Labor and Community Groups Petition Board of Alderman For Hearing on MaxPac Jobs

Press Release

For Immediate release: December 24, 2010
For more info call: Rand Wilson at (617) 803-0799 (email rand.wilson@gmail.com) or
Tom McIntyre at (617) 650-4246 (tmcintyre@bacweb.org) or
Cecily Harwitt, (617)776-5931 ext. 226 (charwitt@somervillecdc.org)

Somerville, Mass. – The groups fighting for the inclusion of local residents and union jobs on the proposed MaxPac development petitioned the Board of Aldermen on December 22 to hold a hearing on the Covenant language for union jobs that KSS Realty signed with the City of Somerville.

"Now that the Planning Board has delayed approval for the proposed modifications of the site design, we are calling for a special hearing on jobs at MaxPac," said Rand Wilson, a Somerville union organizer. "We don't want city officials to ignore the many unemployed trades people who desperately need jobs in our community."

Somerville allows citizens to compel the Board of Aldermen to hold a hearing if 50 or more residents sign a petition calling for it.

"If local elected officials don't step up to make KSS to sign the project labor agreement, then Somerville residents will miss out on a major opportunity for jobs," said Tom McIntyre, an International Rep with the Bricklayers union.

"KSS and its partners made an agreement to hire local people and use union labor," said Matt McLaughlin a leader of the "Save Our Somerville" community group. "We're not going to quit until they live up to it!"

"The well-being of our community depends on good jobs," said Julio Granadeno, a member of Jobs for Somerville, a new organizing committee of the Somerville Community Corporation. "That's why we're fighting -- and we'll keep fighting -- until we win justice."

On December 16, about 35 residents and union members rallied for jobs at the Planning Board meeting.

For a copy of the petition to the Board of Alderman, call or email any of the contact people named above, or click here.