SEIU victory in Western Mass.
By Bryan G. Pfeifer
Amherst, Mass.
After a three-year campaign, workers at the Massachusetts
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (MSPCC) voted
in Service Employees Local 509 as their representative by a
4-to-1 margin Sept. 23.
The pro-union vote marks the biggest private-sector union
victory in Western Massachusetts in five years.
The final vote tally, supervised by the National Labor
Relations Board at multiple work sites, was 216-52. This
particular MSPCC covers about 300 workers, the majority of whom
are women, in the cities of Springfield, Pittsfield,
Greenfield, Athol, Holoyoke and Chicopee.
Local 509 represents 10,000 workers in Massachusetts,
including social workers and nurses, who provide human services
to children and families in state agencies and private
companies.
The local's progressive history includes supporting its
lesbian, gay, bi and trans members by fighting for expanded
workplace rights. Last spring Local 509 members joined over
200,000 workers in labor unions statewide to demand same-sex
marriage rights.
The MSPCC is not a state agency but a private non-profit
social service organization that provides intervention
programs, mental health treatment to prevent child abuse,
counseling support for abused children and public advocacy. The
MSPCC receives state funds.
On its website, MSPCC says it is "dedicated to leadership in
protecting and promoting the rights and well being of children
and families."
According to the workers, this dedication doesn't extend to
them.
"People have been very, very unhappy here," said Anne M.
GeMusis, a clinical caseworker for families in crisis at the
MSPCC Springfield office. (www.masslive.com)
According to GeMusis, the workers voted in the union because
they received no raises for five years or cost-of-living
increases for two years; their precarious at-will status; a
boss-controlled grievance procedure; meager benefits;
increasing caseloads; and more. Many workers, despite having
bachelor's or master's degrees, make only $30,000-$35,000
annually.
After the pro-union vote, GeMusis expressed the workers'
hope: "It's very frustrating because management doesn't address
issues [but] they're going to have to now."
Workers at MSPCC in Jamaica Plain, a borough of Boston,
joined the Service Employees union three years ago. They now
have guaranteed raises and protected grievance procedures,
among other gains in their legally binding contract. But their
win didn't come without struggle, despite the workers voting in
Local 509 by a 4-to-1 margin in April 2001.
According to Local 509 organizers, the MSPCC bosses in
Jamaica Plain refused for over 18 months to recognize the
workers' union choice, in violation of Section 7 of the
National Labor Relations Act. MSPCC spent over $140,000 of
state and private donors' money to fight NLRB orders to bargain
with the union and fired over 40 percent of the social workers
that voted for Local 509, amid numerous other unfair labor
practices.
Despite the workers' pro-union vote, Local 509 fully expects
a similar anti-union battle to be waged in Western
Massachusetts. Log on to www. seiu509.org for more information
on how to support the MSPCC workers.
Reprinted from the Oct. 7, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME
:: U.S. NEWS ::
WORLD NEWS ::
EDITORIALS ::
SUBSCRIBE ::
DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page