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Child-care providers in RI fight for union rights |
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by Alex Gould, alexandergould (nospam) yahoo.com |
 On June 22, Rhode Island governor Donald Carcieri vetoed the Family Childcare Providers Business Opportunity Act of 2005. The act would have allowed the state's 1,300 licensed and hundreds of other unlicensed home-based day care providers, members of the union SEIU 1199, to bargain collectively with the state for wages and benefits.
As wages fall behind inflation for most workers, and welfare payments are eliminated, the home based day care workers have become essential for working parents in Rhode Island. The day care fees are subsidized for thirteen thousand parents by the state, although these subsidies are being cut to pay for tax cuts for the richest Rhode Islanders. But the day care workers are poorly compensated for their central role in the state's economy. The Day Care Justice Co-Op, an organization of day care workers that preceeded the union drive, found that after deducting for the cost of childrens' toys, books, food, safety equipment, and sometimes assistants, the day care workers, mostly black and latina women, ended up with a wage of only $2.76 per hour, less than the legal minimum wage. |
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28 Jun 2005
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Filed under: News / Gender : Labor : Race : Social Welfare |
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Transgender Law in Massachusetts and Beyond |
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by h-fries, |
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How are trans people treated under the law in Massachusetts and elsewhere in the U.S.? This is an audio recording of a talk by attorney Cole Thayer at the Harvard Law School from Tuesday, April 26. |
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28 Apr 2005
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Filed under: News / Gender : GLBT/Queer |
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Rally at Mexican Consulate Demands Justice for the Women of Juarez and Chihuahua |
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by Erika Ransom, ransom (nospam) theprofits.org |
 On April 1st a crowd of about 50 people gathered outside the Mexican Consulate of Boston to demand justice for the women of Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico.
As people sang and handed out literature, a large banner stated, “4, 857 DEAD AND MISSING WOMEN, Juarez and Chihuahua, Mexico” with a silhouette of a woman with a question mark. The rally took place on the sidewalk outside the Mexican Consulate offices at 20 Park Place in downtown Boston, at noon on Friday. |
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04 Apr 2005
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Filed under: News / Gender : Human Rights : International |
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Bostonians Protest the Inauguration of President Bush |
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by Matthew Williams, plaid_baboon (nospam) hotmail.com |
 On Thursday, January 20, the day President Bush was inaugurated for his second term and thousands marched in opposition in Washington DC, about thirty hardy souls braved the bitter cold to stand from 5:30 to 6:30 in Copley Square, protesting here in Boston. Although the protest was organized by United for Justice with Peace (UJP), the main local anti-war coalition, the signs people bore showed that they had a variety of concerns--not just ending the occupation of Iraq, but also domestic issues such as the attacks on civil liberties and reproductive rights and the destruction of the welfare system. Organizers with UJP that I spoke with expressed not only their opposition to the Bush administration’s policies, but their fears that the Bush administration is making a concerted, purposeful assault on what’s left of democracy in this country. |
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21 Jan 2005
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Filed under: News / Gender : Human Rights : International : Politics : Race : Social Welfare |
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Grand Opening! Workers Fight to Unionize Sexuality Boutique |
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by Choke, monty76 (nospam) riseup.net |
labor! sex! feminism! solidarity!
Organized labor has never been sexier! Grand Opening!, Boston's premier sexuality boutique, has once again revolutionized what it means to sell sex toys. GO! workers have voted to join with UNITE HERE! and form the Grand Opening! Workers' Union. They have taken this step due to the high turnover rate of good employees, the lack of adequate benefits, the lack of a consistently fair living wage, the desire for a meaningful voice in the workplace, and the lack of a formal grievance process, among other issues. |
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27 Aug 2004
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Filed under: News / Gender : Labor |
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