By Doug Cunningham

The Graduate Employee Organization at the University of Massachusetts is growing increasingly frustrated in negotiations with the UMass for a new contract. The grad student union is organized as a UAW local and got its first contract in 1991. Bargaining on the current contract has continued for five months. During the May 25th Umass commencement, the GEO protested the university bestowing an honorary degree upon former Bush Chief of Staff Andrew Card. The union staged a job action and protested the Card degree at commencement exercises, calling Card a war criminal. The grad student union at Umass wants better raises and also has issues with increasing health insurance co-pays and grad housing and childcare.

Congress is preparing to get involved in last week's case where nearly 200 children were left abandoned after an immigration raid in Massachusetts. Jesse Russell has more:

By Jesse Russell

During a Sunday meeting with family members of some of the 361 alleged illegal immigrants who were rounded up last week in New Bedford, Representative William Delahunt called the policies of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “total chaos.” He was joined by Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry and Representative Barney Frank. During the meeting Frank said “There was no excuse for their not being absolutely 100 percent certain that children would not be victims.” Delahunt said there will be a congressional investigation into the raids. Last week Governor Deval Patrick criticized the way the ICE conducted the raid saying that the organization took to long providing information to the state. Last Tuesday the raid was conducted on Michael Bianco, Inc. A company that has received a government contract to make equipment and apparel for the U.S. military.

The Governor of Massachusetts is hitting back at tactics used by federal officials when arresting illegal immigrants on Wednesday. Jesse Russell files this report:

Gov. Deval Patrick called tactics used by federal officials to round up and detain illegal immigrants “hard-handed.” The Massachusetts Governor said the state wasn’t allowed quick access to the detainees before many of them were already flown to Texas and on their way to deportation. The result was a number of children being abandoned. The raid in New Bedford, Mass. Went down at the Michael Bianco factory, which produces equipment for the United States military. Federal reports say that 327 workers were detained in the raid. As of Thursday 150 detainees had been flown to Texas. Meanwhile, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Department has said no children have been left behind, but the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts reports that at least 100 children have been located. The company had received $91 million in U.S. military contracts.

Janitors in Lynn, Massachusetts enter the final day of a five day fast today, Jesse Russell reports:

By Jesse Russell

Dangerous and poor working conditions as well as the firing of four co-workers are the primary reasons janitors in Lynn have cited for their five day hunger strike. They also charge the properties owners, the Gutierrez Company, of sexual misconduct and indecent assault. Two of the company’s contractors, Resource One of Foxboro and Dallas-based American Housekeeping, are being investigation for similar allegations. The janitors began their fast on Monday and are reported to be in good health. The janitors are represented by SEIU local 615. They were joined this week by Communication Workers of America Local 1365 President Gary Nielson. A few years ago Nielson fasted for six weeks to protest labor practices at Lucent Technologies.

By Doug Cunningham

The Boston Marathon this week attracted a half million spectators and thousands of runners, including WIN’s own Greg Gordon, who finished in three hours, ten minutes twenty seconds. That qualifies him for next year’s run but he says the 26 miles was was a tough run psychologically.

[Greg Gordon]: "I lost the psychological battle, because even though my time was fantastic - I finished in the top ten percent of everyone - mentally and psychologically it was a tremendous struggle for the entire race. My mind drifted and I kept counting the miles and counting every step."

By Jesse Russell

Nurses protesting staffing levels is a growing fight across the country, and Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, Mass. is the newest battlefield. Nurses at the center took to the picket lines on Tuesday protesting staffing levels that they say endanger the health of patients. Representatives of the Massachusetts Nurses Association said nurses are often faced with assisting 10 patients during a shift, while medical research shows an increase in death and injury when nurses care for more than four patients during a shift. The union says the disagreement over staffing levels have stalled contract negotiations.

Hundreds of teachers in Dedham, Massachusetts violated their contracts when they picketed during hours they were supposed to be working. That was the finding of the Massachusetts Labor Relations Commission last week. The ruling says that because the teachers left work early and arrived at their classes late because of picketing plans, they were essentially striking, a violation of their contracts. It is illegal for public employees to strike in Massachusetts. The suit was filed by the School Committee. The two sides have been negotiating since January of 2004.

Even though Massachusetts recognizes the legality of gay marriages, some employers have refused to extend health benefits to the spouses of gay workers - opting instead to follow guidelines in the federal 'Defense of Marriage' Act. Signed into law by President Clinton, the act defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. General Dynamics, FedEx and Caritas Christi Health Care are among the companies refusing to grant equal health care coverage. Gay and lesbian advocacy groups plan to challenge the action in court.

Employers in Massachusetts have begun dropping domestic-partner benefits for unmarried same-sex employees. According to the Boston Globe, many companies are now saying that if gays and lesbians can legally marry in that state, they should no longer receive special treatment. IBM, Emerson College, the National Fire Protection Association and the New York Times Company are just a handful of the companies terminating domestic partner benefits. Some are cutting the benefits outright, others are giving employees until January 1st, and some are giving employees a year notification.

A strike could start at any time for the seven hundred workers at Malden Mills. Union members there voted 231-198 to authorize a strike. At issue are higher health insurance premiums for workers ­ three times what they pay now. If the strike happens it would be the first in the union¹s history at Malden Mills. UNITE-HERE in Lawrence, Masachusetts represents the workers. Union reps and company officials are meeting today in one more effort to avoid a strike. GE Commercial Finance owns Malden Mills after a 2001 bankruptcy.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to review four discrimination cases that resulted in judgments where workers received thousands of dollars. The employers say that the decisions should have been determined by a jury, not judges. The four Massachusetts companies were trying to determine the constitutionality of a state law that allows workers to choose between a judge or a jury when presenting discrimination claims. It does not give employers the same right and they claim it is not equal protection. The appeal to the Supreme Court was filed by Stonehill College, Wilfert Brothers Realty Company, Keyland Corp., and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Company.

As the month-long hotel strike in San Francisco slogs on, hotel workers across the country are beginning to show solidarity. On Monday, a picket line was set up in front of a Regency Hyatt in Monterey, California and many workers refused to cross, disrupting hotel service. The Monterey protest was in solidarity with the workers who are currently striking against 14 hotels in San Francisco. Represented by UNITE-HERE, the two sides are unable to come to an agreement over wages, benefits and the length of the next contract. A similar solidarity strike was held in Boston two weeks ago.