I was part of the Graduate Employee Organization at UMass at the time, and we had been bargaining with the University for more than a year over our contract. The University was mounting a major attack against our health plan. The inauguration of the new UMass president was scheduled for early May, and my union announced that we would form a picket line outside the event.
Mr. Kennedy had been invited to the inauguration, so we contacted his office and informed him of our plans. Kennedy announced to the media that he wouldn't cross a union picket line. Almost immediately, UMass dropped their demands, and we reached tentative agreement on a contract. He had nothing to gain from this gesture; it was simply an old-school show of support for organized labor.
May your legacy live for centuries, Mr. Kennedy.
Here's a clip from media reports of the events:
GEO and UMass reach contract agreement
May 12, 2005
Negotiators reached a tentative contract agreement yesterday between the Graduate Employee Organization and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The deal was reached in time to stop a picket of tonight's inauguration of UMass President Jack Wilson, which will feature U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy as the guest of honor.
The contract agreement is expected to be announced today by GEO and the University in a joint statement. Although details of the agreement are not clear, the two sides had been at odds for more than a year in a dispute over graduate student pay, health benefits, childcare and workload.
The timing of the agreement avoids a potential embarrassment for President Wilson, whose inauguration is set for 7 p.m. tonight at a "UMass Night at the Pops," which will feature the Boston Pops Orchestra at Symphony Hall, Boston.
...
Officials at Kennedy's office confirmed that if the picket were to occur, the senior U.S. Senator from Massachusetts would not cross the picket line.
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