SOMERVILLE — In this progressive city, in a year with an especially tight budget, and at a time of rising inflation, a half-dozen major contract negotiations are getting underway. Mayor Jake Wilson, who came into office in January with the support of local union leadership, has been open about a $4.5 million gap in the budget that has to be bridged.
But as laborers make their way to the bargaining table this year, Wilson is sending someone he hopes can help the city and its workforce see eye to eye: the one-time labor leader Steve Tolman.
Tolman, a veteran state legislator and former Massachusetts AFL-CIO president, has been hired by the city as a key adviser. He follows in the footsteps of labor lawyer Lou Mandarini, who Boston Mayor Michelle Wu hired as her “labor whisperer” in 2022.
It might prove the start of a trend as progressive city leaders in union-friendly Massachusetts aim to work with, rather than against, a labor movement that has been ascendant here. Proponents say it can help make sure unionized employees feel seen and understood amid sometimes tough negotiations, and keep tension between both sides from spilling out into public view. For now, the concept is still very new.
“There are only two of us,” said Mandarini. “Which is 100 percent more than there were last year.”
For Wilson, who said he drew inspiration from the Wu administration, this is a chance to start even, especially tough negotiations on a positive note.
“I want to have a really productive, respectful, collaborative relationship with labor,” Wilson said. “A big part of that is not making unforced errors and stepping in it and, frankly, pissing off the other side.”
Tolman has long had a toehold in both politics and labor, having served for two decades as a state senator and state representative before leading the Massachusetts American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, or AFL-CIO, from 2011 to 2023. The organization is an umbrella group representing more than 800 unions and other labor groups, and the role made him one of the most influential voices on Beacon Hill for workers across the state.
After two years of other pursuits in retirement — he has become a fixture of the local estate-sale-perusing scene — Tolman said he realized he wasn’t ready to step away from the negotiating table just yet.
“So many labor leaders retire and go off into the sunset. We really need them in order to keep our movement strong,” Tolman said.
So he leapt at the chance to take on an advisory role as a way to infuse the perspective of city workers into the management side of collective bargaining. The job is officially called senior labor advisor and is part-time, and Wilson and Tolman said it will involve everything from liaising between the building trade unions and local developers to bargaining over raises.
“It’s not about giving away the ship,” Tolman said. “It’s about mutual respect. It’s about knowing that we’re in this together. That’s what very much excited me. This is a model that is fresh. This is a model that will work.”
Labor negotiations in Somerville, like in many cities, haven’t always been congenial. City Hall, under its prior leadership notably, butted heads with librarians over staffing and resource issues. The city came to an agreement with the librarians’ bargaining unit last year, but the contract expired in June.
“In the past, the relationship between City Hall and labor unions has been strained for sure,” said long-serving Somerville City Councilor Will Mbah, who is also running for state representative. “Ever since I’ve been on the council, it’s just one thing after another.”
He said he hoped Tolman’s background could help to smooth things over. “At the end of the day, labor negotiation depends on trust,” Mbah said.
In all, there are 10 bargaining units representing the 600 union workers who work or contract with the city — not including schools, who bargain with the School Committee.
As of Monday, five contracts have expired. Four are set to expire in June. Seven are under active negotiations.
One unexpected item also recently appeared on the mayor’s to-do list. A group of non-union professional staff in March revealed they have been organizing, hoping to form a union so they can have more say in raises, workplace policies, and any cuts that may be coming.
The group, Somerville Workers United, says it has the backing of a majority of the more than 200 workers in city planning, economic development, arts, and other departments it hopes to organize. They plan to ask Wilson to voluntarily recognize their union in a matter of weeks, which would allow them to avoid holding a formal election. They’ve been feisty. On Instagram, they have said they aim to ward off the “tech bro austerity” they fear could soon descend on City Hall if they don’t push back.
Wilson and Tolman say they plan to meet with the group and its organizing partner, the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, later this month.
“As someone who supports labor, obviously, we’re totally fine that people want to go explore organizing. That is their right,” Wilson said. “I look forward to that conversation.”
Wilson said that one priority, among many, is to make it so that unions don’t fall out of contract, as they often do for municipal workers.
But the key challenge to overcome, he acknowledges, is that $4.5 million hole in the budget, which will limit what the city can offer.
“I would say we’re fortunate here that our unions all live in reality,” he said. “Labor leadership from my experience so far understands the world we live in, and they — to a union — have been very, very reasonable partners.”
Municipal budgeting, just like municipal contracts, differs sharply from the private sector or the federal government. City budgets need to balance every year.
Labor bona fides can only get you so far if and when the bad news about budget shortfalls arrives — but it can help both sides come to a mutual understanding, said Martin J. Walsh, the former Boston mayor, state representative, and labor leader.
“You need someone who can hold the line when they need to hold the line, but you need someone who can go into a room and explain things,” said Walsh, who was US secretary of labor from 2021 to 2023 and is now executive director of the NHL Players’ Association. “Labor hearing from Steve Tolman that they can’t afford a certain component of the contract is different from hearing the CEO say it.”
Spencer Buell can be reached at spencer.buell@globe.com. Follow him @SpencerBuell.