SOMERVILLE, MA — Unit B of the Somerville Municipal Employees Union (SMEU) has at last obtained a contract from the City of Somerville after their prior contract expired more than 900 days ago. SMEU’s members voted to ratify the new contract this week. The union includes public workers from city departments like Public Works, Water and Sewer, the Library, the City Clerk, Parking, and Inspectional Services.
The Boston chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) and our Somerville Neighborhood Group congratulate our SMEU friends and neighbors on their hard-fought victory. We further hope Mayor Ballantyne will quickly settle with and propose fair contracts to SMEU units A, C, and D.
Willie Burnley Jr., a Boston DSA member and Somerville City Councilor (At-Large) who has long pushed for expansion of paid family and medical leave for municipal employees, offered his support for the union: “I’m so grateful that SMEU will receive increased wages and be some of the first municipal employees to benefit from expanded paid family and medical leave, after years of advocacy.”
Boston DSA member and Ward 2 Councilor J.T. Scott added: “Nobody takes care of our city better than the people who live and work here. Strong, local, union jobs are essential to providing better city services, and also reduce costs to the taxpayers by preventing outsourcing to firms outside our community. The workers of SMEU have deserved better for a long time, and it’s my hope that this contract is just the first step in reversing decades of underinvestment in the people and infrastructure of our city.”
SMEU’s contract victory demonstrates that when workers organize, they win. Boston DSA members will continue fighting for working class wins in our own unions and in solidarity with unions in our communities, like SMEU.