Boston City Council Votes 11-2 to Move Inauguration Date Off New Year's Day

BOSTON -- March 20, 2024, Boston City Council voted 11-2 to advance a home rule petition shifting the city's inauguration date away from New Year's Day, while unanimously approving more than $1.85 million in collective bargaining supplemental appropriations. Councilor Brian Worrell, who sponsored the inauguration measure, told colleagues that first responders this year had to staff the ceremony just 10 hours after First Night and New Year's Eve, calling it "too great of a strain to put on Boston public safety professionals." Government Operations Chair Gabriela Coletta Zapata said the amended language would place future inaugurations between January 3 and January 5. The six labor contracts, covering AFSCME Council 93 ($1,203,751), the SEIU ($647,254), and BPD graphic designers in the NY Typographical Union CWA Local 14156 ($2,945), all run through June 30, 2027, with 2 percent annual base wage increases and flat salary add-ons; Ways and Means Chair Worrell noted the agreements bring roughly 82 percent of city union membership under settled contracts. The council also unanimously adopted resolutions recognizing Bangladesh Independence Day, naming March 21 as Andrea Swain Day, and supporting the Massachusetts Location Shield Act banning the sale of cell phone location data.