Members and supporters of the workers advocacy group Somerville Stands Together held a rally in Union Square calling for the city to require developers to comply with an agreement to benefit local workers. — Photos by Bobbie Toner

By Jim Clark

On Monday of this week, members of Somerville Stands Together (SST) held a rally in Union Square, openly calling for the City of Somerville to require developer US2 to agree to a Community Benefits Agreement that includes a Project Labor Agreement, to make sure that, as they put it, Somerville benefits from the planned projects.

Demonstrators carried signs and chanted slogans such as, “Somerville stands for affordable housing! Somerville stands for good, union jobs! Somerville stands together!”

Democratic nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives, Ayanna Pressley, originally scheduled to make an appearance at the rally, instead issued a statement saying, “I know that Somerville Stands Together – for workers’ rights, for the health and safety of families, for equitable access to jobs and affordable housing. Somerville Stands Together and the entire 7th District stands right there with you.”

The rally preceded a scheduled meeting of the City of Somerville Board of Aldermen’s Finance Committee where the topic of the transfer of land to developer US2 was to be discussed.

Some 40 or so SST supporters attended the meeting and spoke up for the proposed Community Benefits Agreement.

Prior to the meeting, a joint statement by the Negotiating Committee of the Union Square Neighborhood Council (USNC) and US2 was publicly issued. The statement reads as follows:

“As part of their ongoing negotiation of a community benefits agreement, the Negotiating Committee of the Union Square Neighborhood Council (USNC) and US2 (the designated master developer for the Union Square Revitalization) today stated that the groups have engaged in weekly meetings since July 30, 2018.

To begin the process, the parties agreed to a set of negotiating ground rules and the USNC also shared a report that it had compiled of inputs from over 150 community members and key stakeholder organizations in the neighborhood, solicited through two “CBA summits” held at the beginning of the calendar year. Recognizing the need for information sharing as a precondition to successful negotiation, the parties have been working topic by topic to understand different aspects of the proposed development and solutions that would best meet local needs. To date twelve (12) ninety-minute meetings have been held on topics including arts and the creative economy, sustainability and environment, green and open space, indoor civic space, parking, housing, and jobs, and support for small and local businesses.

On Monday, October 15, 2018, the USNC submitted a draft community benefits agreement term sheet to US2.  The parties will be discussing that term sheet in the coming weeks.

The groups look forward to continuing a constructive conversation that leads to an agreement that benefits the entire Union Square neighborhood. Any agreement reached by the negotiating committee is subject to approval by the USNC, in accordance with its bylaws.”

A video of the entire Finance Committee meeting can be accessed online at http://somervillecityma.iqm2.com/Citizens/SplitView.aspx?Mode=Video&MeetingID=2788&MinutesID=2224&FileFormat=pdf&Format=Minutes&MediaFileFormat=mpeg4.