The Point: Celebrating MTA's Big Win
12/12/2024
This week’s Point was written by Jared Poole, Assistant Professor of Management in the College of Management.
In my end-of-semester conversations with my students in MGT 330: Business Environments and Public Policy, they consistently raise a handful of topics that were most impactful for them. One of those topics is unions.
I spent a day in class providing a high-level overview of research on the various political activities of unions. As a class, we talked about how they can level the playing field in an election system dominated by big money after Citizens United. In one way or another, my students express that they thought that unions only bargain for higher wages, and they were surprised and intrigued to learn that there are other avenues for organized labor to influence the world.
This November, our very own MTA demonstrated such worker power at the ballot box. The union threw its full weight behind Question 2, which eliminated the use of the MCAS standardized test as a high school graduation requirement. In a previous Point, our colleague Christopher Martell in CEHD wrote about why it was important for Question 2 to pass—why the status quo is a bad idea and the benefits we can expect from pursuing a different road in our public high schools. Today, with a victory under our union’s belt, I offer a reflection on the successful Question 2 campaign.
If you’re like me, this election cycle had some major disappointments. But let’s take a moment to enjoy our big win. It feels good to win! What makes this victory so sweet?
1. We won in a landslide. The “Yes” side won 59% of the vote.
2. Lying often smacks of desperation. To claw a measly 41% of the vote (I’m rounding up for them), our opposition resorted to stark misrepresentations of the Question, as Prof. Martell highlighted. Their lies appear to have been effective: in one postmortem, a reader of Boston.com lamented “no bar equals low bar.” This sad mischaracterization of Question 2 came straight from the opposition’s talking points.
3. It feels good to beat people who deserve it, and our opposition were some weird people! The top donor to the No on 2 campaign was noted presidential also-ran, Michael Bloomberg. 82-years young and billions in the bank, Mike chose to spend his time interfering in other people’s lives on a matter that really won’t affect him at all. Personally, I would take up a hobby if I was in his shoes. But hey, different strokes!
Now seriously, folks, what can we learn from this fight?
1. No permanent friends, no permanent enemies. Governor Healy and Secretary of Education Tutwiler joined the opposition against MTA and the Commonwealth’s students. While the raises she helped pass a while ago were nice, remember: (a) public sector workers deserved that money, (b) it was an act of self-preservation because the cost of living is out of control—something had to give to maintain the status quo, and (c) where is our raise for ’24-25?
2. We can do things. All kinds of things! And this took all of us. MTA saw this as an opportunity to flex its political muscle, so it funded an ad campaign that overwhelmed the opposition. Many of us made it to the polls to vote, but special recognition goes to those who canvassed, phone banked, and did other daily organizing activities to get the job done.
3. Debs was right. There is a certain “ecstasy in the handclasp of a comrade.”
This last lesson is maybe a bit personal. I need to explain it by way of confession. Can I confess something to you? I was very close to not voting on November 5.
Maybe that makes me a bad person. I won’t make an excuse, but let me explain (talking to my students, a lot of them can relate, so treat this as a chance to get into their shoes).
1. I move around a lot. My partner and I have lived at 9 addresses in our 11 years of marriage. To vote, that’s a lot of registering and re-registering and re-…All while I’m trying to be a dad and get tenure and be a great teacher. Maybe that makes me seem like a lazy person. But, before passing judgement on that score, please consider the following item.
2. I didn’t have a meaningful, vote to cast until the local offices. The electoral college is what it is. Warren was a lock. Auchincloss ran unopposed in District 4. Not a lot to get excited about! Which is a problem for the following reasons.
3. I’m not very invested in my town’s politics. Again, maybe that makes me a bad person. But I don’t plan on staying in this town for very long. To save money to buy a house closer to campus, I’ve given myself a 2-hr door-to-door commute. Not sustainable. I don’t plan to stay there long.
So, what about that Debs quote? Ultimately, what got me to do the (admittedly minimal) work of registering and understanding my ballot and getting to the polls was MTA’s push for Question 2. Don’t get me wrong: I know nothing about the Commonwealth’s public schools. Education isn’t my field, I’m new to MA, and my kid isn’t in school yet. I had to Google “MCAS” when it started showing up in MTA news and correspondence. But colleagues really asked me to be there for them. Not in the way that Joe and Kamala kept showing up in my inbox awkwardly asking for $25. But in the way that people who share the same fate say, “I depend upon you.”
More to the point, I knew that my union thought it was important. And that carries a lot of weight. Because being in a union isn’t about supporting union activities that seem “relevant” to one’s own narrow interests. It is about solidarity: showing up regardless of whether doing so immediately benefits oneself.
And I learned that’s what the “handclasp of a comrade” is. Because honestly, what feels better than handily beating weirdos at the polls is doing it with other people and on behalf of other people. It was so fun to do this with you. For our students. For our fellow educators. For parents of the Commonwealth. And, actually, even for those weirdos in the opposition. They can enjoy this better world alongside us too.