Workers Rights
An Act to protect injured workers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic (S.D.1182)
Currently, no state agency has power or ability to investigate workers’ compensation retaliation complaints or to enforce the current workers’ compensation anti-retaliation law. This bill fills this gap in the law. It would empower the Attorney General’s Office as the state agency that could conduct an investigation and resolve retaliation complaints. The bill also creates a rebuttable presumption of employer retaliation when an adverse action against a worker takes place within 90 days of the employee exercising rights under the workers’ compensation law, including when an employee makes a workers’ compensation claim due to contracting COVID-19.
An Act Relative to Death Benefits to Surviving Spouses of Call and Volunteer Firefighters (S.D.130)
This bill closes an important gap in the protections provided to the families of call/volunteer firefighters who may be killed in the line-of-duty in Massachusetts. It provides that a call/volunteer firefighter’s surviving spouse and minor children will be eligible for group health insurance through their city or town in a similar manner as the dependents of career firefighters killed in the line-of-duty and retirees.
An Act to facilitate the unionization of the cannabis workforce (S.D.1720)
The cannabis industry in Massachusetts is growing by leaps and bounds even during the pandemic. Over 700 operation licenses have been awarded by state and municipal bodies. This bill ensures that the thousands of jobs that will be created are safe, well-paying, with good benefits, and respect labor rights. This bill requires as a condition of licensure that employers enter into Labor Peace Agreements (LPAs) with a union representing cannabis workers. LPAs assure non-interference by employers while workers decide whether to unionize.