MASS. LABOR UNIONS BACK SSM: From the Boston Globe

Labor unions representing nearly 200,000 workers across Massachusetts have endorsed same-sex civil marriage in recent weeks, as the organizations lobby to expand workplace benefits for their gay and lesbian
members.

With just over two weeks to go before the Legislature is scheduled to vote on a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage, the unions' stance adds a potent political force to the fractious debate,
especially because roughly half of the state's 200 lawmakers have not taken a public position on the issue. "There are legislators that every year ask for our support, and there's a reciprocity there," said John J.
Templeton, president of Service Employees International Union, Local 509, which includes about 7,000 state workers. ...

Labor officials, hoping to consolidate their influence, have begun hashing out a strategy for the Feb. 11 vote on the proposed constitutional amendment, when activist groups from around the state and nation are
expected to converge on the State House. Union officials say that, in addition to lobbying lawmakers beforehand, many of their members will probably go to the State House for the vote, and the unions may also highlight lawmakers' stand on the gay marriage issue in their candidate report cards distributed before Election Day.

...On Sunday, rallies involving about 2,000 people
took place across central and western Massachusetts decrying the Supreme Judicial Court decision and calling on lawmakers to vote in favor of the constitutional amendment, which was sponsored by Representative
Philip Travis, a Rehoboth Democrat.

The list of unions supporting gay marriage includes the Massachusetts Teachers Association, with 96,000 members; the National Association of Government Employees, with 10,000 Bay State members; the Massachusetts Nurses Association, with 22,000 members; the SEIU, Local 509 and 2020, with about 21,000 members; and several smaller local and regional labor councils, such as the United Auto Workers of Massachusetts and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 1505.

Other major labor organizations -- such as the AFL-CIO of Massachusetts, an umbrella group with about 400,000 members statewide -- have not taken a position on gay marriage, but oppose the constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage. In their view, the amendment could hamper collective bargaining efforts over wages and benefits.

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posted by Eve at 5:25 PM VOTE

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