1962 Massachusetts Teachers and State Employees Win the Right to Organize

After President John F. Kennedy announced an executive order in 1962 which encouraged federal employees to join unions, many public sector workers began campaigns to organize, either through the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) or the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). These two unions exerted a tremendous amount of influence on Beacon Hill and in 1966 they successfully lobbied for a law which allowed public employees to bargain collectively for better working conditions.

In 1965 the Massachusetts Federation of Teachers lobbied for a law which allowed teachers to “engage in bargaining on the full range of issues, including salaries.” (Commonwealth, 141) There were many illegal strikes by MFT members, including one in Lawrence in 1966. The Massachusetts Teachers Association, affiliated with the National Education Association, also became a collective bargaining agent for other teachers and held its own strikes in Somerville, Franklin, Brockton, Woburn, New Bedford, Grafton, Burlington and Fall River. Many people disagreed with the teachers’ strikes, claiming they did nothing but harm the students. What these people were neglecting to consider is that teachers were also striking for education programs for the students and English as a Second Language courses.

In 1968, Boston social workers protested that their caseloads were too large to give adequate attention to all of their patients. They struck for three days and were granted lowered caseloads and better service for welfare recipients. The state then took over the welfare program from cities and towns and allowed for a statewide union. In 1969 2,200 state welfare workers won the right to have SEIU Local 509 serve as their collective bargaining agent.

In 1974, the state legislature enacted a law which recognized state employees’ right to bargain over wages and in 1975 public employee unions began to bargain with the Commonwealth.