
Support for union members running for elected office is a top priority for the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and our affiliates. We know that when our members run on a platform of working people’s values and receive unified support from the labor movement, we will win. The Massachusetts AFL-CIO and its Executive Board are establishing a union candidate school to train our members to run for elected office from the local/municipal level all the way up to statewide/federal office.
Our first session will be held on Saturday December 7th, 9am-2pm. Breakfast and lunch will be provided. The training will be free of charge and participants will be given materials to use as a reference for campaign purposes.
September 18: MA-AFL-CIO Young Workers Meeting, Lowell
September 19: Building Pathways Awards Benefit, Boston
September 19: Pete Capanos Fall Into Fun Cookout, Nahant
September 25-September 27: MA AFL-CIO Convention, Springfield
September 27: The Price Of Free, Cambridge
October 3: UMass Lowell Labor Education Presents Automation and You
October 15: Tradeswomen Tuesday Worcester
October 23: Union Blood Drive
November 9-10: Visions of Labor: Film and Worker Voices
For a full list of events, visit the calendar on our website. If you have any events that you would like to be included, contact Rachael Running at rrunning@massaflcio.org
