2023-11-14 00:00:00 - Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development

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WEN FAN - BOSTON COLLEGE - HB 3849 - Good morning, members of the joint committee on labor and workforce development, I'm testifying, in favor of the act on the four-day work week pilot program. My name is Wen Fan. I am an associate professor of sociology at Boston College, and I'm also one of the lead researchers on the four-day work week project. So since February 2022, along with my colleague, Juliet Schor, we have been collecting data from organizations and employees who have participated in four-day work week trials with no reduction in pay. So, we collect survey data, before, during, at the344 end of the trial as well as on six months after the end of the trial. So this is important for us to track our changes within person and also, within organizations over time so that we know that the effects are not due to some systematic differences across individuals or organizations.

So, the results have been, overwhelmingly positive, in terms of the effects on employees. So, employees are reported that, they were more productive. So, they thought that, they performing a better job with the shift to a four-day work week, a wide range of well-being indicators showed considerable improvement over time. So on burnout, Stress, job, like, on work family conflict, fatigue, or decrease over392 time. And, work family balance, work life balance, mental and physical, health, job satisfaction, life satisfaction, And all improved from the beginning to the end of the trial. Workers reported that,405 they have more time to spend with their family members or engage in self-care. They sleep more. They exercise more. And I should note that on many of these findings, some persist even six months after the end of the trial.

Indicating that the findings are not just due to some novelty effects, but really are sustained on long term. So, given these positive results, it's not surprising to see427 that, the overall rating of the trial has been very high, about 9.3 on a zero to 10 scale among workers. And we have also been able to just, look at the so called willingness to pay. In other words, on the monetary value our workers attached to this four-day work week schedule. So we asked them, how much money you do require at your next job to go back to a451 five-day schedule. Many said that, at least, 25 5% on 50% pay. And interestingly, about 15% of the employees say that, no amount of money, would be high enough462 to convince them to go back to five day, schedule. So this really suggests, how popular this, four-day schedule is among workers. So given these, positive findings, I, really urge you to vote in favor of, this act for the benefits of workers in Massachusetts. Thank you.

ALAN PALM - BETTER FUTURE PROJECT - HB 3849 - Good morning. Vice chair Diggs, senator Jalen, Sheriff Jaylen and other members of the committee, my name is Alan Breen Palm. I'm here to testify in support of house bill 3849, an act relative to four-day work week in of this bill. I'm the executive director of the Better Future Project. We are a nonprofit organization based in Cambridge dedicated to building a movement for a just response to the climate crisis. Our programs, 350 mass, CREW, communities responding to extreme weather, and the make polluters pay campaign all work in different ways toward this goal. Last year, we participated in the four-day work week pilot study, for six months to start.

We pride ourselves at being able to innovate and trying new approaches to see what works. And in short, the four-day work week has535 worked for our team. Like many small ambitious nonprofit organizations, we work at regular hours. We work with volunteers. We go to events Outside of the normal work week, and our compensation is modest, and burnout among staff is a continual challenge. The four-day work week has allowed us to boost the quality of life for our staff without impacting our budget. For me, personally, as a father of two small children. I'm able to show up for my family responsibilities, while fully showing up for my team in a way that feels sustainable. But I'm here specifically to speak to the four-day work week's impact on the climate crisis.

The results show from the organizations participating in this study Personal carbon footprints are down, that the number of commutes by car per week is down, that the number of times spent commuting Is down and that there's been no, notable travel rebound. So that would be outside of work travel, offsetting the travel that happens, from commuting to work that's been reduced. So597 for me, I've had more time to do the activities to reduce My personal carbon footprint, like maintaining my bicycles, weatherizing my home, maintaining my garden. But as someone who's been engaged in the climate issue for over for 15 years, I recognize that personal613 carbon footprint focused approaches615 have their limits because they617 don't address the major contributors to619 the climate crisis, the Multinational extractive corporations, the military, and they rarely scale.

But the four-day work week is different because it does have the potential to scale, And it's630 not a one size fits all approach. It allows people the freedom to find the activities634 to reduce their carbon footprint that work in their life. And if this legislation is passed639 and expanded, it has the potential to scale. Additionally, a point on the climate crisis, while we've made significant progress here in Massachusetts, we can see globally from the extreme weather in the summer of 2023 that we are not on track to stabilize the climate. We do not need more of the same. And the four-day work week allows people the time and freedom to innovate and allow for new663 possibilities, whether that's through civic engagement or other types of667 innovations. So thank you so much for hearing my testimony today, and I urge you to report this bill favorably.

REP DIGGS - Question. Have employers need to hire more employees to to do this or or need to get overtime on that?

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FAN - Yes. So, actually, the next panel, we are focusing on the organizational side on the company, you know, the employer side of the story. But, just to briefly answer your question, so the point of the trial is to have a January reduction in work hours, with without any reduction in pay. So, no. Maybe in some industries, you might need to Ohio, more workers, to get the job done. But, the point is that, with this, more, broader over a rethink of the work process, you are able to,721 get the productivity go up so you can get the, same amount of work done, using smaller amount of time. So The two months on or perhaps on one month or three months on preparation on period is extremely important now for this on to work out.

DIGGS - And how would even a police officer or a fireman, how would how could they have before they work with how would that work?

FAN - Yeah. So this is, actually, an issue that, we are still trying to think about, and I should have754 mentioned, in my, testimony that our sample is definitely not A representative sample that, you know, we can apply to every single industry of, the United States or other countries. So it's, predominantly,767 the so called white collar workers, those, like,771 IT workers or, Like, those who provide professional services, but we also have, some of these, not conventional, industries such as, construction, Restaurants and, manufacturing jobs. So, the idea is that, it Can be done, but it's not going to be automatically, completed on this, preparation and a rethinking of the Work process how799 to, you know, consider, cutting unnecessary meetings or facilitating the, better communication among our employees. So all of these small things, they can build up on to improve productivity and reduce down the time necessary to get the jobs

DIGGS - Thank you.

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REP WONG - Right now, a lot of businesses can't find people to work. And I think that This might hurt, four days a week. They can't fill831 in the positions.

FAN - Yes. So I think this is an extremely important point. And, another thing that, perhaps my colleague, Juliet Schor might mention in the future is that we find that on this four-day work week, benefits is really helping our employers to recruit And, attract our employees. So,853 we see this on greater reduction in855 turnover intentions among employees. So They are, even less likely want to leave, because of the, benefits. And many of the smaller businesses, because they can't compete with those larger in terms of pay and, compensation, having this benefit is really helping out them to, attract peoples who might, have otherwise would not consider Because many workers really want this, four-day work week, and they would like to even take less money, less salary, in order to, have this.

WONG - And what's887 happening in some of the restaurants that889 I know, they Sometimes we're three or even four days a week, and still they can't find people to replace the people that aren't working. The house that they don't903 have to keep it working. It's very difficult. I went down to, and for a meeting, and I, went to a Dunkin' Donut. I saw a sign up there. $25 an hour. I went in. I said, how can you afford $25 an hour? And he said, it's925 been up three weeks, and no one has come in yet. So, you know, it's tough. You know, right now we935 got to find people Want to work. And it does you know, like, my restaurant, we give people time off. You know? If they have kids, they can pick their hours. And, on951 they don't have to work five days a week. Some just work weekends.

FAN - Yeah. So I think, So I think one thing that I want to mention again is that on this the finding that's that I have reported, cannot be used to generalize to every industry at this moment, and I think because of this is still, actually, a very early, pilot stage, I really, think it is an empirical question that we want to address to See whether this987 is, indeed, helping those restaurant chains, to have this, four-day work week, schedule or not. But based on our experience,996 it is on the case that our employees, they, they really don't want to leave, their current employer once they have this, benefits. And I feel this is different than just having time off.1010

Because you still, I need to ask the permission for your supervisors or managers, to get the personal day off. And many times, our employees may feel that, they might get, just to stigmatize that to use these benefits that, they are not considered to be on hard workers. But having this level change that, everyone has this on one day off. This we are, get rid of on this stigma attached to, you know, taking a per personal days or something like that. So the hope is that, this will lead to a genuine, change in organizational culture and to help them better address their work and family, you know, sometimes maybe on conflicting demands.

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SEN TIMILTY - SB 1230 - Very well. Thank you, Chair Jehlen and distinguished members of the committee. Thank you very much for this opportunity to testify. And, of course, to my right, we have, our business manager, Local IBEW 103, Lou Antonellis. Behind right behind us is1132 Rob Sheehan, president of local IBEW 103, Kristen Gowin from NECA to my left, and, of course, our representative Ayers,1138 the vice chair of financial services. Thank you for this opportunity to testify out of turn, and I will be very brief, Mr. chair. I filed, Senate Bill 1230, which is an act Acquiring, construction of certain parking facilities to be capable of supporting electric vehicle charging stations.

In collaboration with Local 103 IBEW and1158 of1158 course with NECA and Rep Ayers, thank you for your strong support. This bill will require the construction of certain parking facilities to be capable of supporting electric vehicles charging stations. Again I would like to thank IBEW 103 and NECA for their partnership. Specifically, this legislation, which is a new file, mandates that construction projects that include a parking facility operate Offering between 50 and 200 spaces to be capable of supporting EV charging stations. Furthermore, 10% of the parking spaces will be electric vehicle charging stations to an electrical raceway to the supply panel serving said parking facility.

To this end, a parking facility with 200 spaces, she'll have a minimum of 20% of the parking spaces via electric vehicle charging stations. And, of course, this is important to all of us, For our environment, for our well-being, for public health. Additionally, each project must be capable A minimum of 40 amps and 208 volts of electricity capacity to each and every charging station. Of course, that will make the project work. Moreover, this, This legislation is applicable only to new construction. And with that, Mr. chair, with your permission and madam chair, I'd like to introduce, Mr. Antonellis, our business manager. Thank you.

LOU ANTONELLIS - IBEW LOCAL 103 - SB 1230 - Thank you. Good morning, everybody. Not to get too far off Track by, the hearing you the folks that were just testifying prior to on a four-day work week, IBEW Local 103 represents labor. Kristen Gowin works for the National Contractors Association representing the Contractors and management. And we just recently, came to terms on, four-day work language as labor management. So I was impressed to come in and hear that being said, but I digress back. I want to Extend my sincere gratitude to my great friend, senator Walter Timilty, and I'd like to say good morning to chair Jalen and Vice chair Diggs, along with the esteemed members of the labor and workforce development committee.

My name is Lou Antonellis. I serve as the business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 103, representing 10,000 of the most diverse, Dedicated and skilled electrical workers in Greater Boston. Our members at IBEW 103 are proficient in installing, grading, maintaining, and repairing electrical vehicle infrastructure. Today, I'm proud to offer testimony in strong support of senate bill 1230, An act requiring the construction of certain topping facilities to be capable of supporting electric vehicle charging stations. IBEW 103 and the National Electrical Contractors Association of Greater Boston are actively involved in the state's clean energy transition, aligning with goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in 2030 and achieve zero net emissions by 2050.

Our commitment is evident in our inclusive workforce development, electrical infrastructure projects, and advocacy for The policies in line with our environmental objectives. This bill underscores the pivotal role parking facilities play in advancing electrical vehicle adoption. By mandating a percentage of parking spaces to support EV charging stations, this legislation takes a significant step toward Sustainable future, ensuring resources for proper charging and maintenance. Safety remains paramount with adherence to state, city, and municipal Electrical codes coupled with a local prevailing wage requirement, protecting workers, and fostering a robust local economy. The prevailing wage provision ensures quality and safety as green energy projects, including EV charging stations, Proliferate across the state. IBEW 103 and NECA’s investment of over $10,000,000 annually.

In workforce development and training, reinforces our readiness to meet the challenges of expanding electrification. We are committed to recruiting, and training our workforce to support the Commonwealth's clean energy goals. Senate Bill 1230 aligns with these values of environmental justice, This job creation and economic opportunities for all. By integrating EV infrastructure into parking The state promotes a cleaner environment and fosters job creation and economic opportunities for a growing workforce. IBEW 103 and NECA strongly endorsed this bill as a crucial measure toward achieving the Commonwealth's clean energy goals. We urge the committee to consider the long term benefits of our environment, our economy, and the future of our clean energy electrical workforce. I thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you very much.

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KRISTEN GOWIN - NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION - SB 1230 - Good morning, chairwoman Jalen and vice chair Diggs and members of the Labor and Workforce Development Committee. My name is Kristen Gowin. I'm the Executive manager of the Greater Boston chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association. I represent the 200 plus union Triple contractors in Massachusetts. These are the small, medium, and large construction companies that employ the hardworking members IBEW Local 103. It's a privilege to address the committee today.

Alongside our partners at IBEW with business manager Lou Antonellis president Bob Sheehan, and our friend and key sponsor of the bill, senator Timothy. On behalf of our organizations, we're here to testify in support of senate bill 1230, an act Acquiring the construction of certain parking facilities to be capable of supporting EV charging stations. Senate bill 1230 certainly contributes to fighting climate change. We know electrification, renewable energy is playing a pivotal role in our energy security, Stable economic growth and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Its impact will have long term environmental and strategic benefits to the commonwealth.

This bill1534 specifically would require, as stated before, construction projects that receive state funding and include parking facilities in their scope to sure a minimum number of parking spaces are capable of supporting charging stations. It would also ensure safety with vital references to all applicable electrical codes. And most important, which I want to address, it includes prevailing wage requirements. As we know, prevailing wage is one of the best ways we can level the playing field and raise the job and labor standards for workers in the commonwealth. The prevailing wage laws also benefit responsible contractors, like our NECA contractors and the public, by enhancing productivity, cutting down on injuries, and increasing apprenticeship.

As the Commonwealth continues to lead in its commitment and goals Towards the clean energy economy and projects, including EV charging stations, continue to ramp up across the state. Prevailing wage provisions like this and other labor standards will both ensure the quality and safety of the work and will Protect the livelihood of our ever growing, diverse, and highly skilled workforce. We commend the committee for taking up this important bill. And for the reasons stated above, IBEW Local 103 and the NECA Boston contractors support this bill, senate bill 1230. And respectfully urge the committee to move the bill out favorably. Thank you.

REP AYERS - SB 1230 - Thank you, chairman Jehlen and, vice chair Diggs. And in the interest of time, I just want to go on the record. They did a great job justifying here this morning, but I want to show my, steadfast report, support that is for Senate bill 1230. Thank you.

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REP CUTLER - HB 3849 - It's a pleasure to be here. Good afternoon here. Good morning to the members of the labor and workforce development committee. Thank you for all the great work. And it's an honor to be here with my colleague representative Fernandez. I have a quick quote I would like to read, and I'd like you to think about who the speaker might be as I read it. It's very brief. Our goal is to promote a new way of life in the United States better than we have ever had before. We will do this by unleashing the research facilities of our scientists and technicians so that new forms of production will evolve. Backbreaking toil and mind wearing tension will be left to machines and electronic devices. We want man's work to be pleasant, so that he can go home each day with abundant energy for enjoying the comfort and friendliness of his family.

We see the time not too far distant when we can have a four-day work week, and family life Will be even more fully enjoyed by every American. Now I don't know if any of you can guess when that's that statement was made. I will let you know so you're not in in in, guessing that it was 1956. This wasn't some radical utopian speaker. It's vice president Richard Nixon who said that those words. So I use that as context to think about this, bill, which is before you, that we're testifying in support of to establish a pilot program. And I and I thank rep Wong for his great questions, and I think that those questions speak to1782 the importance of this1783 bill. Because What do we do is create a pilot program to study the efficacy of a four-day work week.

A voluntary a pilot program that businesses could opt into, and we'd have two years of data to look at and really dig into and see, you know, what are the kinds of questions that different businesses would have. It's Been roughly 80 years1801 since we established the 40-hour1803 work week. And, you know, we think about all the changes and advances that we've made as a1807 society, and yet we're still Looking at that legacy from 1939. So this is an important piece of legislation that representative Fernandez and I have filed to study this issue, and we would ask for a favorable report, and I will turn it over to my, my more, enlightened colleague to add to, some testimony to that. Thank you very much.

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REP FERNANDES - HB 3849 - Well, it's a pleasure to be with the before the committee, and I'll speak briefly about the four-day work week bill. Like, Americans haven't had a meaningful reduction in working hours, since, nearly 90 years ago, in 1930s and five-day work week is a human construct, and we think it needs updating. Too many people are not just working five days a week, but are often tethered to their devices and phones and email and are working significantly more. Americans are, they're overworked. There's high levels of stress and anxiety in our culture. And so the four-day work week not only reduces that, gives people more leisure time to spend with family, friends, and community makes workers happier, but it also really benefits businesses. And that's one of the keys that we've seen in pilot programs Throughout the world that have undertaken this.

It benefits businesses by actually increasing productivity of workers, which is something that is counterintuitive but borne out in the data, and it also helps attract talent and retain talent. And when we think about Massachusetts competitiveness. one of the biggest issues we're facing right now is attracting and retaining a workforce. Not only that, but there are other additional benefits. Less commuters means1924 less traffic, which means less congestion, and less traffic means less carbon emissions. So there are ancillary benefits as well Around a four-day work week, it's time that we implement this, at least as a pilot program that we can study here to see how it might or might not fit Businesses in Massachusetts and allow the people here to have more time to pursue happiness. So I'll end there, and happy we're happy to take any questions.

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WONG - I just want to1960 say1960 it's a good idea to have it as a volunteer pilot program. Because especially now with the holiday season, I have a lot of people asking me to work more hours because they raise their money from tips. And with the kids and everything else, they want to be able things for the kids. And, like I said, a volunteer one, I would agree on.

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FERNANDES - Yep. I think it makes sense. And I you know, it's, it's something that probably won't make sense for every business. I mean, that's Just the that's the truth about it. But, I think for many, they could see some real benefits of switching to a four-day work week. And at a minimum, we should get the data and make some recommendations to the business community around, what we see in the data.

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JULIET SCHOR - BOSTON COLLEGE - HB 3849 - Thank you. So I'm here to testify in in favor of house 3849, an act relative to the four-day work week pilot program. I want to thank, chairs, Jehlen and Diggs. And I should say this is also my first time testifying. So, and I want to thank representatives Cutler and Fernandez for their leadership on this issue. My name is Juliet Shore. I'm an Economist and professor of sociology at Boston College. In 2021, I became the lead researcher for the four-day week Global Organization, which has organized trials of companies around the world giving their employees four days with five days pay. As my colleague, professor Wen Fan, noted, we have collected data from over 200 companies and nearly 7,000 employees.

There's clear evidence that the model of a 32-hour week with 40-hours pay works for both employees and businesses. And I'm going to focus on the impact on businesses. one piece of evidence is that2127 among our companies, only 6% have reverted to a five-day week. And even for some of these, it's a temporary pause. We ask companies to rate their experiences with the trials, and the average rating is 8.3 overall. Productivity Activity and performance are rated at a7.4. Companies rate their ability to attract new employees at an 8.6. Data we have collected on resignations and sick days both show declines during the trial period. On average, Companies in our trials show growth in the number of employees on our payrolls.

And this gets to representative Wong's question. one of the things that happens with happens with a four-day week is that it attracts new people into the workforce who might not be able to manage a five-day week. And, chair Diggs, we actually have been working with the police department in Golden, Colorado, and I noticed yesterday a new story came out in which they Describe their four-day week experience as, quote, fantastic. And there are other police departments around the country that I think are beginning to, think about this, or there may be one in California that that is has also gone. So it is feasible for businesses across the spectrum.

We've talked about restaurants here today, and I'm departing from my script. one of the interesting things that happens with the four-day week Is that in these very high turnover businesses, like restaurants I mean, those some of the fast food restaurants have over a100 and 50%, I think, turnover a year. Is that these companies find their employees stop quitting? And we have examples in in a number of industries where there's sort of 30 to 40% annual turnover, that it plummets when they go to a four-day week. And so it really helps to solve the problem of, not being able to find people, which, as we know, is a big issue today. Thank you.

LIZ POWERS - ARTLIFTING - HB 3849 - Good morning. My name is Liz Powers. I'm the cofounder and CEO of Artlifting, a business that champions artists with disabilities and experiencing housing insecurity. I'm here to testify in favor of Bill 3849. I founded Artlifting 10 years ago. My background was as a social worker and art therapist, and I saw a huge, Group of people that I worked with as a social worker who told me, Liz, I want an opportunity, not a handout. That they had a lot of trouble finding jobs. So I thought about how can I redefine what a job is in order to include more people in the economy? Since founding Artlifting, we've sold tens of millions of artwork. And since beginning our pilot of the four-day work week five years ago, we've seen increased efficiency and lower turnover to Julie's point.

The reason I started, a test of the four-day work week five years ago was, one, to make my employees happier and healthier. And two, to see what is the data on will this increase the efficiency of my team and therefore, the impact on our artists. The data has been really conclusive. We started our tests three months of the year, four-day, then built up to five months. In 2021 and 2022, we did every other week, 32-hour week. And beginning Jan one this year, we did a year round four-day 32-hour work week. We've seen that having the three days off has enabled the team to have proper rest and therefore helped them think More strategically when in the office. It's also helps our workplace be more accessible. To Julie's point, we have Countless examples of applicants saying, I'm an individual with a disability.

I'm applying because you all have four-day, 32-hour a week, and we're able to do that. We, every year, we do anonymous surveys to see how How's it working? How can we improve? One team member shared, as a person with an invisible disability, having extra time in my week for self-care and medical appointments has made my life much easier. To the point of helping attract in retain talent. So we have 26 full time employees who are all salaried. Just a week ago, we had to close a job opening early. Over two weeks, we had 750 applicants. In terms of retaining employees over the last more than year and a half, we've had zero resignations. Hearings. Obviously, as a business owner, it takes a huge amount of effort to both hire and train employees. So that's helped contribute to the increased efficiency. Thank you.

JON LELAND - KICKSTARTER - HB 3849 - Hi. I'm Jon Leland. I am the chief strategy officer at Kickstarter. Thank you, chairs Jaylen and Diggs. I'm here to testify in favor of four-day work week pilot program bill. Kickstarter is the world's largest crowdfunding platform for creative projects. We help, creators all over the world Raise money for their small businesses, their creative projects. We've helped over 5,000 small businesses and creators in Massachusetts alone raise over $150 million on our platform. We adopted a four-day work week about 18 months ago in April of 2022. And we saw the same Results that you've heard about here. Our productivity went up. Our ability to hit our goals, went up from about 60% to 95%. Employee retention Isn't a problem anymore. We don't lose employees anymore. Employees rate, work life balance much higher than from 48% to 81%. Employee engagement went from about 50% to 75%.

And people see themselves working at our2524 company in two years at a much higher rate than they did previously. And this is an industry with some of the highest turnover, Of any industry. The average employee in the tech industry leaves their job after two years. Our average tenure at this point is Well, well beyond that because we simply don't lose our employees. The most important stat, however, to me, which is kind of incredible in all this, In the face of seeing increased productivity, we have been able to give back to our employees in the first 12 months of doing this, 3,564 days. That's 3,564 days of parents being able to spend time with their kids, of people learning new skills, of taking classes in their community, of actually, a lot of them are learning how to use AI in their jobs, so they're bringing skills back into the workplace. They're volunteering.

They're getting involved in their communities. They're resting. They're taking care of their health. That is an incredible amount of in Time for really not a giant company, since we're only about 120 people, to be able to give back employees in just one year while increasing productivity benefits for both us as an employer and for those employees, their families, and the communities they live in is Just enormous. And so being able to have a pilot program like this that supports more employers taking the leap and piloting, a four-day work week in a supported way, in a de-risked way is, I think, a tremendous opportunity for Massachusetts to lead on this issue and2621 will benefit not only the Massachusetts to lead on this issue and will benefit not only the employers within Massachusetts that participate, But also their families and the communities they sit in. So I strongly encourage you to advance that bill. Thank you.

SEN JEHLEN - Thank you. I do this is so interesting, and I do want to just ask you about I think a lot about nursing homes, for example, and places that have to have someone there 24 hours a day, and are constrained in their pay. So they have a certain amount that the state is willing to pay them to take care of people, and they have to make that pay for all the people. So if there are More people to fill a 24-hour a day at the same rate of pain. How does Would it require a lot more money in those situations? I can understand where you can be more productive. Got that. But if there are required number of minutes that people are required to be serving people, I'd just like to understand that, what you would recommend for that.

SCHOR - Yes. Thank you, chair Jehlen. That's such an important point, and it's very interesting what we are starting to see in healthcare and facilities like nursing homes. I can, refer you to the sort of classic study on this, which was done in Sweden, in which, nurses were given a six-hour day, and they hired additional staff. So what happens is the, Facilities get reductions in costs of attrition, health care costs for their nurses, and in unemployment. The in that particular study, they didn't, fully recoup all of the direct costs, but there are also indirect costs such as big improvements in patient quality. So this was a number of years ago, also in a country which has much less work stress in hours. So what's happening today in2762 the US?

We are starting to see nurses, in2766 both nursing homes, but also in hospital settings, and we're working with one very large hospital chain in New Jersey, for example, that are moving to these four day-weeks, and they end up having a variety of savings. So the first thing is that they no longer have to bring in more expensive agency help. They don't have those very high costs of turnover because this is a burnout profession now, nursing. And the rates of attrition in nursing Are really, really high. So there's a lot of cost to2800 be recouped. And then, of course, you get2802 the patient benefits, which may or may not get costed into the nursing homes, but, for those that have sort of performance based pay, Where, you know, the quality of their care is part of what they get paid, that that's that can be an issue.

So I think what is happening now is that the scales are really beginning to tilt toward it being, No longer, a high a costly innovation for nursing homes. So we're just we're just seeing that Start. But I can tell you I was contacted by a social service agency in Massachusetts recently that in Wants to go to a four-day week. They have a 150% turnover in some of their divisions, and that is Just not cost effective. And so if they move to this model in which resignations plummet and new applicants surge. They may well find they're better off financially. That that's part of what we want to see here with a pilot program. Because at the moment, it's, it's an untenable situation.

WONG - Sorry. Getting back to the restaurants again. It's not lunchtime yet. But, what we also have, I have a few restaurants. But in the summertime, students, college students are coming back. They want more days and more hours. And if we go more than four days, then we'll be breaking the rule. Right?

SCHOR - No. This this bill is a voluntary pilot program That employers who want to do this. I mean, one of the things about if you're thinking of some of these service sector, Jobs is many of them have, hours that are more in the part time level because they don't want to pay benefits and so forth. So the that that sector of the economy typically doesn't operate on a 40-hour week. So they wouldn't be subjected to Fair Labor Standards Act, provisions.

WONG - So my restaurant might be out of the box because we also get For one k's and things like that. And then we also have parents that want to just work weekends. But, the main thing is college kids who wants to work more than that. And, mothers and students, you know, that’s how they make money is2971 by the tips and anything else.

SCHOR - Yeah. I mean, this is not a bill that prevents people from working long hours or disincentivizes it in any way. But the one thing I would say is that If you look at the surveys of, people in the United States, the four-day week has become extremely, Extremely popular. It's something that people really want.

WONG - Mine's wage, they take their days, and I have even families that have been with me for generations. They wouldn't be there if they were complaining about the hours.

POWERS - I think it's dangerous for us to think about the bill just in one industry, though. Like, for Hearing the data from my company and Kickstarter and the 200 companies that Julie studied, it feels like a no brainer to Gather data and test a pilot. So I don't want to lean too much into, you know, one sample size.

WONG - I don't think it's right for all businesses.

POWERS - Right. Yeah. We all agree it won't necessarily be right for all businesses. The bill is to test it, voluntarily and give employers an incentive to do so.

DIGGS - My question is, how does it work for a person that's on salary and how somebody that's on hourly pay? How is that?

SCHOR - So for the salaried workers, their salary stays the same. They just have their hours reduced from 40 to 32. For the hourly workers, what happens is that their total pay from stays the same, And their hourly rate goes up because now they're only working 32 hours rather than the 40. And there's one other group that's sort of interesting that we've Seen in our studies, which is people who are, say, on four day weeks already and only get 80% pay. And what the companies are doing then is giving them The full 100% that that all of the other, folks are getting. So it does, in some cases, will have a salary raising Impact, and, of course, it for everybody, the per hour rate goes up. And one of the things that happens, as a result of this switch is that people's productivity per hour goes up to justify that higher pay.

DIGGS - Another question. Does it work with construction workers? I mean, do you see that working?

SCHOR - Yes. And I'm I didn't get a chance to talk to the folks who testified in the previous panel, but we have a number of firms in our sample, and it is, working in those cases as well, and also manufacturing. So although, as professor Fan said, that's a smaller number. Most of the Companies are white collar, but not only. So we do have manufacturing, construction. We have health care, and so on.

DIGGS - Thank you.

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ABIGAIL WEST - BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW - HB 3849 - Good morning. And thank you to the committee for, having me speak today. My name is Abby West. I'm a 3L at Boston University School of Law, And I've conducted research on the four-day work week as part of the legislative and policy drafting clinic, at BU. So as lots of people have mentioned, employee Burnout is caused by increased stress and anxiety levels, and this is posing a significant challenge to the workforce in the US. The work ethos within the US has often3234 been equated to working long hours,3236 and the COVID 19 pandemic, changed a lot of these attitudes. Individuals are increasingly prefer flexible work schedules that allow for more personal time with families, hobbies, and tasks like going to in appointments. With this shift, employers have found it more difficult to hire and retain talent.

A possible solution is to modify the five-day, 40-hour work week and shift to a 32-hour four-day work week. At least 10 countries have participated in the four-day work week programs, reporting decreased levels of stress and anxiety for employees, Increased retention, higher job satisfaction, and minimal to no decrease in productivity. My research examined pilot programs in the UK and Iceland. The UK conducted a six-month pilot with 61 companies and spanned across industries from construction to education. Of the companies, 56 reported that they plan on continuing the four-day work week, and 96% of the, employees stated that they preferred the four-day work week. In Iceland, what began as a four company program eventually encompassed 2500 workers. After the pilot program, 86% of the workforce and Iceland continued to work fewer hours or moving towards fewer hours. T

his port push for change has also moved it to the US, where eight states, including Massachusetts, have drafted legislation either to implement a pilot program or directly amend their state's general laws. A four-day work week pilot program proposed in this bill would enable Massachusetts to collect data on feasibility of a four-day work It would not unilaterally force change, and instead aims to test the viability of a four-day work week across business sizes, and geographic locations using the opt in structure. The data collected from this program would be invaluable and could help address employers' concerns down the road. Employers are concerned, for example, that they may struggle to cover the cost of essentially giving their employees raises, Paying overtime, hiring additional workers, or possibly experiencing losses in production.

Employer employers may also need to modify their internal's functions to streamline the processes and maintain productivities. The proposal for a four-day work week pilot program in Massachusetts represents a step towards addressing the challenges Of employee burnout and shifting work attitudes in the US. It is an opportunity to address employer concerns, promote work life balance, and enhance Overall job satisfaction. As we move forward, it is crucial to recognize the diversity of industries and the need for tailored solutions, emphasizing the importance of flexibility and adaptability. The journey towards a more sustainable and employee friendly work culture requires thoughtful experimentation, and this pilot program serves a significant stride in that direction.

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WEST - If it would be okay, I would also Like to address one of the things that was brought up. Is that okay? So with the restaurant workers, one of the, one of their approaches that the UK used to, address that, they use something called an annualized approach where, they annualized the 32-hour work week across Still like for the year. So, like restaurants maybe have more workers in the summer that require additional hours. So and but then in, like, winter when there was less maybe or, like, fall, they would instead of Having 32-hours per week, for the whole every week in the year would annualize it out. So it's going to spread the spread the hours. And I thought that was an interesting approach and something that this, pilot program could aim to address using different approaches.

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JOHN THOMPSON - CONCERNED CITIZEN - HB 1866 - SB 1169 - Thank you, Mr. chairman. I'm here to testify about House 1866, senate, 1169, an act protecting workers in Massachusetts. I think, and this, this bill is very aptly named because The workers of the state need protection from the impact of illegal immigration on the labor market. It may not be obvious, but Massachusetts has had the highest rate of increase in in the number of unlawful residents in the since 2007. States like California, Florida, and3545 Arizona, which had previously been havens for Unlawful workers, they saw their populations of that category of work Diminished while in Massachusetts.

Which had 100,000 unlawful residents in the year 2007, now has three times that number, 300,000.The impact has been devastating and on workers in the state, and particularly on low skilled and low paid Americans, who are either replaced by unauthorized foreign workers Who are forced to accept substandard pay and working conditions. It has transformed the labor market, which took generations to, the regulatory and legal structure for the labor to protect workers, which took generations to construct has been seriously undermined and replaced by a clandestine Part of the labor market. This is particularly unfair because the economic status of unskilled, on low paid workers has been performing badly for 40 years.

The average worker in this country has not Had a raise in real terms, that is adjusted for inflation, in 40 years. And according to studies by the Center for Policy Studies, Massachusetts has had the sharpest drop in wages of the lowest 20% of, workers of any state in the country. Workers, particularly those with low education, have been leaving the workforce, that we're now in where one third or one fourth of people who ought to be in the workforce have simply stopped looking for work. And at the center of this is a system whereby we tolerate the use of forged or stolen, identity documents. Yeah. I wish I had a little bit more time. Let me jump to the end, which is that, the solution to this is to be if the at the center of the problem is a market in Forged and stolen documents.

The answer is to impose a system that already exists, which verifies The validity of the documents. Could I just end with a comment, with a quote from a senator, a well-known senator at the time who said, I voted for a fence, but let me tell you, we can build fences 40 stories high, But and you will not like this unless we punish American employers who knowingly violate the law when, in fact, they hire illegals. Unless you do that, all the rest is window dressing. Now I'll let you get I won't since my time is up, I want to in play a guessing game. The person who said that is Joe Biden, 2006. So, I think I'm well, I've run over a bit. I'm willing to answer questions. Does anyone have any?

BRIAN PAIGE - LANDSCAPE COMPANY INC - HB 3849 - Good morning, vice chair. Good morning, members of the3782 committee. My name is Brian Paige. I'm the owner and president of Page Landscape Company. We're a commercial landscape company serving, most of in Mass. I'm also here representing the Massachusetts Association of Landscape Professionals along with its members, which comprise of over 450, in landscape and snow companies across the state. I'd like to give you a brief overview of, some of the impacts. I do have two other colleagues, It's virtually here today. But brief overview of the impacts of the abusive, indemnification, and hold harmless clauses that property owners and managers.

Are using in their contracts which limits our ability to safely manage the grounds and pushes any and all snow and ice liability onto the contractor. We're forced to assume liability, while being also restricted on from plowing and treating, surfaces, In certain conditions. However, again, the liability is all put on us, causing us Our insurance rates to skyrocket, and some of our insurance companies that are left in Massachusetts are restricting which properties we can actually service, as well as not insuring us at all. Our companies basically have two seasonal businesses. We're a professional landscape company from April through November and Professional snow services, November through April.

Our goal with any business is to grow our businesses and grow our employees and people so that they can contribute to the communities that we service and reside in with the labor market3876 still tight as it is, it is more and more difficult to obtain and retain, skillful workforce throughout the whole year, especially in our seasonal businesses. Many of our landscape contracts are tied to the snow contracts because the property managers, they want to deal with one vendor for both services. This connection, though, when it comes to snow and ice, really gives us a tough decision on how do we deal with these, hold harmless Vacation clauses. So do we turn down the business, or do we take the risk? So if we turn down the business.

We can't provide employees jobs throughout the winter, and we end up risking losing the landscape contract that's tied to that. Also, the building owner or property manager might hire a lesser contractor that might not be qualified, might not understand what they're getting into when they sign that contract. If we take the risk, well, we're liable for things that we can't control. For instance, if a janitor throws a bucket of water out on the sidewalk some night, it freezes, someone slips and falls on that, somehow the snow contractor is liable for the negligence of that janitor, even though we had nothing to do with it. Our clients control the scope of work as well. I said we were restricted, and we are. They might say you can't show up until there's two to three inches of snow to plow.

Or we'll call you when it's time to put down treatments on the walkways and, and surfaces. So, what we do is we don't want to take that risk of someone getting hurt, someone filing a claim and getting sued. So we proactively go out there and treat the surfaces or plow, and there's one inch of snow because we don't want to take on that That risk. And, unfortunately, the client then, in that case, has the right to the contract not to pay us. So with this bill, we're not looking to eliminate liability. We're just looking to be liable for what we can control and what we're Contract to do under the contract. This bill has come up in the past. I was here with chair Jehlen back in 2019 testifying for the same bill, And it has received favorable, recommendations back then, and we hope that, again, it receives a Favorable recommendation again. Thank you.

DIGGS - Thank you. So I was a construction worker myself. So I used to plow. I was a truck to trailer, and truck to have, pounding snow. So, and when you're hired, you're working recently for the municipality or the or the, the neighborhood that you're planning for, and you're trying to be the arms of them. You know, making sure that and we know that we're working for you, but we're trying to do the best we can for you. So I would say preventive maintenance. So of course, pretreating, you know, so that, of course, putting down salt, saying whatever you do before beforehand, but I understand what you're saying. I definitely concur with what which where you're at?

PAIGE - Yeah, and we're dealing with private property management companies and building owners in this case.

DIGGS - Sure. Sure. So, I mean, you know, they have to then I would think that in also in your contracts that you're going to put in certain stipulations so June. Nick, you can only cover which you can control, which you can controls, put the much as much control. I would think On your aspects than theirs, so to speak.

PAIGE - Yeah. Unfortunately, if we don't sign theirs, we don't get the business. So that's what I was saying. We either consign it and take that risk, or we have to, like, say we're not going to do the business. And I have my couple of my colleagues here too. They're going to get more specifics on some of their experience with this as well.

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DOUGLAS MCDUFF - LANDSCAPE AMERICA INC - HB 3849 - Good morning. My name is Doug McDuff. I'm president of Landscape America. We provide commercial landscape and stone ice management services to over 100 clients in Southeastern Massachusetts. I'm also a past president of the Massachusetts Landscape Association. I'm sorry. The Massachusetts Landscape Association Professionals. So my brother and I started the business 17 years ago in 2006. We currently have 50 employees during the landscape over a 100 during the snow and ice events. The issue of liability as it pertains to indemnification and home harmless clauses, and snow and ice management has slowed our growth and resulted in less jobs we're able to offer. This cost us in insurance premiums and annual price increases.

Need the help from this committee to create a situation that is fair for both snow contractors and our clients and shares a liability when it comes to snow and ice. In most cases, we as contractors are held liable for anything that happens on a site during the winter months regardless of whether the situation is in our control or not. A brief example of what could happen. A snow event occurs and the parking lot is properly cleared of snow and is treated multiple times with salt, nice melt, and is completely dry down to fair pavement. A vehicle pulls in several days later with snow on the roof and parks in the lot. The sun melts And the snow begins to run down the tailgate of the vehicle resulting in a small puddle directly behind the vehicle.

The puddle freezes and the owner of the vehicle slips While loading something into the back of the vehicle the next morning creaking his ankle, the snow contractor is sued by not only the individual who slipped, But also by the customer in order to make sure that 100% of the liabilities falling on the contractor. The contractor is all in the proper paperwork filed. Photos show the lot was bone dry except for the ice created by the individual snow on the roof of the vehicle. The contractor's insurance company then settles the 375,000. The situation actually occurred to our company in 2020, And it is our sole slip and fall in 17 years. Following the incident, our insurance carrier, EMC, threatened to drop us and or increase our insurance costs by more than 50% and include a $25,000 deductible per event.

The scenario is not that uncommon, unfortunately. An EMC is just one of our few options for insurance carriers that is no longer interested in working with snow and ice contractors. If we're awarded a new contract, as Brian stated, during review if we cross out or modify indemnification clauses, most clients just move on to another contractor who will sign their contract. Unfortunately, many of those contractors aren't aware of the liability and don't understand the and these uneducated contractors can sometimes create unsafe situations for the public. We aren't looking to avoid all liability especially in circumstances that Contractor is negligent, but we need to have a situation that shares liability between the contractors and the property owners themselves. Thank you.

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KEVIN GILBRIDE - ACCREDITED SNOW CONTRACTORS ASSOCIATION - HB 3849 - Okay. Thank you very much for have me today, and I want to thank my colleagues for giving a great background, on what this bill would do and the challenges that they face in their businesses. I'm the executive director of the Accredited Snow Contractors Association. We're a national association that, represents snow and ice4358 management companies that do commercial work nationwide. So this is a national problem that we're dealing with here. And I think they've done a wonderful job of giving some examples. What they're really referring to here Is the4370 indemnification clause generally will4372 read that the snow and ice management company is responsible for any and all4376 accidents, incidences, and injuries on the property as it pertains to snow and ice.

That's one area the contract usually buried on page 12. On page two is the scope of work and it's saying that we can't, we don't want you to plow anything until there's two inches on4390 the ground, and I'm going to tell you when to provide salt. In that scenario, if there's an inch of snow on the ground, They're not allowed to do the work, but they're responsible if somebody slips and falls on the property. Then what happens is the insurance carrier gets a claim, and their insurance company has to hire two different lawyers for conflict of interest reasons, one to defend them and one to defend their customer. Okay, so what it's doing is it is making the entire industry nationwide, but Especially on the East Coast and in Massachusetts, uninsurable.

I believe that I know there are less than five insurance carriers in Massachusetts. Might be down to three that will even insure this industry. We've seen insurance rates for CGLs go from $15,000 To a $150,000 just for the privilege to plow snow. So what happens here is not only an insurance issue, but it's also a safety issue. So So what you run into here is now you have this no contractor that's not allowed to perform the work. You've got the con the property owner that doesn't have any liability. And, say, it's a drugstore where people are going in, and they're already sick. They're already injured. That's why they're going to the drugstore, and there's snow on the ground. They slip and fall and get hurt. It does happen. So it's creating a safety issue in Massachusetts and across the country.

This bill is not, unique, I would say, to Massachusetts. You actually passed almost the exact same bill in the in industry maybe 10 years ago. And so we understand that, you know, government doesn't want to get into, contract language a lot of times. However, when an independent third party is being harmed, and that's what we have here. The 3rd party is the person getting injured, by a contract between two individuals. Government often steps in to handle this. This bill does not eliminate liability. It simply places liability where it is supposed to be. Therefore, when the contractor's supposed to work and do the job, they're liable. When they're told not to do the job, the property owner's liable.

The net result that you see in these bills is multifaceted, I think, or there's multi effects. One, insurance rates can start to come down. That's a longer term effect. The short term effect is you have a much safer society. And so, you know, with that being said, this bill, this exact bill, has already been passed in the states of Illinois, Colorado, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. We hope you, will report this in Favorably in Massachusetts as Massachusetts, like I said, is one of the worst in the country. Our biggest challenges in the country when it comes to insurance and insurance as carriers in rates. So with that being said, I urge you to support this bill and thank you very much for your time today.

DIGGS - Thank you. Sorry. Before we go, I'm sorry. My fault. I guess I have I do have a question. Not a really question, but a statement. I know there's a I noticed a lot of signs though and plows needed and all that stuff. And I'm seeing why there's a reason there's a reason why there's a lot of plows needed because of what's going on right now. I need to hear all this insurance stuff for me. Filing is not It's very difficult, especially when you when you get, you know, a foot of snow and you, you know, you can't see from, in from the side from curb to curb, you can't see. And it's very tough. It is hard. It's, you know, I can remember ripping up a couple lawns because of because of so I can understand exactly what you guys are going to, and, we'll definitely look at it just to see who we can

PAIGE - Yeah. And, Mr. chair, a lot of the signs are up because we can't find the workforce to do it. Yes. Whether it's a four-day work week or 5? You can't find them. So, I mean, that and that's the issue we have. We have a good staff of landscape employees that work, you know, 8, nine months out of the year. And then4648 if we can't keep them employed, they're going to go somewhere else. We got to find some something else. And a lot of our employees, they might work.

Even though they're well paid above the, you know, the current labor rates, you know, these got they're workers, and they want to go work somewhere else on the weekends too. So, yeah, it really just comes down to like I said, it's kind of a fairness thing. We have no opposition to this bill. We never have. And we found nationwide that, like Kevin said, insurance rates come down, Slip and fall claims are go down because now the building owners and property managers are forced to hire a skilled contractor That has the proper insurance, that has the proper training, that we can service these properties properly.

DIGGS - Thank you.

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AL WILKINSON - CONCERNED CITIZEN - HB 1906 - Good. So my name is Al Wilkinson. I'm a 45 I wish I was 45 years I'm a 45 year old veteran of office product sales in the state of Massachusetts, working for such companies in the past as Boise Cascade Corporate Express, which turned into Staples, and recently, for the last 14 years, a large Massachusetts based, I'm not allowed to say the company's name. I don't know. But a Massachusetts based office price company. So the reason why I'm here today,4740 and I, again, I your time as well, is I'm here to advocate for sales commission reps, whether they're inside sales reps or outside sales reps. And by that, I mean that sales reps in the state of Massachusetts do not have there is not a law.

That will protect Sales reps from companies not communicating their company's sales commission programs or policies. 37 states in the in the United States4767 have this. California, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, on and on and on. We do not have one. From 2012 to 2019, I noticed that my sales figures and that was after they the company got a new computer system software program that my sales I was a top sales writer for this company, such accounts as Market Basket, Analog Devices, etcetera, etcetera. So I have a history of, long employment. Unfortunately, I sat in the same seat, and I was bought out our companies were bought out three different times, I sat through mergers. And, and through that, my prior companies all had commission programs.

That the sales reps Knew how they were getting paid, whether they were inside or outside by their companies. The company that I worked for based here in Massachusetts does not have that. And what does that mean? Well, that means that they can do anything4822 they want to with regards to paying their sales reps. So I went to the attorney general because I noticed that my sales were going up over the years. My gross profit dollars, which is what we all work for, and whether whatever you sell, whether it's widgets or office products or software, we all look for the gross profit dollars. I was one of the leaders in this company in gross profit dollars in my Wilbur, Massachusetts office, and but I noticed my sale my commissions that I bring home to my family, we're going down, down and down.

I asked about why that was happening to managers, VP of sales, and human resource managers. And I never got a response. I had meetings planned with the VP of sales to go over why this was happening, never showed up. So, my only alternative was is it was more like Johnny Carson with the envelope each month. What's in my envelope? My commission pay. I had no idea. Even though I knew what my sales were and what my commission sales were, there was no explanation to me as how I got paid. Okay. Or the over 1,0004892 sales reps that work for this company. Recently, in the last two months, in three states, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, my company was sued. I Resigned in 2019.

My company, was sued by hundreds of salespeople in those states for Commission that they thought they should have received, and that company was settled out of court for almost $6 million to for 213 sales Because those three states had laws to protect the sales reps. And what I mean by that was they knew what their commissions were. In Massachusetts, we have no idea. Whether it's IBM or ABC widget company, there is no law to protect thousands and thousands and thousands of sales reps in this state. So I wanted to bring that to your attention. I have my 2nd bill here. It's for equality, for and diversity for that women, minorities, all get paid the same as men do, and that's not happening as well. So, I'm over my time.

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WILKINSON - Yes. And I've worked with Bradley Jones for the last five years on this, and thank you, Bradley, for getting to your committee and I appreciate where we are today with this. And I understand that we can go on for another year or two and I just want to protect other families to not go through what my family had to go through, which was, Like, you didn't know what you're getting paid, dad. My wife's a nurse at Leahy Clinic. She always knew what she was getting paid each week. And when I approached my company about he said, oh, maybe that you know, we're doing different things in different areas, and that's why we're taking your money. There was never an answer. So thank you for your time. I appreciate it. I will submit further testimony.

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HENRY BARBARO - CONCERNED CITIZEN - HB 1866 - SB 1169 - SB 1167 - Thank you to the members of the labor and workforce development committee. My name is Henry Barbaro, and I live in Newton. I am happy to testify in favor of house bill 1866 and senate bill 1169, Which would require Massachusetts employers to use the e-Verify system when hiring employees. I also support senate bill 1160 seven regarding employer integrity, but my focus today is on the e-Verify bills also called an act Protecting Massachusetts workers. e-Verify is a free system created by congress go to allow employers to verify the immigration status of prospective workers and prevent the hiring of those who are unauthorized.

The system is easy to use and is proven to work well in detecting when someone is using fake identities or documents to get hired. Currently, there are 22 other states that have laws requiring at least some employers to use E Verify. As you probably know, our state is having a serious problem with migrants unauthorized to work Moving to Massachusetts. The recent wave of migrants is imposing an enormous burden on our state's Taxpayers on our schools and on other social services. To make matters worse, employers can easily exploit this rapidly growing population of newcomers. A migrant problem is no coincidence.

Massachusetts promises a variety of unsustainable incentives for unauthorized migrants such as issuing driver's licenses in providing places to live under our one of a kind right to shelter law. Just three months ago, governor Healy declared a state of emergency because of the Sheer number of migrant families arriving in Massachusetts in need of social services along with the severe lack of shelter availability. Step to resolve our migrant crisis in Massachusetts is to adopt the e-Verify system of employment verification So that unauthorized migrants are no longer lured into our state to take away the jobs of Americans and legal immigrants. A statewide e-Verify system would have three primary benefits. One, it may be much more difficult to be hired illegally.

It would discourage unauthorized workers from coming to Massachusetts. two, it would level the playing field among employers and stop giving the competitive advantage to exploitive and dishonest employers who hire illegal workers. And three it would help to improve the wages of our poorer lower skilled workers, especially for black Americans. If this committee is looking for ways to develop and improve the workforce in Massachusetts, then we need to put an end to the widespread hiring of unauthorized workers. In closing, I urge you to Support these bills and to vote them out of committee favorably. If passed, this legislation would create an important program for protecting the workers of two 6. Thank you.

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DAVID HOLZMAN - CONCERNED CITIZEN - HB 1866 - SB 1169 - Hi. Thank you for this opportunity to testify in favor of e-Verify Bills H hearing. 1866 and s 1169. Cesar Chavez, head of the United Farm Workers Union, used to denounce illegal immigrants to the INS SAIS's predecessors. Chavez understood that those here illegally would undercut his members' wages, you can Google it. Illegal immigration hurts most of all by taking jobs our most deprived Citizens could otherwise fill and reducing the wages of those who are still working. It reduces wages by creating an oversupply of Cheap labor. You can read about this in the back of the hiring line, a 200-year history of immigration.

Surges, Employer Bias5460 and Depression of Black Wealth5462 by Roy Beck. We're in an immigration surge that Be down in 1865 with passage of legislation that o opened the floodgates for mass immigration, Prior to which the fortunes of black and African Americans had been increasing, many people have the impression that meatpacking has always been a low wage job. But in the book we learn otherwise. In 1980, Meatpackers were black and they had been earning good middle class wages for a handful of decades Having organized and unionized, but by that decade end meatpackers were mostly immigrants earning barely above minimum wage and toiling5508 under atrocious conditions in which amputations were common.

Unauthorized immigrants are particularly easy to exploit due to their fears of deportation and so their Presence depresses wages even more than does the presence of legal immigrants. Unauthorized immigration not only Takes jobs from our most deprived citizens. It is associated with problems among them that lead to misery such as social isolation, crime, drug addiction, depression, reduced family formation and in Stream cases, deaths of despair, suicide, drug overdoses, which is really often suicide, and alcohol poisoning, the kinds of problems that many of us would have if we were working for a citizen then out of a job. Massachusetts population 7 million had a 100,000 unauthorized immigrants in 2007. That number has skyrocketed to more than 300,000 today. They constitute 5% of our population. E-Verify became mandatory in Florida just this past summer.

The law has already resulted in higher wages for the working class Floridians who were the are the most likely5597 to compete for jobs against the illegal aliens. The New York Times reported that hourly rates per jobs have increased about 10% since the bill was signed into law in May. To those5612 employers who claim that workers are hard to find, you need to pay more. The labor participation in Massachusetts is only 64% right now. It's been as high as 70% in recent years. The burden on our workers that causes the litany Problems culminating in depths of despair that I cited above is a blot on the Commonwealth It makes us all a bit worse off. Social contagion is a real phenomenon. Please give our workers a big boost in their lives by passing e-Verify. They deserve it and so do we. Thank you very much.

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