Springfield Workers Successfully Thwart Attempt to Undermine Collective Bargaining Rights

Springfield's workers mounted an successful two-day lobbying effort to stop special home rule legislation that would effectively short-circuit a union's ability to collectively bargain on behalf of its workers. On Monday, City Councilors began receiving hundreds of phone calls from workers encouraging them to vote "No" against the measure. Although the measure has been stopped for now, the control board has the authority to pass the legislation without the City Council and introduce it into the legislature. However, union leaders say that they would have a very difficult time getting it passed without the support of local elected officials.

Richard Brown, President of the Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO, expressed praise for the decision to cancel the vote. However, he said, "I'm quite dismayed that we had to be put through this again. If a piece of legislation like this is going to be introduced that is going to have a great deal of impact on the workers, we should have been consulted."

Angelo Puppolo, one of the City Councilor's staunchly opposed to the measure, called it a "victory for school teachers but more importantly for the unions in general." Puppolo also addressed the fears generated by rumors that the control board might go after Councilor salaries and benefits if they didn't fall in line, saying, "I'm not going to change my philosophy. I'm certainly not going to change my support of unions based on what the contorl board is trying to dictate to us."