In 2011, I was a young father with student debt trying to make ends meet when I landed my first union job as a state worker in the Department of Revenue. Inspired by my dad’s involvement in his union throughout my childhood, I became a union steward the day my probationary period at work ended. I organized the call center I worked in and became an officer of our union’s Joint Executive Board where I’ve served for 14 years. In late 2022, members elected me president of our local, and I’ve had the honor and pleasure of serving members during my first term.

I ran for president because I had a vision for our union where members could have their voices heard and come together to organize, fight, and win. Throughout my first term, I’ve fully committed myself to serving the members of this union and upholding the values we share. We’re a union of human service workers and educators holding together the social fabric of our communities and our Commonwealth. We deserve what every person deserves: good working conditions, liveable wages, and a fair, just, and equitable society that allows us to thrive and provides a bright future for our children. For the last two years I’ve worked to build power in our union so that it can be the vehicle where members lead the fight to secure those things— not just for ourselves, but also for the people we serve. 

I’m proud of the work we have done together. We’ve grown rapidly in numbers and in strength and have taken on bigger fights with our bosses. We introduced open bargaining for state workers where any member could attend negotiations between the boss and our bargaining committee. As a result, our state workers won 19% wages increases, with our lowest paid workers receiving upgrades to make sure everyone in our unit is paid a fair wage for their work. Our higher education workers have taken on some of the wealthiest and most powerful employers in Massachusetts and won historic contracts, bringing thousands more academic workers into the labor movement and sustaining the longest higher education strike in recent history. 

I want to continue to build this union into a fighting force for working people. But with the federal administration’s cuts and attacks on human services and higher education, some leaders in Massachusetts want to decimate public services to fund bigger tax cuts for CEOs and wealthy donors. Massachusetts needs a movement that puts the Commonwealth to work for the common good, and that movement can’t win without the workers who provide those services: the workers of SEIU 509. I’m running for re-election to build a union that can meet the moment, fight the billionaire class, and win the Massachusetts we deserve.