Victories – Page 2 – Community Labor United

Each victory has been hard fought. Learn about how we’ve progressed in fighting for communities over the past two decades.

Our 20-Year Organizing Timeline

2017

Summit for the Public Good

Regional gatherings across the state, centered on popular education about deep structural issues like privatization underlying our different fights, culminated in a massive base-to-base summit to ratify a visionary ten-year agenda. Hundreds marched through the snow to protest a notorious corporate financier’s greed and political interference.

2017

Community Choice Energy

The Green Justice Coalition fought alongside partners BCAN and aligned City officials to win Community Choice Energy (CCE). CCE leverages local bulk purchasing power, allowing residents to increase their use of renewable energy while reducing costs at the same time for ratepayers.

2014

Stop Wage Theft

In a pitched battle against the biggest corporate lobby associations in the state, our coalition of unions and community-based worker centers fought to pass state legislative protections against wage theft. After the bill failed in the House for two years, we pivoted. Rallying workers across the state through protest after protest, we called out corporate wage theft violators and won wage theft protections in 13 cities and towns.

2012

Public Transit, Public Good

Public transit riders and workers statewide, organized through new and returning Green Justice Coalition partners, won a $2.5 billion investment in public transportation, a 5 percent cap on fare increases, fare discounts for youth and seniors, and seats for riders and workers on regional transit authorities across the state.

2011

Weatherization Program Improvements Statewide

Our work strengthened MassSave by advancing good jobs and equity. We won:

Workforce and Responsible Contractor agreements
A seat and an Equity Subcommittee on the Energy Efficiency Advisory Council
Expanded language access and more!

2010

Triple-Win Weatherization

CLU created the Green Justice Coalition. Taking on the corporate utilities, we won pilot programs for our low-income community members to access weatherization funds and good union jobs. Our victory saved $59 million in fuel costs, increased worker pay by $42 million, and reduced 84,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.

2007

Secure Jobs, Secure Communities

Nearly 2,500 security officers, mostly Black and immigrant workers earning low wages with few benefits, won their first union contract. CLU worked with SEIU 32BJ to form a coalition to organize with security officers at work AND at home. Together, we took to the streets of Boston and won.

2006

Boston Public Schools Painting Contract

CLU’s first victory! We worked with the City of Boston to make sure school painting jobs became union careers for 50 new union apprentices from Boston neighborhoods and communities of color. The campaign changed the city’s bidding process to create lasting career pathways for apprentice painters.

2005

Building a broader, united, social justice movement — Launching Community Labor United

CLU was founded to build power through moving joint campaigns across the two sectors: labor unions and community organizations. From the beginning, our work focused on working-class communities and expanding base-building organizing through collaborative campaigns.