Boston, MA

Boston reaches tentative agreement with firefighters union, Michelle Wu says

Published

1 year ago

September 4, 2023

Boston reaches tentative agreement with firefighters union, Michelle Wu says

The city has reached a tentative agreement with the Boston firefighters union, narrowly avoiding arbitration after “many months” of stalled negotiations.

Mayor Michelle Wu said the new deal was reached Sunday night, and would take effect pending ratification from the union, Boston Firefighters Local 718.

“This tentative agreement is the result of months of staying at the table together, bargaining focused on what our city needs, what communities need, and what the brave individuals who keep them safe every day need,” Wu said Monday at the Greater Boston Labor Council’s Labor Day Breakfast, where she made the announcement.

Both sides declined to provide details on the terms of the agreement until a ratification vote is taken by union membership.

According to a source familiar with the negotiations, the mayor agreed to a package with a 12% raise over three years, with no givebacks, a term for concessions made by a labor union.

The agreement was due in part to mounting pressure presented by the Mass and Cass zone, which is located near the Boston Fire Department’s Southampton Street headquarters, and the exposure of firefighters to dangerous conditions there, the source told the Herald.

Local 718 President Sam Dillon declined to confirm those details, stating, “At the end of the day, this is out of respect for our members.”

“Our members deserve to hear this from their union, and they deserve the opportunity to review this deal outside of the media and outside of any political implications,” he told the Herald.

Dillon said “no timetable has been set” for a ratification vote.

The city would avoid arbitration if the new contract is ratified by the union, a Wu spokesperson told the Herald.

The Joint Labor-Management Committee, which assists in resolving collective bargaining disputes involving municipalities and their police officers and firefighters, had taken jurisdiction, but the process hadn’t reached arbitration yet, the spokesperson said.

“This deal was reached over the bargaining table,” the spokesperson said.

In a statement, Wu said the tentative agreement reflects both sides’ “shared commitment to delivering the exceptional city services that make Boston the best place to live, work and raise a family.”

“Coming to this agreement through many months of bargaining is a testament to our administration’s determined focus on settling contracts for all our city workers, because building the greatest city for labor means proactively seeking ways to protect workers’ rights and improve workers’ lives,” Wu said.

All 48 union contracts were expired when Wu took office in November 2021. Roughly 90% of the city’s union workforce would be under contract, if this latest agreement is ratified, the mayor’s office said.

Joe Dwinell contributed to this report.

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Boston, MA

Where to clown in New England – The Boston Globe

Published

4 hours ago

January 21, 2025

Press Room

Where to clown in New England – The Boston Globe

Gemma Soldati, who grew up in New Hampshire and has performed all over the world, is back living near Portsmouth — and wants to bring clown to New England.

She’s performed at Edinburgh Fringe at Assembly, and has taught in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, and Toronto.

Last week, she launched an eight-week clown class at the Rockwell in Somerville. The session ($400) still has available openings.

She said the clown theater scene might not be as robust around Boston as it is in New York, but that sometimes the smaller the town, the more honest the clown.

Of a class she taught in Concord, N.H., Soldati said, “I did find that the people, they were just a little bit closer to their authentic self.”

Soldati also said that New Englanders interested in clown should look into Celebration Barn in Maine, where people visit from all over the world in the summer.

Find information on Soldati’s class at therockwell.org.

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Boston, MA

Tom McVie, longtime Boston Bruins assistant, dies at 89

Published

12 hours ago

January 20, 2025

Press Room

Tom McVie, longtime Boston Bruins assistant, dies at 89

BOSTON — Tom McVie, who coached the Winnipeg Jets to the 1979 World Hockey Association championship over Wayne Gretzky’s Edmonton Oilers in the final year before the franchises were absorbed into the NHL, has died. He was 89.

McVie was also the Jets’ first coach in the NHL and the New Jersey Devils’ second after they moved from Colorado in 1982. He also coached the Washington Capitals, compiling an overall NHL record of 126-263 with 73 ties in parts of eight seasons from 1975-92.

The Trail, British Columbia, native joined the Bruins as an assistant coach in 1992 and got his name on the Stanley Cup as a team ambassador when it won the 2011 championship.

“Tom was a huge part of our Bruins family, having served as coach, scout and ambassador for more than 30 years,” said Boston president Cam Neely, whose playing career overlapped with McVie’s coaching tenure. “His hockey mind, colorful personality, gruff voice, and unmatched sense of humor livened up every room he entered, and he will be dearly missed.”

McVie made his NHL head coaching debut when he succeeded Hall of Famer Milt Schmidt in Washington on New Year’s Eve in 1975, but he never finished higher than fourth before heading to the WHA. He took over the Jets, whose roster included a 40-year-old Bobby Hull, and won the 1979 Avco World Trophy.

“Coach McVie was an historical figure in Winnipeg’s pro hockey history as the coach of the last team to ever win the Avco Cup in the World Hockey Association, as well as the first coach in the team’s National Hockey League history back in 1979,” the Jets posted on X on Monday.

“Tom’s personality, voice, and knowledge of the game transcended his title and time in our city as the team made the transition from the WHA to the NHL. His ability to tell a story only added to the legend of the hockey club’s arrival on the big stage. We’d like to extend our deepest condolences to the many friends and loved ones of Coach McVie.”

McVie told The Boston Globe after joining the Bruins organization in 1992 that he was proud to be a hockey lifer.

“If I wasn’t coaching hockey,” he said, “then I’d probably be driving the Zamboni.”

McVie also coached in the AHL for New Jersey, working for the then-Utica Devils. They have since been renamed the Utica Comets, who honored him in a Monday social media post, calling McVie “a legend of the sport and our community,” and adding that “Tom was an outstanding leader, and an incredible human being.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Boston, MA

Fisher College student killed in Roxbury hit-and-run

Published

20 hours ago

January 20, 2025

Press Room

Fisher College student killed in Roxbury hit-and-run

Fisher College is mourning the loss of a student who was killed in a hit-and-run crash in Boston’s Roxbury neighborhood over the weekend, the school confirmed Monday.

Two women were struck by a car on Washington Street at Lenox Street around 8:30 p.m. They were taken to the hospital where one woman, identified by the school as Taylor Wilkinson, died of her injuries.

“This is an unimaginable loss, and our hearts go out to her family, friends, and all who had the privilege of knowing and loving her,” the statement from Steven Rich, president of Fisher College, reads.

Wilkinson, 20, graduated from the Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers in Boston in 2023, and began classes at Fisher the same year, according to Rich’s statement. She was a sophomore at Fisher, majoring in management with a concentration in fashion merchandising. She leaves behind a twin sister, who is also a student at Fisher.

Grief counseling services are available through the school’s Counseling Center and Health Services Department.

“In the days ahead, we will work closely with Taylor’s family to find meaningful ways to honor her memory. We will share further details as plans are finalized. For now, let us come together as a community to offer solace to those who are grieving and to reflect on the values of kindness, compassion, and unity that Taylor embodied,” Rich wrote.

Police continue to investigate the crash. The vehicle that struck Wilkinson is described as a dark-colored, compact Mercedes SUV, left the scene. The SUV is believed to have damage to its front grille and a front light, and missing the right side-view mirror. Anyone with information about the vehicle or its driver is asked to call police at 617-343-4470 or the anonymous tip line, 1-800-494-TIPS. Tips can also be texted to police anonymously by sending the word “TIP” to the number 27463 (CRIME).