Cleaners, Room Attendants Prepare to Strike in Massachusetts

According to casino gaming news organization Yogonet, two unions representing cleaners and room attendants, along with other workers, at the Encore Boston Harbor Resort & Casino in Everett, Massachusetts, are preparing to strike on June 30.

On June 21, the workers, whose contract ended back in April, overwhelmingly showed their support of the strike, with 963 voting in favor of it and just 13 voting no. United Here Local 26 and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 25 are representing the workers, who are seeking increases in both pay and benefits. Delivery drivers belonging to Teamsters Local 25 have stated that they would honor the picket lines if the strike occurs.

On Twitter, Carlos Aramayo, Unite Here Local 26 president, posted the workers’ demands: “A five-star contract with five-star wages, five-star benefits, and five-star job security by midnight on June 30. We’re going to strike Encore Boston Harbor until we get it done.”

In a statement, Aramayo added that “a room attendant [at the casino] earns currently about two dollars and change less than a room attendant downtown. They’re looking for the same wages, benefits, and job security that other unionized workers in the hospitality industry have throughout the Boston area.”

In a separate Massachusetts event, according to the Boston Herald, more than 100 janitors gathered in Cambridge on June 24 to rally support for their upcoming contract with local biotech firms, which expires in November.

The rally also honored Justice for Janitors Day, which recalls events on June 15, 1990, when peacefully protesting janitors in Los Angeles were assaulted by police officers, the Herald reports.

Maria Rodriguez, who has served as a janitor for eight years at Cambridge pharmaceutical company Novartis, told the Herald, “We need justice, more respect for us. Maybe the company needs to be more conscientious because we are humans.”