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UAW pushes through sellout deal at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art

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UAW pushes through sellout deal at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art


MASS MoCA [Photo by Beyond My Ken / CC BY-SA 4.0]

Late last month, the UAW announced a deal with management at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) in North Adams. One hundred twenty members of UAW Local 2110 voted to ratify a new contract, ending a strike that began March 6.

The new contract is a sellout. It raises wages to only $18 an hour, well below a living wage in western Massachusetts. The new wages go into effect within 30 days, retroactive to January 1. 

Negotiations began October 1, 2023, and the agreement came after eight collective bargaining sessions focused on wages. The strike lasted for three weeks and workers returned to their jobs the day following the announcement of the deal. During the walkout, MASS MoCA administration kept the museum open in a strikebreaking move.

MASS MoCA is one of the largest centers for contemporary visual art and performing arts in the United States. Its ongoing exhibitions feature works by conceptual and minimalist artist Sol LeWitt; light and space artist and National Medal of Arts recipient James Turrell; and German painter and sculptor Anselm Kiefer. Performances include dance, theater and musical artists, and public arts programs are offered for children, teens and adults.

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MASS MoCA was created in 1999 after numerous fundraising efforts, including those at the state, local and private levels. Along with the Clark Art Institute and the Williams College Museum of Art, MASS MoCA is part of a complex of significant art museums in northern Berkshire County, contributing to the region’s cultural life and tourism. The museum’s buildings formerly housed printing and electrical component manufacturing facilities. 

Prior to the agreement, the UAW stated that 58 percent of the museum’s unionized employees earned $16.25 per hour, with full-time workers averaging $43,600 per year. MASS MoCA management offered only a $1 increase, to $17.25 per hour, bringing annual earnings for workers—including part-timers—to just $35,880. The union sought a minimum 4.5 percent wage increase this year, which would have brought the hourly minimum wage to $18.25, just 25 cents per hour more than what was finally ratified.

The Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator estimates the cost of a very modest living in Berkshire County at $47,000 per year for a single person without children, and $117,000 per year for a family of four. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Living Wage Calculator finds that a childless individual living in Berkshire County would need to make $21.83 per hour to cover basic needs such as food, housing, medical care and transportation, which is nearly $7 more than Massachusetts’ already inadequate $15 per hour minimum wage. In 2022, a one-day strike resulted in the already meager minimum hourly wage rate moving from $15.50 to $16.25.

According to the UAW, the contract agreement includes:

  • An increase to $18/hour minimum
  • A 3.5 percent across-the-board increase to base pay, retroactive to January 1, 2024
  • A 3.5 percent across-the-board increase to base pay, effective January 1, 2025
  • Time-and-a-half overtime rates to apply to all hours worked after 10 hours in a day

Officials for both management and the museum praised the agreement after it was announced. “It’s a good agreement,” said Maida Rosenstein, director of organizing for UAW Local 2110. The museum’s management also offered praise. “The agreement marks another bold precedent that both the union and MASS MoCA desired and worked together to achieve,” stated Kristy Edmunds, museum director.

Museums should not be treated as luxuries for wealthy individuals but should be publicly funded and open to the public at no charge. MASS MoCA’s current and emeritus board of trustees is made up of financial, political, and educational elites, some of whose personal fortunes would be capable of lifting MASS MoCA workers’ wages out of the poverty level.

The attack on the living standards of museum workers occurs alongside those of autoworkers, logistics workers, railroad workers, healthcare and other workers, both nationally and internationally.

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Last year the UAW rammed through a sellout contract on automakers which has paved the way for thousands of layoffs so far this year. The Teamsters union pushed through a similar contract at UPS, which provided management “labor certainty” to close 200 facilities and automate 400 more.

Even more fundamentally, the working class is being made to pay for the trillions spent on wars against Russia, Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and war preparations against China.  

MASS MoCA workers must break free of the UAW apparatus and align with the dozens of other dues paying UAW members in the US Northeast by forming rank-and-file committees independent of the unions and the two big-business parties.

In addition to MASS MoCA, UAW Local 2110 holds the contracts at numerous museums in the Northeast, including the Bronx Museum of the Arts, Brooklyn Museum, Children’s Museum of the Arts, Guggenheim Museum, Jewish Museum, Museum of Modern Art (New York), Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), New Museum of Contemporary Art, Portland Museum of Art and Whitney Museum of American Art.

Workers at cultural institutions should travel to support their brothers and sisters on picket lines when strikes occur and shut down museums until workers’ demands are met.

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Massachusetts

French-Mediterranean Eatery Charts Opening In Boston

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French-Mediterranean Eatery Charts Opening In Boston


BOSTON, MA — An international restaurant group with locations across the globe is preparing to open its first Massachusetts restaurant this year.

LPM Restaurant & Bar, a French Riviera-inspired restaurant founded in London, is set to open on the second floor of the Four Seasons Hotel One Dalton Street in Back Bay, according to Four Seasons. The hotel lists the restaurant as “Opening Summer 2026,” while the Boston Business Journal reported the restaurant plans to open in September.

The Boston restaurant will mark LPM’s debut in the Northeast and its third U.S. outpost, following locations in Miami and Las Vegas, according to a Four Seasons announcement.

LPM, also known as La Petite Maison, was founded in London in 2007 and is known for French-Mediterranean food, Mediterranean ingredients and dining rooms influenced by Belle Époque design.

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The business operates locations in London, Dubai, Miami, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, Riyadh, Limassol, Doha, Mykonos, Kuwait, Boston, Maldives and Bangkok.

Four Seasons said LPM will take over the space that formerly housed One Dalton’s breakfast concept, One + One. The restaurant will join other dining options at the hotel, including Zuma and Trifecta.

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Massachusetts high school under investigation after teachers diagnosed with breast cancer

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Massachusetts high school under investigation after teachers diagnosed with breast cancer


A Massachusetts high school is under investigation after “several” teachers have been diagnosed with breast cancer or precancerous conditions.

The state Department of Public Health is set to visit Uxbridge High School on Thursday to “conduct a series of air quality tests,” to determine whether the multiple cases are potentially connected.

Superintendent David Ljungberg and Principal Michael Rubin alerted families and district staff on Monday of the “sombering news,” after Uxbridge High School’s graduation over the weekend.

“We are writing to inform you about a concern we are investigating at Uxbridge High School,” Ljungberg and Rubin stated in the letter. “Several female teachers have been diagnosed with breast cancer or precancerous conditions over the past few years.”

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“It is, of course, possible that these multiple cases are not connected to one another,” the leaders added, “but out of abundance of caution, we are looking into any environmental factors at the school that may be a factor in their diagnoses.”

The 123,000-square-foot school, with an enrollment of roughly 600, was constructed in 2012 at a cost of $45 million, including a $22-million state reimbursement.

Uxbridge school leaders say they notified the state Department of Health and local health board as soon as they became aware of the cases, seeking “counsel about how best to proceed.”

“Massachusetts DPH officials have indicated that there is no evidence of immediate danger in the building and no reason to limit access to or use of the facility at this time,” they wrote in their letter. “In fact, the public health officials have commended our decision to approach them with these concerns, our readiness to partner with them in support of the evaluation process.”

Health officials are assessing the school’s interior and exterior to “ensure there are no issues with the infrastructure that would present risks (including electrical, plumbing, mechanical, HVAC, and other systems)” and the indoor and outdoor air quality on campus.

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The superintendent and principal said that state officials have ruled out water supply as a “risk factor” after “thorough testing.”

“The team has reached out to the women who have been diagnosed, requesting data to evaluate whether there may be a connection among their cases,” Ljungberg and Rubin wrote. “We are grateful for their cooperation.”

They added that the state has said discovering an environmental “smoking gun” is “rare” in workplace investigations.

“However, even if a direct causal link is not established,” the leaders wrote, “the administration is utilizing this process to rigorously test the building and guarantee that it meets all safety standards moving forward.”

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Gov. Healey backs bill to keep Mass. bars open until 3 a.m. this summer

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Gov. Healey backs bill to keep Mass. bars open until 3 a.m. this summer


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The legislation would allow licensed establishments to sell alcohol one hour later than their normal closing time, up to 3 a.m., between June 1 and Aug. 31, 2026.

The proposal has received support from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and most recently Gov. Maura Healey, who submitted written testimony Monday to the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies urging lawmakers to advance the measure. (Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff)

Massachusetts lawmakers are considering a measure that would allow cities and towns to temporarily extend bar and restaurant hours during the summer, as the state prepares to host FIFA World Cup matches and celebrations marking the nation’s 250th anniversary.

The legislation (H.5465) filed by state Rep. Carole Fiola, would allow licensed establishments to sell alcohol one hour later than their normal closing time, up to 3 a.m., between June 1 and Aug. 31, 2026. The bill would also allow communities to establish designated public consumption districts where alcohol could be consumed in approved public spaces.

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In a press release announcing the bill, Fiola said the summer’s threefold events lineup — the World Cup, Tall Ships, and July 4th — is an economically significant moment that the state should take advantage of.

“We should capitalize on these events that will generate economic benefits for small businesses and the state as a whole. It’s a local opt-in idea worth exploring that’s being done in other states,” Fiola said.

The proposal has received support from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and most recently Gov. Maura Healey, who submitted written testimony Monday to the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies urging lawmakers to advance the measure.

“Massachusetts is planning for a once-in-a-generation summer,” Healey wrote, according to the Boston Globe. “In 2026, we will celebrate the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, welcome tall ships from around the world to Boston Harbor for Sail Boston, and host seven FIFA World Cup matches in Foxborough, along with watch parties across the Commonwealth.”

The governor argued that the added flexibility could help local economies benefit from an influx of visitors.

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“That flexibility can help communities capture more visitor spending, support jobs, keep downtowns active, and strengthen Massachusetts’ image as a dynamic destination ready to host the world and a place our residents, including our young professionals, are proud to call home,” Healey wrote.

She also urged lawmakers to move the legislation forward, saying it will “help Massachusetts meet the full economic and cultural opportunities for the summer ahead.”


  • Rhode Island bill proposes 24-hour bar hours during World Cup

In Rhode Island, a similar bill to allow bars and restaurants to remain open until 4 a.m. during the World Cup was signed into law on Friday.

Fiola’s bill remains before the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies. Any final version would require approval from both the House and Senate before reaching Healey’s desk.

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Profile image for Annie Jonas

Annie Jonas is a Community writer at Boston.com. She was previously a local editor at Patch and a freelancer at the Financial Times.

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