The Boston Globe reports that 178 city workers are joining Teamsters Local 25. DPW Commissioner Jim McGonagle told the Globe that “the 178 workers joining Local 25 include about half of the city’s Department of Public Works employees, as well as Parks and Recreation and public building employees.”
It seems to me that Mayor Fuller’s job just got more difficult. Thoughts?
I think you’re right, Gail, in terms of it making Fuller’s job harder but it makes sense to me that they did it.
Hopefully it will help that our new HR director has lots of experience with union negations. With so many union contracts expiring Mayor Fuller and Karen Glasgow will likely be spending a lot of time together.
Gail do you know if these 178 are moving from a different union or are the Teamsters their first union?
This is very bad news for the Mayor and the City of Newton.
Reminder: Teamsters Local 25 were the racist THUGS that physically harassed, extorted and intimidated the Top Chef production as a union activity.
Google the video and story.
It’s disgusting that this crowd is now representing Newton employees.
I just got the answer to my question in this Boston Globe article. The city workers were previously part of the Newton Municipal Employees Association. Richard Gately, president of that union said that internal divisions within their union has been brewing for a while and that two years ago there was an unsuccessful movement to join the Teamsters.
I agree with Terry. I don’t think Teamsters 25 representative of the typical local Newton union. A much more effective strategy is to stay local and work with people who have a relationship with the union representatives at the table.
“are representative of the typical local Newton union.”
Terry and Jane you are sadly mistaken. This is bad news for the mayor because Teamsters Local 25 is going to hold the city accountable and get the hard working employees in the city of Newton the contract they deserve. The negative publicity and slander of the union that was in the paper in the Top Chef “incident” was just that fake news. All of the men were acquitted and the video you spoke of was a snippet of a labor dispute and men protecting their work, which as you found out was their legal right. Why don’t you Google Local 25 and their disaster relief efforts, their support of the community, the fact that they are the #2 fundraiser nationwide for Autism Speaks, their toy drive every Christmas that raises over $60,000 yearly for toy donations for local needy families. That is what Local 25 and Sean O’Brien is all about.