Massachusetts AFL-CIO

Background

The Massachusetts AFL-CIO is a charted state affiliate of the national AFL-CIO. The organization is allowed to sets its own broad public policy agenda and platform at its biennial convention. The convention is the governing body of the organization and consists of delegates from each local labor union based on the size of its membership. Every four years the organization elects its state officers including a president, secretary-treasurer, five executive vice presidents, and 55 vice presidents. ³

The Massachusetts AFL-CIO also operates local central labor councils and central labor assemblies that comprise a geographic area of the state, such as the Greater Boston Labor Council. ⁴ The organization also operates the Western MA Area Labor Federation, a local labor federation comprised of the Berkshire Central Labor Assembly, the Hampshire/Franklin Abor Assembly, and the Pioneer Valley Labor Assembly. ⁴

Policy Stances

The Massachusetts AFL-CIO lobbies for various pro-labor union policies at the state and local levels in Massachusetts. A main focus of the organization’s recent lobbying efforts includes supporting a Democratic-led bill in the state legislature to enact strict “wage theft” laws on employers who withhold pay from employees. ⁵ The organization also supports left-leaning climate policies resulting in net-zero carbon emissions while calling for programs and state-assistance to force workers in the fossil fuel industry to transition to environmentalist-aligned “green jobs.” ⁶ The Massachusetts AFL-CIO has also recently lobbied the state to preserve tax incentives for the film and television industry in Massachusetts and is a member of the Massachusetts Production Coalition, a coalition of labor groups, advocacy groups, and businesses that lobby for the film industry in Massachusetts. ⁷

In 2011, both the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and its national parent organization endorsed the Occupy Wall Street protests and its affiliated spin-off protests across American cities, including Boston. ²

People

Steve Tolman is the president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, and was first elected to the position in 2011 to succeed outspoken union official Robert Haynes. Tolman began his union career as a member of the Transportation Communication International Union while working at South Station in Boston as a porter and ticket seller. He was elected to the Massachusetts State Senate as a Democrat in 1999 after serving two years in the state House of Representatives. Tolman ultimately rose to become the assistant majority leader within the Massachusetts Senate Democratic caucus. He resigned from the senate in 2011 following his election as president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. ² Tolman earns over $229,000 in annual compensation from the organization according to tax filings for the group. ⁸