Nearly a week after layoffs roiled city hall, the Somerville City Council passed resolutions to recognize the new Somerville Workers United (SWU) union and strengthen sanctuary city protections, among other business.

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The SWU vote was the first of three resolutions at the council’s May 28 meeting addressing the City’s recent organizational and personnel changes. The second two were presented by Councilor Will Mbah; they called for the mayor’s office to provide details of the recent layoffs and to formally present their organizational restructuring plan to the council.

But the vote to recognize SWU came after 13 staffers were let go due to budget shortfalls. A majority of the laid off workers had already signed union cards or were leading organizing efforts, SWU members said after the meeting. SWU also shared details of where 10 of the 13 layoffs came from:

• Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development – 2
• Office of Racial and Social Justice – 2
• Health and Human Services Department – 4
• Grants Development and External Funds Department – 1
• Office of Sustainability and Environment – 1

“I’ve been on this council for nine years. I have not seen layoffs,” said Ben Ewen-Campen, who co-sponsored the recognition resolution, speaking at the meeting. “I know that this round of layoffs has just been incredibly difficult, obviously, for the workers who lost their jobs and for their colleagues. And it has brought a real sense of urgency to the work that they do, and this organizing, in particular.”

City workers speak out

During public comment, City staffers shared personal and at times emotional testimony about the effects of the layoffs. Luis Quizhpe, who was laid off after nearly four years as strategic planning and equity manager in the office of Strategic Planning and Community Development, rued that the union had not been recognized, saying it would have “prevented the work we were doing for our most vulnerable residents from being unceremoniously strangled.”

Quizhpe added, “Instead, years of work were reduced to a five-minute meeting informing me that my position was eliminated during our attempt to collaboratively engage with the administration in good faith towards a formal recognition.”

Also speaking was Benjamin Wyner, who still is employed as inclusionary housing program manager. He said he joined the union effort “because we need to ensure our work is sustainable and that staff do not burn out trying to constantly do more with less.” 

Wyner said his department was understaffed and overworked, even after it added an administrative assistant and a housing intake specialist. Now those two positions are gone. Wyner said he often works over 50 hours a week and is pretty sure he hasn’t taken a full hour-long lunch break in about six months.  

“These layoffs sent a message to staff across the city,” Wyner said, arguing that they indicated the administration is not going to work with staff to make big decisions, “that we’re on our own. That no help is coming. That we can be used as tools for political bargain and expect nothing in return.”

Kate Bossingham, environmental policy manager at the Office of Sustainability and Environment, pointed out the discrepancy between the mayor’s pro-union stance and his administration’s response to their outreach efforts.

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“Last Wednesday, the mayor attended a Greater Boston Labor Council meeting right down the street at the Somerville Armory,” Bossingham said. “He gave a speech in support of unions. That afternoon, he walked into layoff meetings with staff, most of which were within the Somerville Workers United proposed bargaining unit. Only two days later –– after he emailed all staff, assuring us that layoffs were finished –– did a member of his team respond to our emails agreeing to a meeting. Is that the kind of disregard that passes for pro-labor leadership in the City of Somerville?”  

Following the SWU comments, Councilor Will Mbah presented the resolutions requesting details about the cut positions and information about how they fit into the mayor’s equity agenda.

“One of the greatest appreciations I have from the previous administration,” Mbah said, “was the focus on equity,” but he has been worried amid the layoffs and restructuring.

“If municipal government doesn’t reflect the population itself,” he said, “then don’t use the word equity in your administration.”  

Sanctuary city protections  

Mbah and Ewen-Campen presented a sanctuary city resolution adding a series of changes to Somerville’s existing Welcoming Communities Ordinance.

The amendments, which passed unanimously, state that Somerville’s police department may not cooperate with ICE officers unless required by law to do so. They also include a lengthy addendum that prohibits the city from entering into agreements with federal agencies that “facilitate information-sharing or surveillance” for activities that violate civil liberties or penalize people for exercising their First Amendment rights.

Next steps

Following Thursday’s meeting, SWU organizers shared a statement via email. “We are grateful for the City Council’s unanimous support for voluntary recognition of our union, and their advocacy for us as workers,” they said. “Dozens of us were in council chambers and we are particularly proud of our members who spoke up.”

SWU said they met with Mayor Jake Wilson on Friday to formally ask for recognition from the city. “He has a couple of days to come to his decision,” they said, “but we have the numbers to file for Written Majority Authorization and will do so if he fails to give the union recognition.”

City spokesperson Grace Munns was unable to provide immediate comment about next steps following the resolutions. The City has previously stated it is planning to share its budget book with the City Council by June 4, and the public budget hearing is June 10.

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