Every week, GBH News assignment editor Matt Baskin joins GBH’s All Things Considered to look at the biggest stories of the upcoming week. This week, tune in for updates on the teachers’ strike in Woburn, potential new leadership of the state’s Republican Party and what construction workers have to say about on-the-job safety. What follows is a lightly edited transcript of the conversation between Baskin and host Arun Rath.
Do you know other stories we should be following? Email the newsroom at GBHNewsConnect@wgbh.org.
Arun Rath: So we've been hearing about this teacher strike in Woburn. What is the latest?
Matt Baskin: It's day two of the strike. Teachers across the Woburn school district are off the job. Many of them are picketing in front of their schools. They say they want better pay, smaller classes, guaranteed gym class for elementary schoolers twice a week. And they also say they're striking in support of paraprofessionals, their colleagues who work in supporting roles, who are paid — by their argument — really a pittance.
It's worth noting that this strike is technically illegal. Massachusetts teachers are not allowed to go on strike under state law. There's a push to change that, bills that advocates are trying to advance on Beacon Hill. But yesterday, citing the state law, a judge ordered the striking teachers back to work. They, of course, have not done so. And it seems like the strike will continue until the two sides reach a deal.
There's a bigger picture here, and that's the fact that this is now the fourth teachers strike in Massachusetts in the past year. Brookline teachers went on strike for a day back in May. Malden teachers went on strike for a day in October. And also in October, Haverhill teachers were on strike for four days. That's a lot of labor action on the part of educators in a comparatively short timespan. And I think it's something to keep an eye on. Teachers are increasingly willing to walk off the job to get what they feel is fair.
Rath: And it also kind of tracks with what seems to be growing labor action across the board right now.
Baskin: Agreed. There's a real trend right now, workers taking things into their own hands.
And that actually kind of gets at another labor story we're covering this week, one that's rooted in tragedy. We've seen several worker deaths in Massachusetts this past year. A contractor died in the partial collapse of the Government Center garage in downtown Boston last March. Then in June, a construction worker died at a worksite in the Seaport. Also in June, a security guard at The Country Club in Brookline died after falling on the job. Earlier this month, a construction worker died after a fall at Mass General. The list goes on. And that's just in and around Boston, not even speaking to the rest of the state.
So tomorrow night, OSHA — the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration — is doing a listening session for workers in partnership with the Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health. That's a worker watchdog and advocacy group. We're going to be tuning in to hear what workers have to say, whether they're worried about whistleblowing, what they have to say about potentially unsafe conditions they're dealing with on the job and what sort of action could be taken to make it safer to work.
Rath: Finally, we're going to be hearing more about this next hour from GBH Politics Reporter Adam Reilly: there's a big vote happening tonight in the Mass. GOP, the state's Republican Party. Briefly, what's going on?
Baskin: I'll leave the bulk of this to Adam, but basically, the state Republican Committee is voting on their chair.
Right now, it's Jim Lyons, who many see as an extremely divisive figure. He's very Trumpy. He distanced the party enormously from the guy who could have been its standard-bearer, former Gov. Charlie Baker. And under Lyons’ leadership, the Republican Party in Massachusetts has become pretty marginalized. You don't have to look much further than last November's election, where Democrat Maura Healey ran away with nearly 64% of the vote. The GOP’s very MAGA candidate Geoff Diehl got less than 35%.
And recently Lyons has been accused of campaign finance malfeasance by the party's own treasurer. So if the Mass. GOP moves on from Lyons, it could signal that the party is going to try to take a more moderate tack — relatively speaking.
Tonight's vote is closed to the press, but once we have a result, we'll report on it.
