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Sure a bit of a stretch for a rhyme, but Bostonist thought it prudent put something up here about the latest union news. Anecdotal evidence suggests that unions are quite popular in Boston. Many of Bostonist’s friends are in several different unions in the area, a couple are even those crazy union organizers. Chicagoist writes today that the Teamsters, the United Food and Commercial Workers, and UNITE HERE are boycotting the organized labor conglomerate AFL-CIO. The boycott threatens to partition the united front of the AFL-CIO. Nearly 14 million workers in the United States and Canada in the AFL-CIO have banded together and provide endorsement support to local causes as well as Massachusetts Senator John Kerry last year in his bid for President. With the boycott, a third of the membership will be dropping out of the largest union.
The Herald has been keeping up with other union news the Hotel and Restaurant Union Local 26 under the guidance of Janice Loux. The Local 26 has threatened to strike if their demands are not met. This is big news in the tourist driven summertime economy of Boston. The Hotel and Restaurant Union is a UNITE HERE affiliated member, and they're making their own demands. They are looking for an agreement with the Hub’s hotels that would provide them with greater healthcare benefits among other things as they look to sign a contract for 2006. The looming strike may also be coupled with their own boycott, a boycott making it near impossible for non-union hotels to operate in Boston.
Especially the news of the AFL-CIO rift has flooded the local news outlets with analysis and commentary on the trade unions. What everyone seems to have missed is a little story coming out of one of our favorite indie movie houses, Kendall Square Cinema. Andrew LaVallee iterim buisness desk cheif at The Patriot Ledger seems to be the only one who picked up on the Kendall Square Cinema employee’s efforts to organize. This week they’ll vote up or down on a movement to join the United Food and Commercial Workers (one of the boycotting groups) Local 791. The vote this Saturday, July 30, will determine if the 20 or so Kendall Square Cinema employees will join the organized labor bandwagon. No word yet on how the boycott might influence the voting. Bostonist will be happy to see happier theater employees, but we hope it doesn’t have an effect on the entrance fee.
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Local 26 is part of UNITE-HERE which certainly is, or at least was until last week, part of the AFL-CIO.
Some clarification seems in order: The SEIU and the Teamsters are quitting the AFL-CIO entirely. Two other unions, UNITE HERE and the food and commercial workers' union, are still in the AFL-CIO but are boycotting the convention. The dispute, more or less, is about organizing particularly and the future of labor generally: SEIU especially and the other three to a lesser degree have been taking the position over the last few years that the only way to really revitalize organized labor is through massive organizing pushes (that's why they want the AFL-CIO to give back a big portion of membership dues to local unions for them to spend on getting new members). The national leadership of the AFL-CIO want to organize, but they also want to spend a lot on lobbying and political activity that will, in theory at least, benefit existing members. Critics of the schism say it will weaken the national political efforts that give unions some policymaking clout. Advocates of the schism say that the political discourse under the current administration is so corporate and to the right, the only thing that will make a difference is the inarguable strength of greater numbers in the ranks. There's also a feeling among them (the dissidents and their supporters) that the old leadership is a little too comfortable, and perhaps to insulated from the rank and file, to do things right.