Good morning. Hope your Labor Day weekend involved fewer crashed taxis than the Green Line's did. Let's get into it.

Encore Boston Harbor workers walk off the job — and the strike is a preview of a bigger labor fight brewing across the state.

More than 1,300 workers at Encore Boston Harbor in Everett — housekeepers, cooks, bartenders, dealers, warehouse staff — are on strike this Labor Day weekend after contract talks between UNITE HERE Local 26, Teamsters Local 25, and Wynn Resorts collapsed. The casino's staying open, but anyone walking that picket line, whether they're a guest, a delivery driver, or a replacement worker, is getting an earful. Workers say their pay hasn't kept pace with the cost of living in a state where rent alone can eat half a paycheck, and they're not buying management's claims of tight margins at a five-star property that pulls in billions.

This lands at an interesting moment for organized labor in Massachusetts. Just look at the split happening one state over: New Hampshire's local Teamsters just endorsed Democrat Chris Pappas for U.S. Senate, while national Teamsters president Sean O'Brien — a Boston-area guy himself — personally cut a check to Scott Brown, the former Massachusetts senator now running in the Republican primary. That's the same O'Brien who spoke at the 2024 Republican National Convention. The labor movement isn't speaking with one voice anymore, and the Encore strike is a real-time test of how much muscle unions still have on the ground here, regardless of what's happening at the top.

Watch for how long Wynn is willing to let this drag into the fall convention and tourism season — that's real revenue bleeding out with every canceled event. Full story at WCVB →

State Police academy reboots in October — with an outside watchdog this time. Nearly two years after recruit Enrique Delgado-Garcia died following a boxing exercise at the academy, State Police say they're bringing in PFM Group Consulting to independently monitor all 103 reform recommendations from a scathing May assessment that found an "overwhelmingly punitive" training culture. The 93rd Recruit Training Troop starts Oct. 26, and PFM will publish public progress reports annually for five years. Boston Globe →

Nine ballot questions, $18 million and counting. This November's ballot ties the record for most questions in a single year (last matched in 1994), and the money is already staggering — at least $17.9 million raised combined, with unions pouring in cash and more expected before Election Day. The fights range from applying public records law to the governor and Legislature to banning recreational marijuana sales to scrapping party primaries altogether. Boston Globe →

Marshfield's records mess boils over. The Select Board voted unanimously to seize control of the town's public records portal after Town Clerk Narice Casper argued her duties as Records Access Officer ended when her $12,000 stipend got cut. The fallout: weeks of unanswered public records requests, including financial data residents wanted ahead of a $7 million override vote. Town Administrator Ted Langill now holds the keys. South Shore News →

Hingham schools go long-range on budgeting. The School Committee is moving to a three-year budget forecasting model — a shift from the usual year-to-year scramble — while also chasing extra funding to speed up design work on a new Hingham High School. Superintendent Katie Roberts is pushing the multi-year approach as a way to get ahead of big capital costs before they hit. South Shore News →

More T shutdowns are coming this month. The MBTA has a fresh round of partial closures planned across the Green and Orange Lines in September — on the heels of a Saturday night incident where a taxi jumped the tracks near Allston Street on the B Branch, forcing a temporary suspension and bus substitution. If you're wondering why Bostonians have such a complicated relationship with the T, this is basically it in miniature. MassLive →

Central Mass. district bans door-to-door fundraising. A school committee voted to end door-knocking sales pitches for student fundraisers and barred schools from requiring kids to fundraise at all for extracurriculars — a small policy shift that speaks to bigger questions about equity and what families are quietly expected to pay for. MassLive →

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Big Spending This Week

Data from the MA Office of Campaign & Political Finance

Full hearing schedule →

Recent filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance:

Candidates

• Eliseu Desousa (Republican) — House, 13th Bristol — Filed: 8/31/2026

PACs

• Forward MA Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee — N/A, No office — Filed: 9/3/2026
• Massachusetts Freedom Fighters Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee — N/A, N/A — Filed: 9/3/2026

Ballot Question Committees

• Compassionate Care Coalition — N/A, No office — Filed: 9/3/2026
• Clean Air Cashback Public Policy Question Committee — N/A, N/A — Filed: 9/3/2026

OCPF →

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