Labor’s love lost
In Boston, they call it “the Grand Bargain.” The recently completed labor negotiations that integrated the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and the state Highway Department workforces have been widely praised for being cost-effective while keeping workers and union bosses happy. These days, such success stories are rare, and more necessary than ever, said three local leaders involved in the negotiations, during a discussion Wednesday night (Feb. 23) at the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS). “I think we are in the earliest stage of what could be the largest experience with labor unrest in our lifetime,” said labor expert Thomas A. Kochan at “Collective Bargains: Rebuilding and Repairing Public Sector Labor Relations in Difficult Times,” an event co-sponsored by the Taubman Center for State and Local Government and the Rappaport Institute for Greater Boston at HKS. The conversation took on a somber tone in light of the anti-union political sentiment sweeping state governments around the country...