News Features

Union electrical workers decry biotech greed

Conflict between the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

By CHRIS FARAONE | March 4, 2009

When young nerds were told that they would one day boss around guys who pummeled them in grade school, consoling parents and teachers should also have warned their prodigies about labor unions. Only then might overachievers have understood that, no matter how much cash and power they accumulate, there will still be gangs of angry dudes who want to dunk their heads in toilet bowls.

While there have yet to be any incidents involving swirlies, the current conflict between the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MBC) lobbying group and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) has certainly pitted economic and political muscle against what can best be described as high-stakes name-calling. And while the battle has been looming for years, the scuffle recently has moved into the nerd section of Greater Boston's proverbial cafeteria: Kendall Square.

In mid February, unions unveiled three billboards around Kendall to address what they describe as "biotech greed." With signs reading IT'S NOT GENETIC . . . IT'S CEO BEHAVIOR, the Local 103 IBEW expressed its dismay over biotech executives earning eight-figure state-subsidized salaries. This past Friday, about 50 workers rallied in front of MBC offices at One Cambridge Center to protest new biotech building projects in Framingham (Genzyme Corporation), Lexington (Shire Human Genetic Therapies), and Billerica (EMD Serono Inc.), where foremen are exclusively employing non-union electricians while nearly 30 percent of the IBEW is unemployed.

"We say that MBC stands for 'Massachusetts's Biggest Chiselers,' " said one IBEW member who held a sign reading BIOTECH PAY MAKES ME SICK!!! "This is hardly just a union issue," added Local 103 business agent Louis Antonellis. "There are a lot of people out there who aren't happy that these CEOs are making more than $30 million a year."

While union organizers hope to give a few black eyes with their "Stop Biotech Looting" campaign (stopbiotechlooting.org), they don't expect Beacon Hill honchos to impede biotech momentum. At the urging of the council this past July, Governor Deval Patrick signed a $1 billion life-science research bill to help fund biotech building projects, including those that Local 103 workers are now protesting. Workers will also have difficulty budgingthe influential Massachusetts Life Sciences Center — a local biotechnology cheerleader and industry-development force that was picketed by more than 120 IBEW members last Wednesday — since theagency was created by the legislature in 2006.

To understand the biotech lobby's arguably hypocritical, quasi-Hegelian power position here in Massachusetts, one needs to look no further than the rather vague response from MBC president and CEO Robert Coughlin — a former state representative — to Phoenix inquiries regarding union accusations: "The Life Science Initiative continues to be a widely supported initiative recognizing the state's need to invest in an industry that creates jobs in Massachusetts," Coughlin wrote in an e-mail. "Industry leaders that are under significant financial constraints must continue to remain competitive on an increasingly global stage."

Cape Wind: It’s Complicated
Thousands of years ago, the terrain beneath what is now Nantucket Sound was dry, and populated by the ancestors of the Wampanoag people, who continue to revere it.
A Handy Guide to the Big Dig Screw-Up
As people try to sort out responsibility for the fiasco that led to the death of Milena Del Valle in the I-90 connector tunnel, you might have a hard time keeping the players straight.
Circus maximus
The clown show at Little Rhody’s State House is the Greatest Show Not on Earth. This is due to how our politicians behave like they are on another planet.
She who controls the purse
The rumor mill has been buzzing with speculation that Massachusetts senate president Robert Travaglini might leave the legislature to take a position with the Massachusetts Hospital Association or the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.
IBEW pressures Stop & Shop
Folks driving past suburban Stop & Shop locations this week might wonder why laborers are suddenly concerned about food safety.
Third-degree burns
Special-interest groups are the kibitzers of the political game, circling the table, looking at everyone’s cards, offering unwanted advice.
The rumor mill
The energy in this year’s at-large race for Boston City Council is not to be found on the campaign trail.
Killer coke
If you follow presidential politics, you know that Barack Obama’s past use of illegal drugs is suddenly a topic of great interest.
Hard sell
Over the past eight months, Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey (who wants to be governor) has methodically distanced herself from her boss and fellow Republican, Governor Mitt Romney (who wants to be president).
DiMasi’s sheep
DiMasi’s overwhelming victory in the recent casino vote — in which only 34 of 140 Democrats voted against his plan to banish the bill for further study — was actually, as meager as it was, an unusual show of dissent.
Rocky stars
Hillary narrowly won the opening round of New Hampshire presidential campaigning this week.
Less