looking up at boston city hall showing its angular shape with clouds and tree

iStock photo

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s effort to dismantle and replace the Boston Planning & Development Agency could have another obstacle in its path: a unionization drive targeting the quasi-public authority’s staff.

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Council 93 and Salaried Employees of North America (SENA) Local 9158, an arm of the United Steelworkers, are trying to organize BPDA staff according to the Dorchester Reporter.

Neither union had returned phone calls requesting comment as of publication time.

Increased turnover disrupted staffing at the BPDA last year as agency workers wondered loudly whether or not their jobs were safe in the event that Wu was able to push through her plan to split the agency’s planning and development approval functions into two separate agencies – a plan that initially got a cold reception from the agency’s own board back in February. Of the restructuring’s many parts, state legislators need to sign off on separate home-rule petitions to restructure the BPDA and allow it to use its abilities to grant tax breaks and buy property to advance climate resiliency, equity and affordable housing plans. And administration officials said this spring they don’t expect to present a concrete plan to create a new city Planning Department to the City Council until next year.

When asked what the unionization drive meant for these plans and whether the agency would fight the drive, a BPDA spokesperson said in an email to Banker & Tradesman only that “our employees have the right to join or refrain from joining a union and the BPDA supports any decision they make.”

Report: Effort Afoot to Unionize BPDA

by James Sanna time to read: 1 min
0