A MassCOSH May to Remember

May was a month of celebration and recognition for MassCOSH! On May 5, for the first time since 2019, MassCOSH held our Celebrating the Movement fundraiser in person at Freeport Hall at IBEW Local 103. Not only did the party raise a record amount of funds to go towards the fight for good safe jobs, but we were able to honor local labor movement heroes, including Chrissy Lynch, AFT Massachusetts, Boston Teachers Union, Massachusetts Teachers Association, James Laing, Maritza Manrique, Mayra Molina, and Beatriz Yanez.

Just a few days later, on May 19, MassCOSH Executive Director Jodi Sugerman-Brozan was the proud recipient of the Mass. AFL-CIO’s inaugural Kathy Casavant Women in Leadership Award. The award is named after the late Casavant, the first Executive Vice President and Secretary-Treasurer of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO and a trailblazer for women in the labor movement across the country. Sugerman-Brozan was selected for the award for her strategic and passionate advocacy for vulnerable working people, her role in releasing MassCOSH’s Dying for Work in Massachusetts report, and for MassCOSH’s efforts to establish stronger worker protections and safety standards on the job.

On the same night, MassCOSH’s Worker Center staff were honored at Justice at Work’s 11th Annual Celebration and Solidarity Awards. Held at the union-operated Democracy Brewing, Milagros Barreto and Brenda Quintana received Justice at Work’s Organizing Award. The two were chosen for the honor for their efforts to organize the region’s worker rights organizations and for their efforts to aid workers affected by the pandemic.