Ed Collins

Ed Collins

Ed Collins is an Executive Vice President of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO.

Leaving DSA

November 9, 2023 Twenty-four longtime members of the Democratic Socialists of America published an open letter in The New Republic to explain why they’re leaving the organization.

Our hopes for a better world—more egalitarian, more just, more humane—once found expression in the Democratic Socialists of America.

Many of us have been members of DSA since its founding in 1982—some of us in leadership positions—as well as activists in the organizations and movements from which DSA emerged...

We were elated by the explosive growth of DSA that began in 2016, followed by the election of more than 100 DSA members to elective office. In such figures as Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman, Cori Bush, Summer Lee, and Greg Casar, we cheered a new generation of progressive political leadership in the United States. It seemed that we could finally join other nations in having a meaningful democratic socialist presence in our political mainstream.

In recent years, however, we have been deeply troubled by the emergence of isolating, purist, and self-destructive tendencies inside DSA that have undermined its promise. The very strength of the regenerated DSA is in its electoral work and its high-profile, politically astute elected officials, and yet they came under attack from within. Ocasio-Cortez was condemned for stating that Israel had a right to exist, and Bowman was subjected to a vicious campaign for his expulsion from DSA because of his refusal to endorse the boycott, divestment, and sanctions, or BDS, movement, as well as for his connections with Jewish peace organizations in the U.S. and Israel.

The campaigns against DSA members of Congress garnered high-profile, public attention, but they were only the tip of the iceberg. There were several attacks on DSA-member and DSA-endorsed state and local officials. Purist litmus tests were increasingly imposed on candidates for elected office as the price of DSA endorsements.

In our judgment, a moment of truth has arrived. The events of the last weeks in Israel and Palestine, and the responses of national DSA and many of its local chapters, bring us to the painful conclusion that today’s DSA has driven itself beyond redemption....

We are beginning discussions amongst ourselves, to which we will invite other signatories to this letter, on how to keep the true vision of democratic socialism alive and how we can work together to develop an organizational framework that supports our educational and political work.

Leo Casey, Harold Meyerson, Richard Healey, Peter Dreier, Ruth Jordan, Mark Levinson, Nathan Newman, Maurice Isserman, Ingrid Goldstrom, Larry Mishel, David Kusnet, Aaron Greenberg, Randall Brink, Janette Brink, Jules Bernstein, Jeff Isaac, Tom Canel, James Berger, Robert Feldman, Jennifer Klein, Ed Collins, Raymond Barglow, John Zuraw, Bill Mosley.

Background

While an employee of Western Massachusetts Electrical Company, Ed Collins was initiated into IBEW Local 455 in Springfield, MA in January 1967 after having served in The US Navy as a Machinist Mate aboard the Aircraft Carrier USS America (CVA 66).

In 1969 he was elected Recording Secretary of the local. In the 1971 local union election Collins successfully challenged the incumbent and was elected President of the local and in 1972 upon the resignation of local 455 Business Manager Joseph Hallett, Collins was appointed to fill out Brother Hallett's term by the local union's Executive Board.

Collins was reelected Business Manager / Financial Secretary of local 455 in 1974, 1977, 1980, 1983, and 1986. In 1988 he was appointed an International Representative of the IBEW by then International President J.J. Barry.

As an International Representative he has served IBEW locals in the Utility, Manufacturing, Telephone, and Radio and Television Broadcasting industries through out New England.

During his time as Business Manager / Financial Secretary of local 455 Collins served as Chief Negotiator in more than 40 contract negotiations with various employers that employed the unions members. These included investor owned utilities and municipal and state owned electric and gas utilities as well as corporations engaged in electrical manufacturing.

He was the lead organizer in campaigns that brought the employees of South Hadley Electric Light Department and Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Co. into the IBEW and he was instrumental in persuading former local unions 761, 909, 926, 1500, and 2054 to merge with local 455 in the 1970's. The combined effects of these activities doubled the size of local 455's membership.

Brother Collins served two terms as President of the Pioneer Valley Central Labor Council AFL-CIO between 1990 and 1994.

He was elected a Vice Presidentof the Massachusetts AFL-CIO in 1986 and currently serves as Executive Vice President at Large of that body.

International Representative Collins was a founding member of the Massachusetts Collation for Occupational Safety and Health and served as its Co Chair for four years. He has also served on many civic and community boards including the United Way, Goodwill Industries of Hartford / Springfield, the Regional Employment Board and Child and Family Services.

He was appointed by Governor Michael Dukakis to the Board of Trustees of Westfield State College in 1990 and served until 1995. In 2007 Governor Deval Patrick appointed him to the Board of Trustees of the University of Massachusetts. He currently serves as Vice Chair of the Board's Administration and Finance Committee and as a member of the Audit Committee

Collins teaches a course on the Governance of Unions at School of Industrial Relations of the Labor Guild of the Archdiocese of Boston and has been a guest lecturer on Labor History and the Political Economy of the Labor Movement at numerous colleges in Massachusetts.

Brother Collins is a graduate of Springfield Technical High School; Springfield Technical Community College and the University of Massachusetts Labor Executive Training Program.

He is a twenty four year member of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee serving on the Executive Committee of the party and he represented Massachusetts as a elected delegate to two Democratic National Conventions. He also served as Presidential Elector pledged to John Kerry in the 2004 Electoral College.

He is married to Paula Collins, RN They have one son, Dan Collins.

MassCOSH

The Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health (MassCOSH), co-founded by Democratic Socialists of America member Ed Collins in 1976, brings together trade unionists, environmentalists and community groups to“advocate for safe, secure jobs and healthy communities”.

Democratic Socialists of America

DSA Members Organizing Against Trump

DSA Members Organizing Against Trump was a letter released early October 2010 to shore up Democratic Socialists of America support for Joe Biden.

Signatories included Ed Collins, Pioneer Valley Democratic Socialists of America.

New beginnings

At 72, Ed Collins of Springfield has been involved in socialist political organizing in the Pioneer Valley for at least four decades, and has seen several efforts to form lasting chapters of a particular socialist organization fail.

However, Collins says that the formation in early 2017 of the Pioneer Valley Democratic Socialists of America — which covers Franklin, Hampshire and Hampden counties — is different from previous attempts, and has a strong likelihood of being the most enduring effort to date.

The local chapter’s sudden and continued presence mirrors a nationwide trend. Since the 2016 presidential election, the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA, has seen an explosion in membership as the political left continues to grapple over which direction the Democratic Party should move in the era of Donald Trump. For DSA and others in the progressive wing of the party, the answer is clear: away from the “center,” which actually becomes more conservative every year, and further to the left.

That work includes pushing progressive issues — free public college, universal health care, criminal justice reform — at the level of the state Democratic Party, where Collins is a member of the executive committee due to his chairing of the state party’s labor outreach subcommittee.

Collins said that DSA and other progressive organizations — such as Our Revolution, which spun out of the Sanders campaign — had a large presence at the state Democratic Party’s platform convention last year, playing a significant role in shaping policy stances.

But Collins — a longtime member and official with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers — is confident. He says unlike previous local DSA chapters that were largely made up of students in the wealthier communities behind the “tofu curtain,” this chapter has expanded to include people in the region’s more industrial communities, and that gives him hope.

“We didn’t hit a home run here, we’re on first base,” Collins said of the group’s efforts. “But it’s still amazing progress.”

Debs-Thomas-Bernstein Awards Reception

2001

On June 12, 2001, Ed Collins was a supporter of the annual Debs-Thomas-Bernstein Awards reception which is hosted by Boston Democratic Socialists of America. The Debs-Thomas-Bernstein Award is presented to "leaders who fight for democracy, here at home and around the world". Ed Clark, Honorary Vice Chair of Democratic Socialists of America; and Communist Party USA-linked Dessima Williams received the Debs-Thomas-Bernstein Award, while DSAer John Maher received the Michael Harrington Lifetime Achievement Award. DSAer David Knuttunen; Boston-based "social justice" organization Neighbor to Neighbor; and In These Times members Abby Rockefeller and Lee Halprin were benefactors of the reception. The reception took place at the home of DSAer Marcia Peters and her husband David Karaus in Jamaica Plain.

2006

On September 24, 2006, Boston Democratic Socialists of America presented its annual Debs-Thomas-Bernstein Award to "our longtime comrade, Director of Massachusetts Neighbor to Neighbor Harris Gruman". Hosted by former Neighbor to Neighbor Director John Maher and Co-Chaired by Senator Pat Jehlen and MA AFL-CIO Vice President Ed Collins, the event was also a fundraiser for both Boston DSA and the Mass Alliance Some Alliance endorsed candidates were among the attendees, including Denise Provost, Jarrett Barrios, Willie Mae Allen, Claire Naughton and Will Brownsberger. Political Director Georgia Hollister Isman explained how the Mass Alliance helps elect progressives to the MA legislature, and introduced some of the candidates.

Pat Jehlen and John Mayer noted how Harris combines the skills and abilities of an ace precinct captain and shrewd political strategist with a vast knowledge of the more obscure Austria, Italy, which undoubtably comes in handy on the campaign trail.

Hosts were John Maher and Ellen Sarkisian, "perennial" MC was Julie Johnson of the Mass Teachers Association and DSA, primary organizers were Susan Davidoff and Mike Pattberg.

2010

The 2010 Debs-Thomas-Bernstein Awards, sponsored by Boston Democratic Socialists of America, took place Tuesday, June 13, 6:30—8:30 P.M., at the Jamaica plain home of environmentalist Marcia Peters and David Karaus.

2010 honorees were "two champions of social justice and grassroots democracy: Georgia Hollister Isman and Jack Clark". Honorary Co-Chairs for the event were MA AFL-CIO President Robert Haynes and State Senator Patricia Jehlen (D-Somerville), with special guest Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz (D-Boston).

Georgia Hollister Isman was presented by Andrea Miller of NARAL and Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz, who livened up her introduction by bursting into song.

After being introduced by MA AFL-CIO Vice-President Ed Collins and Janet Boguslaw from Brandeis University, Jack Clark "entertained and informed us with a brief tour of U.S. Socialist history".

Others who attended or sponsored the event included Rep. Frank Smizik, Somerville Alderman Rebekah Gewirtz, and recently elected President of the Washington, DC chapter of Red Sox Nation Eleanor LeCain, "our perennial MC, Julie Johnson", Mike Schippani (UAW-Detroit); Shaw’s striker Juan Garcia and UFCW staffer Heysoll Rodriguez.

Ed Collins also sent greetings to the event.

2012 DSA awards

At the 2012 awards reception of Boston Democratic Socialists of America, held on June 18 at 56 Perkins Street, Jamaica Plain, at the home of Marcia Peters and David Karaus, Andrea Miller, former Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, was honored.

Honorary Co-Chairs for this event were AFL-CIO Vice President Ed Collins and State Senator Patricia Jehlen.

DSA union forum

On September 8 2005 Boston Democratic Socialists of America and Jobs with Justice co-sponsored a forum on the recent split in the AFL-CIO before a Boston audience of about 30 people. Trade unionists from the dissident Change to Win Coalition engaged AFL-CIO loyalists and others in a wide ranging discussion that revealed more agreement about the problems of the labor movement than solutions, but also a desire, where possible, to work together.

Speakers were Ed Collins, John Murphy Ana Amaral, Enid Eckstein and Jeff Crosby.

Ed Collins (IBEW and DSA) began by making the case against the split, while acknowledging some CTW arguments had merit..

Sanders fundraiser

On October 18, 2006, about 20 people attended a Springfield fundraiser for the Bernie Sanders U.S. Senate race organized by the Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO and DSA, "which in this case means Dave Knuttunen and MA AFL-CIO Vice President Ed Collins". It raised almost $10,800 including checks from the UFCW and IBEW. Dave reports that despite the low turnout the event was “well-received by participants. We had the opportunity to show DSA in action to a few local labor leaders, as well as raise some significant new money for the Sanders campaign”.