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Seattle WTO Arrestees Win Class Action Suit |
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by Pete Stidman, |
 Lawyers and activists in Seattle are putting out the ali-ali all come free call to the 155 activists arrested at first and broad streets on December 1st in the 1999 Seattle WTO protests. A class action lawsuit; Hickey v. City of Seattle has been won on their behalf by the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice (TLPJ) and the City of Seattle is paying $250,000 in damages for wrongful arrest. A second class action suit for people arrested inside the allegedly unconstitutional “no-protest zone” is still underway and awaiting the result of an appeal. |
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11 May 2004
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Filed under: News / Human Rights |
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Police Shut Down Bl(A)ck Tea Society Meeting at MIT |
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by Bl(A)ck Tea Society, |
 On Wednesday, May 5th 2004, when Bl(A)ck Tea Society members arrived for their scheduled meeting on the MIT campus, they were greeted by two armed and uniformed Cambridge police officers (one of which illegally refused to identify himself), the chief of the MIT campus police, and a plainclothed agent (who also refused to identify himself, but one of the the other officers referred to as Mike). They were guarding and blocking the door to our reserved room, denying us the meeting space we have used for months before. |
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07 May 2004
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Filed under: News / DNC : Organizing |
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Watch out--Stalinist cult in Roxbury! |
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by mj, |
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I was approached by three people from a group called the "Eastern Service Workers Association" at the Wake Up The Earth fest in JP this weekend. They said they were organizing a "mutual-benefits" network for non-union precarious and service workers. But something seemed off. When I asked direct questions about their structure and the size of their organization, they were deflected with totally non sequitur bits of pseudo-revolutionary rhetoric. I half-assed a commitment to buy time and logged on to the internet. Ten google-seconds later, a bunch of "cult-watch" type sites came up. Turns out the "Eastern Service Workers Association" is a branch of the "National Labor Federation" (NATLFED), in turn a front group for the "Communist Party USA (Provisional)". This is a serious, cut-you-off-from-your-friends, work-you-18-hour-days cult. |
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05 May 2004
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Filed under: News / Politics |
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26th Annual Wake up the Earth Festival Heralds Spring! |
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by Pete Stidman, |
 There could not have been a more perfect day for Spontaneous Celebrations’ “Wake Up the Earth Festival” in Jamaica Plain. For 26 years this gathering has brought together the diverse communities of Jamaica Plain and Roxbury. This year’s attendance surpassed last years by far. Eighty degree weather brought thousands out to partake in the entertainment, food, and timely information from non-profit and community organizations. |
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01 May 2004
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Filed under: News / Politics |
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International Solidarity Activists Successfully Talk to Seaboard President Despite Two Arrests |
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by Matt Feinstein, |
 International activists successfully penetrated SEABOARD Corporation annual shareholder’s meeting outside of Boston yesterday (Monday, April 26). SEABOARD, responsible for the eviction of at least two indigenous Guarani communities in Salta, Argentina, was confronted with photographs and the powerful stories of the Kolla and the Ava Guarani. Armed only with cameras and their voices, the activists were able to redirect the shareholders meeting to the issue of indigenous land rights in Salta, Argentina. |
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28 Apr 2004
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Filed under: News / Globalization : Human Rights : International : Race |
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Caregivers testify about short staffing, poor conditions and lack of health insurance for nursing home workers |
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by Rand Wilson, |
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Six nursing home caregivers testified at a special Jobs with Justice hearing at the State House about how short staffing, poor working conditions, and low pay and benefits are impacting the quality of care. The hearing is part of a statewide campaign to support thousands of nursing home workers who are seeking agreements that will provide living wages, affordable health insurance, secure retirement, and dignity and respect for all employees. The workers are united in SEIU Local 2020. |
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21 Apr 2004
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Filed under: News / Labor : Social Welfare |
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Rally Against the US Occupation of Iraq and the Siege of Falluja |
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by Matthew Williams, |
 On Friday, April 16, 2004, in response to the devastating US attack upon the Iraqi city of Falluja, about two hundred people gathered for a protest against the US occupation on the Boston Common from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Speakers emphasized that we repeatedly have not been getting the real story. The various reasons given by the Bush administration for the invasion of Iraq, such as seeking to eliminate the Hussein regime’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or bringing democracy to Iraq, are false, as no WMD have been found and the Occupation authorities engage in anti-democratic actions, such as closing down opposition newspapers and imprisoning people without charges or trial. We have also not been getting the full story on Falluja--the armed resistance does not consist of a few malcontents, but has broad popular support, and the US military has targeted not just the armed fighters, but civilians, even during the supposed ceasefire. Two very different organizing strategies were visible at the protest. The organizers, United for Justice with Peace (UJP), a broad Boston-area coalition, emphasized a message of peace, that showed equal concern for the lives of American troops and the Iraqi people, in an effort to create a movement with broad appeal. Various sectarian groups, in addition to attempting to take over the protest, loudly proclaimed their support for the Iraqi armed resistance, a position that, while certainly politically legitimate, is not likely to do much for building a mass movement. What neither UJP nor much of the American peace movement seems to have come to grips with though is that we need to move beyond legal protests to nonviolent direct action if we are going to have any substantial impact on the US government’s policy on Iraq. |
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17 Apr 2004
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Filed under: News / International : Organizing |
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Police Surveillance of Peaceful Demonstrators in Andover, MA |
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by Sean Donahue, |
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For several years running, the Andover Police Department has conducted surveillance of participants in legal, nonviolent demonstrations at the Raytheon facility on Rte. 133. Officers have photographed participants in demonstrations, taken down the license plate numbers of cars parked near demonstrations, and run warrant checks on organizers whose names have appeared in newspaper articles about the demonstrations. |
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16 Apr 2004
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Filed under: News / Human Rights |
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