LAWYER LAUDS TEAMSTERS’
Healey calls picketers’ actions ‘unacceptable’ as Goldberg defends ‘good people’ in union
Attorney General Maura Healey yesterday denounced the “unacceptable” behavior of union picketers despite the acquittal of the Teamsters who faced extortion charges for menacing the cast and crew of the reality show “Top Chef.”
Healey, whose office was not involved with the federal prosecution, will “respect the jury process,” according to a spokeswoman. But the Charlestown Democrat, who faced pressure to return thousands of dollars in Teamsters’ political donations when the four union members were first indicted, still condemned the alleged actions, which court documents said included telling celebrity host Padma Lakshmi, “I’ll smash your pretty little face.”
“As the Attorney General has said since the incident took place, this type of behavior is unacceptable,” spokeswoman Jillian Fennimore said in an email.
State Treasurer Deborah B. Goldberg, who’s gotten about $2,500 from Teamsters Local 25 in political donations, said she didn’t follow the court testimony closely, but said the alleged behavior “wouldn’t have been the Teamsters that I know.”
“If that is true,” Goldberg said of Lakshmi’s testimony, “and had I been present — even if I did know them and I support their right to picket or their right to take action — I would say, ‘Hey, cool it.’
“I support the men and women who for the most part don’t do those sort of things,” said Goldberg, adding that her family “brought in the unions ourselves” when it built the chain of Stop & Shop supermarkets. “There are a lot of good people at Local 25.”
Steve Tolman, the former state senator who now heads the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, praised the verdict, saying the jury opted “to protect one of the most valued and important rights we hold dear as Americans: the right to protest.”
“I do not condone any behavior that spreads intolerance, violence or hate,” Tolman said, but added that the type of extortion charges the U.S. Attorney’s office brought have “no relevance to a picket line.”
“Advocates for fairness and justice — whether it’s for good jobs or civil rights, equal marriage or affordable housing — should be cheering today’s decision,” Tolman said.