ABSTRACT
The Governor Foster Furcolo was successful in getting the Democratic Convention to “reaffirm our opposition to a sales tax, “ a wording he favored. There were also some relatively minor changes relating to the eligibility of employees laid off while a labor contract is being negotiated, and prohibiting the solicitation of business from employers in connection with the unemployment insurance claims of their employees. The impressive record of labor-sponsored legislation being passed in Massachusetts in 1959 provided a marked contrast to the legislative action in Washington where Congress was in the process of enacting the restrictive Landrum-Griffin Act. In the midst of the 1960 industrial and legislative battles between labor and management in Massachusetts, the Monitor’s Industrial Editor, George B. Merry, attempted to access the state of New England labor relations. The Monitor noted: Massachusetts Senate rejection of organized labor’s demand for higher maximum benefits under unemployment compensation caps a disastrous legislative year for labor on Beacon Hill.
