A prolonged casino strike in Everett and the possibility of renewed walkouts at a Boston hospital and Harvard University are putting three Greater Boston labor disputes in focus. Together, the disputes involve about 9,300 workers, according to figures reported by WBUR.
The conflicts are at different stages. At Encore Boston Harbor, workers have already spent weeks away from their jobs. Nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and members of the Harvard Graduate Students Union have authorized strikes after earlier work stoppages this year, but WBUR’s report does not identify a start date for either potential walkout.
The immediate developments to watch are whether hospital negotiations can prevent another stoppage and whether Harvard’s graduate workers move from authorization to a strike. At Encore, the question is when an ongoing walkout might end.
Everett: Casino strike reaches fifth week
About 1,300 Encore Boston Harbor employees have been on strike since Sept. 4, the Friday preceding Labor Day, WBUR reported. The walkout has entered its fifth week, with no apparent resolution in sight in the station’s account.
That makes Encore the only one of the three workplaces where employees were actively on strike in the report. While the hospital and university disputes could produce additional walkouts, the casino dispute already involves a sustained absence from work.
Boston: Nurses seek to avoid another stoppage
At Brigham and Women’s, roughly 4,000 nurses voted last month to authorize a strike without a set end date. WBUR reported that nurses and hospital management were due to return to negotiations in an effort to avoid that outcome.
The nurses previously held a one-day strike in July. Their time away from work ultimately lasted five days because, according to the hospital’s explanation reported by WBUR, replacement traveling nurses were hired under a contract that extended beyond the planned walkout.
Negotiations continued after that episode. A Mass General Brigham spokesperson said in a September statement that the parties held additional meetings before reaching an impasse, according to WBUR. The latest strike authorization raises the prospect of a second stoppage, this time without the one-day limit announced for July’s action.
Cambridge: Harvard union authorizes another strike
At Harvard, a union representing about 4,000 graduate workers voted Tuesday to authorize another strike, WBUR reported. The vote brings the Harvard Graduate Students Union closer to a second walkout this year.
The union’s earlier strike lasted 40 days during the spring. Its members have been without a contract for almost 18 months, according to the station. As at Brigham, the authorization is a step toward possible action rather than a report that another strike has begun.
What’s next: Further bargaining at Brigham is aimed at preventing another work stoppage. Harvard’s authorization leaves a potential second strike ahead, while Encore’s walkout continues without a resolution identified in WBUR’s report.
