Message from the President

In general throughout the labor movement, there are two categories of members: those who have workplace issues and grievances, and those who do not. Studies show that only a very small percent of the membership falls into the first category.

Usually, there are a small handful of members who have trouble and who need union grievance help and the same people tend to keep coming back for more grievances. Unions spend most of their resources and staff time helping this very small percentage of members.

That means that the vast majority of the membership, those who do not have worksite issues or grievances, just go about their business and don’t think the Union affects them.

Of course, we will continue to help those members who have trouble at work and those who have grievances. That is why we are creating the professionally staffed Member Resource Center and Grievance and Steward Resource Center.

With our two new resource centers handling the grievance and legal work of the Local, we are going to devote resources to that second category of members, those who are members of the local but do not have worksite problems and feel unengaged from the union because of it.

Our new Member Engagement Department will work with Chapter Chairs to implement programs aimed at building better member participation within our chapters, improve communications, facilitate leadership elections and the filling of vacancies, and serve as a resource for training, education, leadership development and mobilization.

One common member frustration has been the length of time it takes Union representatives to return phone calls and provide critical feedback and information relative to questions about grievances, worksite problems and contract related situations, and so on.

In response, we created the SEIU 888 Member Resource Center (MRC), a reliable point of direct contact.

The MRC is an in-house hotline directed by staff who is available for member questions, concerns, grievance issues, and regular advice [not legal advice] from 9 am (and sometimes earlier) to 5 pm, Monday through Friday.

This means that if you call the Union office (617-241-3300) with an immediate question, you will speak with someone immediately, or if the MRC staff is on the phone, they will return the call as soon as possible, with the goal being to return all calls within 24 hours. Alternatively, if you would like to email the Member Resource Center, click here.

We are transitioning to a sophisticated computer system that logs your call with the MRC and allows us to track and monitor your issue until it is resolved, resulting in greater accountability and less room for errors.

This election season, our local endorsed 50 candidates in 7 municipalities. Overall, 44 of our endorsed candidates won their elections, and 6 endorsed candidates were defeated.

The following is a city by city analysis of the election results.

Quincy:
Quincy was a clean sweep for SEIU 888, with every endorsed candidate winning their respective race including mayoral challenger Tom Koch.

Quincy Results
Mayor
Candidate Thomas Koch - Won

City Council
At-Large Joseph Finn - Won
At-Large Michael McFarland - Won
At-Large John Keenan - Won
Ward 1 Leo Kelly - Won
Ward 2 Daniel Raymondi - Won
Ward 3 Kevin Coughlin - Won
Ward 4 James Davis - Won
Ward 5 Douglas Gutro - Won
Ward 6 Brian McNamee - Won

School Committee
Elaine Dwyer - Won
Jo-Ann Bragg – Won

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Brockton:
In Brockton, our endorsed mayoral candidate Jass Stewart lost to incumbent Mayor James Harrington. With the exception of Ward 5 City Council challenger Stephen Pina, all other endorsed candidates for City Council and School Committee won their races.

One important victory to note was in the Ward 1 School Committee race. Our endorsed candidate Tom Minichiello, Jr defeated long time incumbent Mo Hancock. Mr. Hancock had been a major proponent of privatizing our school cafeteria workers chapter.

Please note that two of the City Council candidates, both of whom ran for re-election, are members of SEIU 888. A special congratulations goes to Todd Petti and Michael Brady on their victories.

Brockton Results
Mayor
Candidate Jass Stewart - Lost

City Council
At-Large Linda Balzotti - Won
At-Large Thomas Brophy - Won
At-Large Todd Petti - Won
At-Large Robert Sullivan - Won
Ward 1 Timothy Cruise - Won
Ward 2 Michael Brady - Won
Ward 3 Dennis Eaniri - Won
Ward 4 Paul Studenski - Won
Ward 5 Stephen Pina - Lost
Ward 6 Michelle DuBois - Won
Ward 7 Chris MacMillan - Won

School Committee
Ward 1 Thomas Minichiello, Jr. - Won
Ward 2 Richard E Bath - Won
Ward 3 Janice Beyer - Won
Ward 4 Patricia Joyce - Won
Ward 5 Brian Foley - Won
Ward 6 James Daley - Won
Ward 7 Ronald Dobrowski – Won

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Fitchburg:
In Fitchburg, our COPE Committee only recommended two endorsements. The limited endorsement recommendation was due to the City Council’s failure to fund the Waste Water Treat Facility Contract. Both endorsed candidates were successful.

Lisa Wong won the mayoral race with a mandate margin of nearly 75% and Stephan Hay who has been helpful to our Fitchburg members in the past as the District 5 City Councilor won in the At-Large race for the first time.

Fitchburg Results
Mayor
Lisa Wong – Won

City Council
At-Large Stephan Hay – Won

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Haverhill

In Haverhill, endorsed mayoral candidate Jim Rurak lost to incumbent Mayor Jim Fiorentini. Seven endorsed City Council candidates were successful and two were defeated.

Shaun Toohey, who was endorsed for School Committee also won re-election.

Havehill Results
Mayor
Jim Rurak – Lost

City Council
David Hall - Won
William Macek - Won
James Donahue, Jr. - Won
William Ryan - Won
Kenneth Quimby, Jr. - Won
David Swartz - Lost
Louis Fossarelli - Lost
Mike McGonagle - Won
Mary Ellen Daly O’Brien - Won

School Committee
Shaun Toohey – Won

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Medford:
Medford was another clean sweep for SEIU 888 with all four endorsed candidates winning re-election.

Medford Results
Mayor
Michael McGlynn - Won

City Council
Paul Camuso - Won
Frederick Dello Russo, Jr. - Won

School Committee
Robert Emmett Skerry, Jr. – Won

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Cambridge:
Fred Fantini, SEIU 888 member and Secretary-Treasurer of our Local, was victorious in his re-election bid for Cambridge School Committee.

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Worcester:
SEIU 888 endorsed candidate Grace Ross was defeated in her race for Worcester City Council

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OTHER RACES
In addition to our work in cities and towns, our members also showed great interest in the special election held in the 5th Congressional District for the vacancy created when Congressman Marty Meehan resigned. Our State Council endorsed Niki Tsongas, and many credit SEIU’s work on that campaign as a deciding factor in her victory.

5th Congressional District Results
Niki Tsongas – Won


New Strength depends on YOU
As our political power continues to grow, we will continue to hold politicians accountable on issues important to working people. Thanks to all of our members who are getting involved in our efforts in making public officials listen to working families.

And thanks to all of our COPE contributors for their continued participation!

As we approach the end of this round of steward trainings, I want to take a moment to thank the stewards who attended. You showed great interest, positive energy, and a clear willingness to move our union’s program forward.

One of the questions raised is worth exploring: What is a Chief Steward and how does one become a Chief Steward?

Traditionally throughout the labor movement, a Chief Steward is someone who has been a regular Steward for many years and through time, has grown as a leader and acquired a vast reserve of knowledge and experience. A Chief Steward is someone who is respected by management as well as by other Stewards and the membership.

In our union, we need to develop a consistent and predictable definition of the skills and experience a Chief Steward should possess. Currently, chapters have no clear guidelines and it has not been unheard of for a steward with just a few days experience to be given that title, just to fill a vacancy.

If you are interested in helping to craft a definition of the Chief Steward title, please let me know: my email address is ssegat (at) seiu888.org.

Do you have a steward who says they need training? Is there a steward vacancy that isn't being filled because a great potential applicant feels that they need more skills before they can toss their hat in the ring?

Act now! Make sure your steward knows about the current round of steward trainings our Local is offering.

Steward Trainings are being held all over the state this month and next. We offer them during the week and make sure that stewards are made whole for any time lost. These trainings are fun and a good way to meet other stewards from around your region.

There's no excuse for not taking advantage of this training opportunity - please encourage your stewards to sign up today!