This study finds that unionization in the Massachusetts construction industry results in direct and indirect benefits for workers, their communities, and the economy of the entire state. The union wage advantage is a key factor for increasing workers' spending power and stimulating the overall economy; and joint labor-management pension funds contribute to the economic development of the communities in which workers live and work.

 

Gaming in Massachusetts: Can Casinos Bring 'Good Jobs' to the Commonwealth? Marlene Kim, PhD, Susan Moir, ScD, Anneta Argyres, MPH, University of Massachusetts Boston Labor Resource Center

 

This study finds that the gaming industry - particularly in the unionized sector of the casino hotel industry - provides good jobs with good wages and benefits for the parts of the workforce that are often neglected, namely those without college degrees, women and people of color. The study examines the quality of jobs in the United States gaming industry and analyzes enabling legislation in five states that have legalized gambling.

 

Building Trades Apprentice Training in Massachusetts: An Analysis of Union and Non-Union Programs, 1997 – 2007, Anneta Argyres, MPH and Susan Moir, ScD, University of Massachusetts Boston Labor Resource Center. 

 

This study shows, among other findings, that the unionized sector of the construction industry in Massachusetts provides a higher number of skilled workers through apprenticeship programs and that these programs are more successful at recruiting ethnic minorities and women than non-union programs.