According to information received from both, SEIU Local 509 and CLASS, Inc. management had reached a settlement to raise wages at the Lawrence-based human services agency, and avoid an open-ended strike that was scheduled to begin Monday, July 30th.
In mid-July, 2018, CLASS employees, union members, blocked the entrance at the corner of Merrimack St. with Parker St. carrying signs. That was a sign of a problem. Employees were on strike, demanding better wages. Similar signs were seen back in May 2013 with respect to a series of violations that defenders say endangered the health and safety of workers and clients. The intention of the protesters was to deliver a letter to the former CEO at CLASS who refused to accept it.
CLASS, Inc. workers formed a union with SEIU Local 509 in 2014 and won an initial contract that included essential workplace protections and significant raises for workers, who were then earning wages as low as $8 an hour. Last year, after a strike vote, workers won a 1-year contract that included an average 5% wage increase.
According to CLASS management, under a new CEO, “On Monday July 23rd, 2018 there was a meeting with the mediator between CLASS and the union’s bargaining committee. CLASS presented a best and final offer for a one-year contract. The offer balances the need for increased pay for our valuable direct care workforce with the reality that our reimbursement rates are set by the state – we can only pay staff what is afforded in those rates. Our offer included competitive wage increases, additional pay for one-to-one work, increased starting rates, and other language adjustments.”
Under the proposed one-year contract, workers will receive a 60-cent wage increase and other contract improvements.
We are pleased that during the five-day strike, workers at CLASS received the support of the community but at the same time, we are extremely disgusted with our Mayor Daniel Rivera. Joining the picket line in support of better wages for CLASS workers is extremely hypocritical on his part when workers under his administration are barely over minimum wage, namely school department workers earning $13 or less.
The same goes for many city employees who have not received a raise in many years. He says there’s no money but he keeps hiring friends giving them extremely high salaries.
