We are pleased to report that staff at CLASS, Inc., who directly care for individuals with disabilities, reached a settlement late Friday evening with CLASS management and avoided a strike. Their victory is the result of strong organizing and community support. The workers at CLASS are represented by SEIU 509.Facing a strike that was set to begin today (Monday) management at CLASS, Inc. returned to the table late Friday for a negotiation session overseen by a federal mediator and convened by Massachusetts Senator Barbara L'Italien. The resulting settlement is subject to a ratification vote next week by affected CLASS, Inc. workers, who returned to work today.Friday's settlement marks an inflection point in a years-long campaign by CLASS workers, organized through SEIU Local 509, to address the crisis in caregiving created by low wages at the agency. The one-year tentative agreement is a critical step towards reducing staff turnover and improving the standard of care for individuals with disabilities in the Merrimack Valley.The tentative agreement will result in a $.75/hour raise for direct care staff over the course of the one year contract, a significant raise for workers at CLASS, Inc. who are among the lowest paid at peer agencies across the Commonwealth."At the end of the day, we won a better contract," continued Thomas Baca, a driver at CLASS. "But the fight continues to make sure the individuals we care for can access the care they deserve."
Strike Alert: Nurses at Tufts Medical Center 1-Day Strike on July 12
When: Wednesday, July 12 | Rallies at 12 noon and 5 p.m. | Pickets from 7 a.m.-7 a.m.
Where: 800 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111
The 1,200 registered nurses at Tufts Medical Center, who are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), plan to hold a one-day strike beginning at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, July 12 and running until 6:59 a.m. on Thursday, July 13 over issues of staffing and wages.
The Tufts RNs have been in talks with management for a new contract since April 2016, and more than 30 negotiating sessions have been held to date, with no resolution.
"We do not want to strike," said Mary Havlicek Cornacchia, an OR nurse and bargaining unit co-chair. "But management has left us with no other choice. They won't hear us. They don't believe us when we say that the contract improvements we are fighting for are necessary in order to keep patients safe, and in order to keep Tufts Medical Center competitive in a city full of top-notch hospitals. We want to be inside on July 12 caring for our patients, but if striking is the only way to get management to hear us and to take our issues seriously then we will be on the streets instead."
Tufts RNs are likely to face a 4-5 day lockout at the hands of Tufts Medical Center management as retaliation for exercising their right to strike. Please stay tuned for updates as the situation unfolds.
In the current environment at Tufts, nurses across all units and floors are contending with unsafe staffing situations on a daily basis, with many units reporting constant unsafe staffing levels. The result is too many RNs are regularly carrying patient assignments that are too large and unsafe.
Simultaneously, hospital management uses a system of temporary reassignment as a way of trying to deal with its chronic staffing challenges, resulting in RNs being directed to work on units and floors where they are unfamiliar and/or untrained to safely care for patients.
Tufts Medical Center has also become the hospital that offers its nurses the lowest wages and retirement benefits in the city.
CLASS Workers on Strike!
Join the Picket Line
Monday, July 10-Friday, July 14 | Pickets 8 a.m.-4 p.m. daily | 1 Parker Street, Lawrence, MA 01843
Community Rally for Good Jobs & Quality Care
When: Monday, June 10 | 12 noonWhere: 1 Parker Street, Lawrence, MA 01843Click here to view Facebook event.
About the Campaign
SEIU Local 509 members at Citizens' League for Adults With Special Services, Inc. (CLASS) in Lawrence are bargaining for fair pay and respect at their workplace. CLASS serves 400 individuals with disabilities and their families throughout northeastern Massachusetts.
Instead of putting workers first and the communities these members serve, CLASS management has continued to pour money into temporary staffing agencies, and brought unacceptable pay proposals to the bargaining table. Low wages for workers have caused high rates of staff turnover, which negatively impacts the individuals served by CLASS.At a bargaining session on Wednesday, workers brought up putting the individuals who they serve first and made it clear they were ready to continue bargaining. The CLASS management walked out. Workers at CLASS should be treated fairly for the important work they do helping people live with dignity.
Action Alert! November 29 Fight for $15 National Day of Action
The Fight for $15 movement began four years ago to uplift low-wage, exploited workers in field predominated by women and people of color. It has already improved the lives of many families. During this post-election season, you can make a significant difference by standing up for a higher minimum wage.On Tuesday, November 29, local fast-food, airport, and other underpaid workers in over 330 cities are taking action in their largest protest yet to demand a $15 an hour minimum wage and the freedom to form a union for 64 million workers making poverty wages.Sign up today to join this historic day of action!
Please join us for any or all of the November 29 actions
- 6 AM Fast Food Strike and Picket
- Location: Central Square McDonald's (463 Mass Ave, Cambridge)
- 11:30 AM Airport Workers Rally
- Location: Memorial Park in East Boston (143 Porter St, Boston)
- 1 PM Jewish Community Meet-Up
- Location: corner of Park St. and Beacon St. in Boston
- Co-sponsored by JALSA, the Boston Workmen's Circle, the Moishe Kavod House, and the Harvard Progressive Jewish Alliance. Please email us if you would also like to co-sponsor this event.
- 1:30 PM Raise Up Massachusetts Announcement
- Location: State House (24 Beacon St, Boston)
Last Day of SEIU 32BJ Harvard Janitors' Contract
Students and janitors rally on Thursday, November 10. Photo Credit: Grace Z. Li, Harvard Crimson
Today is the last day of the contract that covers approximately 700 janitors at Harvard, who are represented by SEIU 32BJ. Last week, Harvard janitors voted overwhelmingly in favor of a strike if the union and the university are unable to reach an agreement on the contract by the end of today. The janitors' demands include affordable healthcare, raises, and more full-time work.The approximately 300 security guards at Harvard are also represented by SEIU 32BJ and are engaged in contract negotiations. Harvard employs its security guards through the subcontractor Securitas. Security guards and Securitas have agreed to extend the contract until December 1 to allow for more time to bargain.
Tufts Janitors Reach Tentative Agreement, Avoid Strike
By Kathleen Contivia The Boston GlobeAfter a 12-hour marathon bargaining session and with just two hours before a midnight deadline for a threatened janitors’ strike, the workers who clean Tufts University and the school’s maintenance contractor reached a four-year tentative agreement Monday night.About 200 Tufts janitors will see their hourly wages increase to $21.55 from $19.35 over the next four years, if the janitors ratify the contract. The workers’ union also received a commitment from contractor C&W Services to create more full-time positions over the life of the contract.
The Newton-based maintenance contractor also agreed to increases to the workers’ pension and training funds, and to provide health insurance at no additional cost to members who work full time, according to a spokesman for 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union, which represents the workers.The janitors are scheduled to vote on the agreement Wednesday.
“This is a good agreement that opens a path to the middle class for hardworking men and women who are an indispensable part of the Tufts community,” said Roxana Rivera, vice president of 32BJ SEIU.C&W Services, a division of brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield, said in a statement they are pleased to have reached a tentative agreement with the union.“We’ve bargained in good faith and offered a fair and comprehensive package to our employees,” the company said in a statement. “We are pleased that the Union leadership has accepted this offer and will present it to their membership for ratification.”
A spokesman for Tufts, which was not involved in the negotiations, said in a statement that the school is thankful a tentative agreement “that is fair for all parties” was reached.“As always, we value C&W janitors’ contributions to our community, and we look forward to their continued presence on our campus,” said spokesman Patrick Collins.Last week, the janitors unanimously voted to authorize a strike if an agreement with C&W Services wasn’t reached by the end of Monday, when their contract was set to expire. The tentative agreement averted a strike that could have potentially started Tuesday. Tufts announced it had a contingency plan in place if its janitors walked off the job.The agreement does not include language the union sought that would have addressed workers’ concerns over excessive workloads they said were caused by a restructuring of services at the university last year that resulted in the layoffs of nine custodians and moving other workers to weekend shifts.Eugenio Villasante, spokesman for 32BJ SEIU, said while they will continue to make sure the janitors have a fair workload, the union considers C&W’s “strong commitment to create full time jobs” a victory for the workers.About 60 percent of the janitors who maintain the campus straddling Somerville and Medford work full-time, according to 32BJ SEIU.The two sides had been in negotiations since August.