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For Labor Day: Boston-area workers finding new paths to rights and respect |
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by Rand Wilson, rand (nospam) mindspring.com |
 Four examples of how workers in the Boston area have found new paths to organization and the power of a voice at work. A recent study by the U-Mass Donahue Institute documents how the gap between rich and poor has widened substantially in Massachusetts over the past two decades. It showed that only those earning the highest incomes benefited from gains in technology, productivity, and globalization, while working class earnings stagnated and incomes for poor families plunged 15 percent (www.donahue.umassp.edu/publications/index). |
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29 Aug 2008
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Filed under: News / Human Rights : Labor |
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Sacco and Vanzetti Memorial Day |
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by Chuck U. Rosina, chuck (nospam) wmbr.org |
 Boston, MA--On Saturday, August 23rd, Boston remembered the 81st anniversary of the execution of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, two Italian immigrants and committed anarchists whose trial is widely regarded as one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in American history. This is the third rally organized by the Sacco and Vanzetti Commemoration Society in Boston.
VIDEO (from saccoandvanzetti.org):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1npVlofXh4
LISTEN TO AUDIO (from Chuck): |
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24 Aug 2008
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Filed under: News / International : Labor : Media : Organizing |
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Sacco and Vanzetti-The Case That Will Not Die, Nor Should It |
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by A. Johnson, alfredjohnson34 (nospam) comcast.net |
 DVD REVIEW of SACCO AND VANZETTI, a documentary film by PETER MILLER, 2006. Using documentary footage, reenactment and ‘talking head’ commentary by interested historians, including the well-known author of popular America histories Howard Zinn, the director Peter Miller and his associates bring this case alive for a new generation to examine.
RELATED: Sacco and Vanzetti Third Annual March and Rally: http://boston.indymedia.org/newswire/display/205376/index.php |
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Verizon Settlement Provides New Union Jobs, Protects Health Care |
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by Rand Wilson, rand (nospam) mindspring.com |
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A new tentative three-year contract settlement with Verizon achieves union employees' major goals of promoting union jobs and expanding bargaining rights, providing good health care for both active and retired workers, and increasing wages and pensions for 65,000 workers from Virginia to Maine, the Communications Workers of America and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers reported. |
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17 Aug 2008
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Filed under: News / Labor : Organizing |
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Telecom workers rally for good jobs and reliable services at Verizon |
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by Rand Wilson, rand (nospam) mindspring.com |
 Seeking a fair contract, more than a thousand telephone workers from throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island marched on Verizon's New England headquarters to rally for good jobs and reliable services. The current agreement covering about 65,000 employees with Verizon East expires at midnight on August 2, 2008.
[UPDATE: The Communications Workers of America announced tonight that in light of progress that has been made in bargaining for a new contract with Verizon, it has agreed to "stop the clock" on the expiration of the current contract and postpone strike action while negotiations continue. The current contract will remain in effect.] |
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02 Aug 2008
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Filed under: News / Labor : Organizing |
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Ice Strikes Providence: People Fight Back |
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by Juice--Providence NEFAC, |
 On July 15th, 2008 over 150 community members rallied at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in downtown Providence where many immigrants were held after a raid that same day. The 30-plus detained janitorial workers were employed at six courthouses across Rhode Island. Many of the janitorial workers who were detained were in the midst of a labor dispute with their employers. A local militant workers association, Fuerza Laboral, had been organizing with the workers to get unpaid wages. (http://www.fuerza-laboral.org/) |
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30 Jul 2008
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Filed under: News / Human Rights : International : Labor : Organizing : Race |
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Obama Lays Out Plans for Continued War |
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by Steven Argue, steveargue2 (nospam) yahoo.com |
 In a July 14, 2008 New York Times Op Ed, Barack Obama says:
"As I’ve said many times, we must be as careful getting out of Iraq as we were careless getting in. We can safely redeploy our combat brigades at a pace that would remove them in 16 months. That would be the summer of 2010 — two years from now, and more than seven years after the war began. After this redeployment, a residual force in Iraq would perform limited missions: going after any remnants of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia, protecting American service members and, so long as the Iraqis make political progress, training Iraqi security forces."
In other words, he does not plan to get all of the troops out of Iraq and he will only get most of the troops out in two years. And what does he explain he will do with these troops? Redeploy them. Redeployed where? His rhetoric has been clear: Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. |
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15 Jul 2008
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Filed under: News / DNC : International : Labor : Politics : War and Militarism |
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'Welcoming Massachusetts' Launches to Celebrate Diversity and Inclusion in MA |
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by MIRA Coaltion and Centro Presente, |
 Boston, MA - A diverse group of over 200 faith, labor, education, and immigrant community members and leaders gathered today at the Grand Staircase of the State House to officially launch the new Welcoming Massachusetts statewide initiative. Welcoming Massachusetts was founded on the belief that the people of MA remember, honor, and value its immigrant roots, and that the communities that make up the Commonwealth embrace the shared values that unite everyone.
Sign the Pledge!
http://www.welcomingma.org/ |
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09 Jul 2008
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Filed under: News / Globalization : Human Rights : International : Labor : Race |
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