13,000 Carpenters Refuse to Work in Massachusetts

With the Trump Administration blocking OSHA from issuing regulations to protect workers from COVID-19, workers across the United States have instead been subject to an uneven set of workplace safety rules during COVID-19.  

In Massachusettes, Republican Governor Charlie Baker has refused pleas from organized labor to shut down construction sites across the state. 

“In recent days as the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths has dramatically increased, it has become apparent that working on construction sites in Massachusetts is abnormally dangerous, and that continuing to work on construction sites poses an immediate threat of harm to the health and safety of my members and the public,” wrote North Atlantic Council of Carpenters Executive Secretary-Treasurer Thomas J. Flynn in a letter to his 13,000 members 

Under union rules, workers that cross the picket line will be unable to work as members of the union; meaning that the vast majority of the union’s 13,000 carpenters will likely refuse to work.

The strike is part of a growing strike wave that has seen large scale wildcat strikes happening in cities across the United States. 

Donate to Help Us To Cover Labor’s Fight Back Against COVID-19