BostonLaborAction

This account aims to be a compendium of strikes, walkouts, pickets, and other labor actions in the Boston area. DM if you want me to announce your action.

[BostonLaborAction @BosLaborAction]

Hey everyone, I'm a union steward in Boston and I started this account to share union actions going on in and around Boston. I hope to help all of us workers support each other in our respective struggles, so share your actions here and I'll help spread the word.

[MNA @MassNurses]

The Editorial Board @BostonGlobe supports MNA and @SEIU509 efforts to address violence at state psychiatric facilities.

Tewksbury Hospital “has become a de facto mental health corrections facility but without the increased staff and protocols..."

https://t.co/chssWhjRpg

[SEIU Local 509 @SEIU509]

✊ On May 1st, SEIU 509 members are joining thousands of workers & allies across the country for a national day of action demanding that working people are put over the billionaire class! Find a May Day action near you: https://t.co/pYlyG634mN

[UAW Region 9A @UAWRegion9A]

As of today, @hgsuuaw is on strike! Thanks to union siblings from @NOLSW2320, @UAW2322, @32BJSEIU, @UNITEHERE26, @IBEW, and more for joining our members on the picket line...

[UNITE HERE Local 26 @UNITEHERE26]

📢📢 Calling all students, workers, & anyone who wants to fight for a just world: Join us on March 1 from 1:00-3:30 pm.
Train with and learn from workers who have been #OnStrike and organized their workplaces in the face of union busting!
RSVP at https://t.co/ZfFS3te87F

[BostonLaborAction @BosLaborAction]

32BJ Members at Harvard United for a Fair Contact
Rally for fair wages & strong benefits
February 19th • 12:00pm
124 Mount Auburn Street, Cambridge

[derek guy @dieworkwear]

Love this photo of the 1989 Pittston Coal strike.

The strike lasted for almost a year, as the miners fought for the healthcare and retirement benefits originally promised to them. To show solidarity, they all wore camo in this photo. The one man who didn't — in the lower right corner — was a Methodist minister who helped them articulate the moral and spiritual case for the strike. He deliberately didn't wear camo because he wasn't a miner.

The camo shirts were specially made with slogans: “Overcome Evil With Good” and the name of their union, United Mine Workers Union.

Not only did the miners win, but they helped inspire the 1992 Coal Act, which made retiree health and pension obligations a legal requirement.

Thanks to ES for sharing this photo with me. His dad is the minister in the corner.

[BostonLaborAction @BosLaborAction]

@grok is Elon Musk the best thing that ever happened to Tesla short-sellers?

[Jacobin @jacobin]

The Starbucks union, which is now on strike, has organized 650 stores, but the company operates 10,000 stores in the US.

So striking baristas are asking everyone to shun all Starbucks stores. https://t.co/NG1V8YCjfG

[UNITE HERE Local 26 @UNITEHERE26]

Solidarity with @32BJSEIU custodians at Harvard!

[32BJ SEIU /// #BuildingJustice 🧹✊🏽 @32BJSEIU]

🚨 BREAKING: Harvard FMO custodians are ON STRIKE! After management REFUSED to even make a wage counterproposal at our last bargaining session, we walked out and our contract expired Saturday. We demand a fair contract and an end to unfair labor practices! #UnionStrong #unionsforall #mapoli #bospoli

[Starbucks Workers United @SBWorkersUnited]

If we go on strike, our union of 12,000 workers are calling on customers to NOT BUY STARBUCKS. $SBUX

Sign our pledge to not cross a picket line and we'll send you local calls to action - https://t.co/gdbL0MxtjX

[UNITE HERE Local 26 @UNITEHERE26]

Strike Alert: Unionized Starbucks baristas have authorized an #UnfairLaborPractice strike next week on Nov. 13. If the workers are on strike, Don't Buy Starbucks Coffee! ❌☕️

[32BJ SEIU /// #BuildingJustice 🧹✊🏽 @32BJSEIU]

TODAY: @Harvard custodians and security guards held a rally on behalf of over 1,100 members currently in negotiations.

With 10 days left until contract expiration, @Harvard has offered no wage increases for workers despite the high cost of living in MA.

SHAME!

[derek guy @dieworkwear]

I agree with Vance about one thing: capitalists and political elites have historically used race to divide the working class and break up labor unions.

Vance should know this, since he’s from Appalachia. In the early 20th century, about 10,000 coal miners gathered near Charleston, West Virginia. The coal operators and their political allies conspired to pit workers against one another along racial and ethnic lines. They segregated housing and work assignments; used Black and immigrant workers as strikebreakers; and tried to discredit union organizers as “socialists” or part of a “Negro movement.”

At the time, coal miners wore simple work uniforms — often including a bandana tied around the neck to keep coal dust out of their shirts and lungs. After two union sympathizers, Sid Hatfield and Ed Chambers, were murdered in 1921 as part of a company-backed terror campaign, miners gathered to demand justice and the right to organize. They turned their red bandanas into symbols of class solidarity that crossed racial lines. Black and white miners tied them around their necks to identify one another and to distinguish themselves from company guards and strikebreakers. In other words, to say: “On material interests, we are united, regardless of skin color.” This is why they became known as the “Redneck Army.”

You can see similar unity elsewhere, such as in the 1912 Lawrence, Massachusetts textile strike. Factory owners tried to divide workers — Italian, Polish, Jewish, Syrian, and others — but they ultimately came together under the slogan “Hearts starve as well as bodies; give us bread, but give us roses!” Thus, that was known as the "Bread and Roses Strike."

It’s true that the labor movement has always had to overcome racial and ethnic divisions to unite around class interests. But Vance leaves out an important part of the story: financial and political elites often try to exploit these divisions to maintain power. It's to the labor movement's credit that they were often able to overcome these divisions.

[MA State House Employee Union @BeaconHillUnion]

Thank you to everyone who came to testify at our hearing today! We had an incredible turnout from legislators, current and former staffers, and labor leaders. Here are some of our favorite moments 🧵

[Nick @Paleothalumus]

Support for @SBWorkersUnited in Worcester MA

[UNITE HERE Local 26 @UNITEHERE26]

. @AramarkFenway workers extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to @SenSanders for uplifting their ongoing contract fight for fair wages, job security & respect. The #fenwayfamily say the man with the mittens is welcome at America's favorite ballpark any season! #FeelTheBern🔥#FenwayFive

[SEIU Local 509 @SEIU509]

It’s move-in day at @TuftsUniversity and SMFA Professors of the Practice (PoPs) are making their voices heard! 📢 Since April 2024, PoPs have been negotiating their first union contract—but Tufts still refuses to offer them a livable wage.

[Massachusetts AFL-CIO @massaflcio]

Boston. State House. 9:30. BE THERE ✊✊✊

[AFL-CIO ✊ @AFLCIO]

Boston! Come join @GBLCBoston Monday at 9:30 a.m. for the city’s first Labor Day parade!

Be part of history and stand with the labor movement and working families to say: workers over billionaires! https://t.co/2WLeUvD7b9