Greater Boston

A Hyde Park contractor with a long history of violating workplace safety standards faces a total of $354,000 in new proposed fines from the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration, chiefly for exposing its employees to cave-in hazards at work sites in Cambridge and Framingham. Since 2000, P. Gioioso & Sons Inc., which is primarily engaged in the construction of underground water and sewer mains, had been cited seven times for repeat violations of OSHA's trenching and excavation safety standards prior to the citations resulting from these most recent inspections.

With a new law passed by Governor Deval Patrick that makes the process easier, Somerville's mayor, Joe Curtatone, will push for an effort to move workers into the state health care plan, known as the GIC.

The owner of a Lowell staffing company has been arraigned for allegedly underreporting the size and scope of his business operations in order to avoid paying approximately $110,000 in workers’ compensation premiums, Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office announced today. Dara Duong, age 53, of Lowell, was arraigned today in Middlesex Superior Court today on charges of Workers’ Compensation Fraud (3 counts), and Larceny over $250 (2 counts).

George Rotondo, RN, a longtime MNA member and activist, is running for mayor of Revere. A longtime Revere resident, Rotondo has been energetically engaged in his community for many years. As a city councilor for more than six years, Rotondo has worked tirelessly on behalf of the residents of Revere ensuring accountability, efficiency and innovation in city hall.

While three Newton legislators have gone on record as supporting a controversial proposal to strip municipal unions of some of their bargaining rights, Mayor Setti Warren praised the merits of negotiation when he signed contracts with two of the city’s largest unions this month.

About 2200 of the city's most vulnerable students will be able to board buses to class this summer, thanks to a last-minute concession from the school bus drivers' <b>union</b>. Drivers' contracts were set to expire today. <b>...</b>

In an effort to try to break USW 8751's resolve, Boston School Superintendent, Carol R. Johnson, is using over the top language to sway public opinion away from the union.

Deaths from prescription drug overdoses are spiraling out of control in the Boston area. The Ironworkers Local 7 is implementing a program of mandatory drug testing to help, which begins in September. “Our guys are tired of working on jobs where guys are messed up,” Jay Hurley, president of the New England Ironworkers’ Council and the former business manager of South Boston-based Local 7, said.

City Councilor Marjorie Decker has followed up with Walmart and has introduced a resolution that will be taken up on Monday night, June 27th, demanding an explanation as to why Walmart would take away civil rights from women and what he is going to do to change the culture of discrimination at Walmart.