Independent Labor News
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Fall is Here but Prices Aren’t Falling: Protestors Rally Against Iran War, for Divestment as Gas Prices Skyrocket
By: Liam Noble BOSTON COMMON – On Saturday, October 3, anti-war protesters and left organizations rallied against the multiple simultaneous illegal wars prosecuted by the United States under the current regime — with a particular focus on the war in Iran. Protestors and local activists including Rabbi Greg Hersh and Tony Van Der Meer gave…
Who’s Your Uber Driver on the Phone to? Welcome to the Long, Long Diaspora Call
By: Nesrine Malik This article was originally published by The Guardian on September 30, 2026. The question of the week is: “who are Uber drivers always talking to on the phone?” It’s one that regularly surfaces on Reddit threads and social media and even, on a couple of occasions, in the office. It’s not my…
Red Umbrellas: First Sex Worker Pride March Organized in Boston History
By: Andrew S BOSTON COMMON – On September 14, sex workers and their allies gathered at Brewer Fountain under a canopy of red umbrellas for Boston’s historic first March for Sex Worker Pride. Led by organizers Rita Romero from Red Light Disco, Amanda Rodriguez from FemMenThem, and Jessica Van Meir from Boston Sex Workers and…
Flicking the Switch on Flock
By: Reid Jackson BOSTON – On September 16, Boston announced the end of its contract with Flock Safety after uncovering the company sharing local data with outside law enforcement. If this is shocking news to you, you may be a Boston City Councilmember: “Boston City Councilor Ben Weber said he was disappointed to see the agency…
Stiffing Workers, Rationing Toilet Paper: Who Really Makes WPI Run?
By: Julia Z & Jake S WORCESTER – Students have returned to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Freshmen are being shuttled through new student orientation, professors are dusting off their syllabi, and returning students have long soaked in their remaining days of freedom. Many new students were no doubt won over by WPI’s aggressive promotion of…
UNITE HERE 26 and Teamsters 25 Hotel Workers On Simultaneous Strike At Encore Boston Harbor
By: Vanessa Bartlett EVERETT – Workers at the Encore Boston Harbor, organized in bargaining units affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 25 and UNITE HERE Local 26, went on strike September 4 in advance of Labor Day following the expiration of their contract on August 31. These 1350 hospitality workers have made the…
In Photos: On Labor Day 2026, Boston Labor Has Never Been Louder
By: Reid Jackson COPLEY SQUARE – The voices and shouts of labor were audible approaching the square on September 7. Starting in the morning, the Greater Boston Labor Council (GBLC) led workers gathering between Trinity Church and the Boston Public Library. At the parade were all the ranks: the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Boston…
OPINION: Where Does MA’s Movement for Affordable Housing Go From Here?
Released By: Central Massachusetts & Worcester DSA Program Committee WORCESTER – Massachusetts has some of the most rent-burdened tenants in a country where the crisis is ubiquitous. Every year in Massachusetts, thousands of working-class people are pushed onto the streets, three-quarters of which are families with children, while their landlords continue to raise rents higher…
The Amazonopticon and the Antiunion Arsenal
By: Matt Wolfinger With Flock and Axon cameras on every corner, commuting to work for the average American means becoming an unwilling participant in a nationwide web of mass surveillance. Even clocking at work won’t protect them from the all-seeing AI – workplace surveillance systems can track them with even more precision, collecting data on…
Tram Nguyen Gets $500K in AIPAC-Linked Ad Money as TrackAIPAC Faces Scrutiny in Record MA-6 Race
By: Tony A. AIPAC-Linked PACs and Big Tech Cash Flood MA-6 as Spending Tops $10M; Nguyen’s Gaza Flip-Flop Draws Scrutiny ANDOVER – Democratic voters inundated with mailers and advertisements for the race to replace Seth Moulton in Massachusetts 6th District primary this Tuesday could easily be confused by the array of inconspicuously named Super PACs…
Can Tenant Organizing Build Political Power? The DSA Experience
By: Steve Dubb This article was originally published by Shelterforce on August 12, 2026. In the world of movement organizing, few groups in the past decade have undergone a faster demographic transition or greater growth than the Democratic Socialists of America, better known as DSA. Between 2015 and 2017, boosted by Sen. Bernie Sanders’s 2016…
Dan Koh, Labor’s Candidate in MA-06, took over $180,000 from AIPAC Donors
By: Tony A ANDOVER – The yard signs for hometown candidate Daniel Koh are thick in this suburb north of Boston, as the six-way race for the Massachusetts 6th Congressional District enters its final weeks. A passerby might be curious to ask: “Who is paying for all these signs?” At least financially, Koh is dominating the field,…
OPINION: Fighting for Puerto Rican Independence is Local Work, Especially in Massachusetts
By: Dom S LAWRENCE, LOWELL, LYNN – As the national co-chair of the DSA’s Puerto Rico Working Group, I often hear the question from other organization members: “Why should a socialist here care about the territorial status of Puerto Rico?” My answer: “As an American citizen, it is your Congress who holds absolute control over…
OPINION: Healey’s Abundance Agenda Relies on Institutions Keeping Us in Scarcity
By: B. Greer The terms “abundance” and “supply” are unavoidable in the housing affordability debate. The Healey administration’s plan to address the housing crisis, “Achieve a State of Housing Abundance” confidently states that a “lack of supply is the root cause of our housing cost crisis.” The state is correct that Massachusetts needs more homes,…
Mass Community College Faculty and Staff, Suffering Low Pay and Hostility, Face Off with Board of Higher Ed
By: Jason M, Jake S WORCESTER – Teachers and staff organized under the Massachusetts Community College Council (MCCC) have been engaged in contract negotiations with the Massachusetts Board of Higher Education for the last few months. Despite Massachusetts offering free community college through the MassEducate program, faculty at community colleges across the state face conditions…
They Tried to Cut Off the Head: School Bus Workers in Central Mass Confront Private Equity
By: Cayla Dodd MARLBOROUGH- A union contract campaign among school bus drivers and monitors has developed into something much larger than a dispute over wages and benefits. What is unfolding reveals in stark clarity the architecture of privatization – how private equity reshapes essential services, how union-busting operates under contemporary labor relations, and why even…
This year’s ballot question is dead. Rent control should not be.
By: Timothy Scalona This was originally published in The Boston Globe on July 21, 2026. I had just finished middle school in 2012 when a sheriff came to my front door carrying an eviction notice — an enveloped piece of paper that threatened to force us out and trash the decades worth of memories that…
Supreme Court’s TPS Decision Threatens Millions, Precipitates Mass. Healthcare Staffing Collapse
By: Matt Wolfinger BOSTON – Last month, the Supreme Court handed the Trump administration a long-sought victory, setting the stage for the mass deportation of roughly 356,000 people out of the United States. The landmark decision paves the way for the cancelation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Haitian and Syrian immigrants. The TPS program…
“Union-busting” Law Firm and Business-Backed Trustees Face MGB Nurses in Largest Nurses’ Strike in State History
By: Chris Brady BOSTON – Healthcare is in a private-equity induced freefall. But after a historic strike and ongoing negotiations, including a lock-out confrontation with the bosses, nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital stand in between the Commonwealth’s healthcare unions and coordinated management destruction. On Wednesday, July 8, 4,700 Mass General Brigham (MGB) nurses and…
Notes from Organizing a Union at Best Buy
By: Reid J DEDHAM – In September 2025, broke and desperate, I was running food deliveries for the richest neighborhoods in Waltham while trying to get my resumé in the door anywhere and everywhere when Best Buy hired me. A friend was already working there and helped me get on the sales team with a…
