Tufts University dining hall workers win union vote, officially join UNITE HERE Local 26

Tufts Win

BOSTON, MA—About 150 dining hall workers have joined UNITE HERE Local 26 after an overwhelming vote in favor of unionization: 127 to 19. Following the NLRB vote, Tufts University dining hall workers are members of UNITE HERE Local 26 and can begin negotiating their first contract with the university.

“It’s an incredible feeling to finally have our union,” said Trish O’Brien, 29-year veteran of Tufts Dining Services. “We stood strong together. We are the unseen and the unheard, but now we are going to be seen and heard.”

“My time at Tufts has been filled with job insecurity,” said dining hall worker, Tsering Ngodup who has been classified as a temp for over five years. “But this journey to a union has shown me that the Tufts community is behind us.”

Earlier this April, 500 students joined workers as they formally announced their union, demanding recognition from Tufts University. Since then, 77 student groups have joined a coalition backing the food service worker’s union.

“We are overjoyed,” said Andrew Jeffries, Architecture and Environmental Studies Junior at Tufts University. “I feel very proud to be part of Tufts’ campus at this moment.”

“Students will continue to show our support in upcoming contract negotiations,” said Emma Ishida, Sophomore in American Studies and Cognitive and Brain Sciences. “Dining hall workers do so much for us. We won’t stop until they get the respect they deserve.”

Tufts workers join the union that successfully struck Harvard for 22 days in 2016, and narrowly averted a strike at Northeastern in 2017.

“With this vote, Tufts dining hall workers have once again demonstrated their strength and determination. They join with Local 26 members at Harvard and Northeastern who have set a new standard in the industry,” said UNITE HERE Local 26 President Brian Lang. “Tufts dining hall workers deserve no less.”

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UNITE HERE Local 26 represents nearly 10,000 members working in the hotel, food service, and airport industries in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. 

 

For Immediate Release: April 3, 2018

Boston City Council President Wu Stands with Harvard Club of Boston Employees

Thank you Harvard alumni and Boston City Council President Michelle Wu for standing with employees of the Harvard Club of Boston last week.

Harvard and Ivy League alumni are needed to show support for workers who serve alumni at the Club. Sign today.

Michelle-Wu-Harvard-Club-web

Boston City Council President Michelle Wu stands with Harvard Club of Boston employees Juan Carlos Galdamez, Vidal Arevelo, Julio Rodriquez, and Manuel Lazo.

Religious & civic leaders: “End intimidation & surveillance at Wyndham Boston hotel”

Workers at the Wyndham hotel located across the street from Massachusetts General Hospital have been public with demands for stronger protection while cleaning rooms used by hospital patients.

The hotel settled with the National Labor Relations Board in December over worker complaints they’d faced surveillance and were offered money and benefits to stop organizing.

Rabbi Barbara Penzner of the Temple Hillel B’nai Torah synagogue, Father Philip C. Jacobs, and a representative of Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley returned to the Boston Wyndham hotel Thursday to speak with management about these concerns.

The hotel also faces proposed fines of $12,000 from OSHA for alleged violations related to worker safety.

The hotel is owned by Felcor, a Houston, Texas-based real estate investment trust. IMG_3572

 

 

Harvard Club Employees Protest Proposed Health Plan Changes

Members of on-campus activist organization Student Labor Action Movement joined UNITE HERE Local 26 members to rally outside the Harvard Club of Boston on Thursday evening in protest of proposed changes to employee health care plans, which they say would raise out-of-pocket costs for employees. Local 26 serves Boston’s hotel and food service workers and represents Harvard Club staff.

 

Hotel workers in biohazard gear to protest Wyndham hotel with MGH facility

Workers say not enough has been fixed at hotel after high-profile campaign

BOSTON, MA—Hotel staff of the Wyndham Boston Beacon Hill Hotel will protest tonight in a continued effort to rid the hotel of health hazards. They will be joined by 400 supporters. MGH maintains an 8-bed sleep study in the hotel.

Workers will wear disposable suits that prevent the transmission of bloodborne pathogens. These are an example of the kinds of supplies that should be given to workers to handle potentially infectious materials such as blood, vomit, feces, and needles.

OSHA opened an inspection of the hotel in May 2015. This week workers submitted further evidence to the agency supporting their allegations of hazardous working conditions related to bloody materials, needles, and other medical waste. Workers also allege lacking information about the waste they clean and dispose of from the MGH sleep study inside the hotel.

In July, the hotel hired a temporary agency to clean hotel rooms. Workers said they are concerned temporary staff are not given enough training and that the hotel is going in the wrong direction.

WHAT: Wyndham hotel employees to demonstrate in hazmat suits to illustrate hotel’s continued failure to keep workers safe

WHEN: Wednesday, September 9, 5:30pm

WHERE: Wyndham Boston Beacon Hill hotel, 5 Blossom St, Corner of Cambridge St and Blossom St. Across from MGH.

WHO: 500 people picketing and chanting including hotel workers in uniform, union members in t-shirts, and nurses in scrubs

VISUALS: hotel workers in biohazard gear including blood-spill gown, face covering, and blue gloves

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