Thousands rally for workers rights Nearly five thousand union members and supporters rallied at Boston Common joining thousands more across the country for Human Rights Day, December 3. Speakers from a wide variety of trades and professional unions called for legislation protecting workers' rights to organize. Then most of the crowd poured through the streets for a march to Beacon Hill. The marchers’ route passed Verizon Wireless, where they shouted for that company to stop trying to break their unions by "harassing and intimidating" members of the IBEW (electrical workers), CWA (communications workers ) and others. The notoriously anti-union Wal-Mart had recently been discouraged from opening a Boston store at Downtown Crossing. When the demonstration passed there, a lot of passersby seemed to agree with the message "Wal-Mart s---s!" Arriving at the State House for a final rally after sundown, the unionists shouted lustily that the same was true of Romney.

Globe outsources maintenance The Boston Globe has outsourced the work performed by its maintenance department, throwing 70 union members out of work. After the union staged a large public protest outside the paper's headquarters, the Globe offered eight months of severance pay to the affected workers - but on condition that the union refrain from further rallies or actions. The union rejected the offer, with president Dan Tobin stating, "There’s no way we’ll ever agree not to speak out for our people."

Kendall Square Cinema goes union This past fall, employees at the Kendall Square Cinema voted 17-1 to join United Food and Commercial Workers Local 791. The East Cambridge multiscreen movie theatre is a subsidiary of the Los Angeles based Landmark Theatre Corporation. Congratula-tions to the Kendall Square workers and good luck in negotiations! For the latest news, check out the workers' web site at www.kendallunion.org.

Northwest mechanics strike Mechanics at Northwest airlines remain on strike after voting down a contract proposal that would have set dangerous precedents for other workers in the airline industry. The union has posted the names and photos of known scabs on their web site at www.amfa2.org

Hotel boycott called off The service workers union, UNITE HERE, has ended a boycott of InterContinental Hotels which had been called in support of Boston Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees Local 26. ICH has agreed to accept the union its new hotel, although it is still under construction.

Springfield wage freeze illegal In a ruling with implications for workers across the state, the Hampden Superior Court ruled in December that the wage freeze imposed on teachers from 2003-2004 was illegal. Springfield Education Association president Tim Collins said he and his 2,400 members were "extremely gratified by Judge Sweeney's ruling." He also expressed confidence that the Mass. Labor Relations Commission would overturn the wage freeze imposed on educators in 2004-2005 and continued in 2005-2006 by Romney's Finance Control Board. Collins noted that the Control Board, which took charge of city finances in July 2004, "has followed the same illegal procedures in imposing its wage freeze" as former Mayor Michael Albano did when he froze educators' wages in 2003.

Privatization in Springfield In another attack on Springfield city workers, the Control Board plans to privatize the school district's food services program, threatening the jobs of 321 members of the Springfield Cafeteria Workers' Union.

Still no contract for state nurses The Massachusetts Nurses Association has launched a statewide radio advertising campaign that points out that Governor Romney and Lt. Governor Healey have now gone over 900 days without settling a contract with the 1800 registered nurses and health care professionals who work at state health care facilities. Claiming the Romney/Healey administration is showing disrespect to the employees, and the patients they care for, the radio spots ask the public to call the Governor’s office and tell him it is time to "Be Fair to Those Who Care."

Education, East Bridgewater style East Bridgewater Superintendent of Schools Margaret Strojny is attempting to ban teachers from wearing buttons reading "E.B. Teachers Deserve a Contract," using the novel justification that "Students in at least four high school classrooms asked the teachers about the buttons and class time was then used to discuss the labor dispute. That's not an appropriate use of educational time." The union has filed an unfair labor practice charge against the School Committee, but has so far refrained from taking the matter to court, noting that ''having to go to court will cost the school district all kinds of money on something that's indefensible." New Balance using sweatshops? The National Labor Committee has accused Boston-based sneaker maker New Balance of contracting work out to a sweatshop factory in Hongyuan, China, where workers are paid 41 cents an hour and work under oppressive conditions. New Balance denies the charges, but workers in the factory reported that "much of the product in the factory bore New Balance's label."

Right to organize going to ballot? The Quality Care for Massachusetts Coalition was successful in gathering enough signatures this fall to win ballot status for two initiatives providing personal care attendants and home-based child care workers with the right to union representation. Should the legislature fail to act on these measures, one more round of signature gathering will be required in May in order to place the questions on the November ballot.

SEIU mergers This fall saw further reorganization of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), as Boston locals 2020 and 9 merged with New York-based local 1199. The consolidated local has ambitious plans for organizing in Boston-area hospitals. According to the Boston Globe, "two Harvard Medical School-affiliated hospitals that currently have no unionized medical workers, Mass General and Beth Israel Deaconess, are likely targets, as are Brigham and Women's, Tufts-New England Medical Center, and Children's."