MTA Union News: Momentum Is Building — and Don’t Forget to Vote
MTA Union News: Momentum Is Building — and Don’t Forget to Vote
Greetings,
We were proud to attend the Greater Boston Labor Council’s 2022 Labor Day breakfast yesterday — with the vice president of the United States in attendance, no less! VP Kamala Harris offered a nod to the Fair Share Amendment by underscoring how the Biden-Harris administration forced corporations to pay their fair share to fund the recent infrastructure and climate legislation.
But the real Labor Day celebrations happened after breakfast — as we marched with several hundred union members to the Hyatt Centric Hotel to demand that it provide a fair first contract for UNITE HERE Local 26 members. Later, on our own, we spent some time in solidarity with Starbucks workers on strike at the Commonwealth Avenue location in Brookline.
Momentum is building — with more than 240 Starbucks locations nationwide moving toward unionization. It is one more sign that union organizing and activism are on the rise, as UMass Amherst professor and MTA member Jasmine Kerrissey and co-author Judith Stepan-Norris highlighted a few days ago in The Washington Post.
Today is primary election day, and we hope you will support the MTA-recommended candidates.
And please take a look at this new school year greeting from U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, which features a strong endorsement of Shannon Liss-Riordan to be our next attorney general.
MTA Events
- It is not too late to sign up for the All Presidents’ Meeting this Saturday. All local presidents are invited to attend and bring one or more of their other leaders and activists.
- Please note that the Early Career Educators Conference originally scheduled for Nov. 19 has been postponed until February.
Solidarity Actions
- Support the Melrose Education Association as members march for a fair contract this Thursday at 3 p.m. at Melrose High School.
- Be the next local to endorse the MTA PreK-12 ESP Bill of Rights! About 150 locals have signed on so far, but our goal is 100 percent participation from all of our nearly 400 MTA locals and chapters. This is a super easy action: Just bring the bill of rights to your next executive board meeting and make a motion to endorse. Education Support Professionals deserve a living wage, affordable health care, quality professional development, and more! Check the map to see if your district has taken this important step. For more information, contact Sonia Fortin, our new ESP state organizer, at mtaesp@massteacher.org.
- Sign up to support Starbucks Workers United members who are on strike.
Political Education
You probably know that unionized workers earn substantially more than non-unionized workers — and that simply having unions in a community raises wages for all workers. But the Economic Policy Institute has come out with a new report that shows us the many other ways unions advance the well-being of workers.
States with a high density of unionized workers have higher minimum wages, lower rates of people without health insurance, and better sick leave and paid family and medical leave policies. In addition, they provide better unemployment insurance to people who are out of work and do more to protect voting rights.
In solidarity,
Max and Deb