In the News — Massachusetts Jobs with Justice

Posts in Newspaper

"Trying to get by: As COVID-19 spreads, workers scramble"

“HOLYOKE — When schools and museums announced they were closing to stem the spread of the new coronavirus sweeping the globe, that alarmed Anne Thalheimer.

As an art educator, Thalheimer said she is ‘the very model of the modern gig economy,’ cobbling together part-time jobs to make ends meet. But some of those jobs have now dried up, leaving her without a large portion of her income. Thalheimer also works as a personal care assistant, or PCA, but that job is one that puts people the most at risk for contracting the virus, according to Department of Labor data compiled by The New York Times.

‘The PCA gig means I’ll still be able to pay rent, but nothing else,’ Thalheimer said Tuesday. ‘Which is horrifying.’”

NewspaperGuest UserMarch 18, 2020COVID-19, Unemployment, Alicia Fleming

"The movement to make workers’ schedules more humane"

“Alicia Fleming had worked as a server at restaurants in Massachusetts for a decade and a half. She enjoyed the work, but after she had her son at the age of 32, she found it impossible to stay in the job.

‘The restaurant is looking at their bottom dollar,’ Fleming said, ‘and won’t schedule you unless they absolutely need you. And then you don’t know until a few days before whether or not you’re even going to be asked to work.’

The result was that — as a single parent without close family nearby — Fleming was often scrambling to find childcare. When she wasn’t able to do so on short notice, she’d have to miss a shift. Her income fluctuated from week to week, and even though she was still employed at the restaurant, she was struggling to make ends meet.”

NewspaperGuest UserNovember 5, 2019Food Service, Fair Work Week, Alicia Fleming

"Education Justice Alliance Launched by RTA"

“There’s an old saying that there is strength in numbers so when it comes to the future of funding education in Revere what’s the harm in having more people on your side?

The Revere Teachers Association (RTA) has recently joined forces with community and statewide organizations to create the Revere Education Justice Alliance (REJA).

This Alliance, made up of educators, parents, students and community members, is dedicated to supporting free, accessible, and fully-funded public education in Revere.

For the better part of the past year the RTA has been meeting with Women Encouraging Empowerment (WEE), Revere Youth in Action (RYiA), the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) and Massachusetts Jobs with Justice (JWJ) to lobby for increased state funding to Revere Public Schools, as part of the statewide Fund Our Future campaign.

These groups have been on the front lines advocating for ending the generations-long under-funding of local public schools.”

NewspaperGuest UserOctober 28, 2019Education Justice

"Immigrants to gather outside Boston courthouse in protest of bid to end temporary protected status"

“BOSTON (WHDH) - Immigrants and activists plan to protest President Donald Trump’s bid to end temporary protected status (TPS) for thousands of immigrants.

TPS holders, other immigrants, The Mass. TPS Committee, The Brazilian Workers’ Center, and Massachusetts Jobs with Justice are expected to gather outside of the John Joseph Moakley U.S. Courthouse in Boston at noon — the same time Trump’s argument to end TPS is set to be reviewed by a California judge.

Roughly 320,000 families, including about 8,000 in Massachusetts, depend on TPS to remain in the community, according to protest organizers.”

NewspaperGuest UserAugust 14, 2019TPS, Immigration

"Why Labor Unions are Increasing Influence"

“As negotiations entered their second month, Mike Pietros felt his optimism fade and his anger build. Pietros, fifty-three, had worked for Stop and Shop since 1998, when he was hired as a part-time meat cutter who floated from store to store. In twenty-one years, the North Providence resident had worked his way up to a meat manager’s position at the Cumberland store, and he now sat on the bargaining team for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union hammering out the terms of the next contract.

The grocery chain’s corporate parent, Ahold Delhaize, had posted a $2 billion profit in 2018, but its offers were paltry. The Netherlands-based company had proposed a small wage increase, but also a rise in workers’ health care premiums, and reductions to holiday pay and to pension benefits for new full-timers. The UFCW saw this fundamentally as a pay cut, and an attempt to create a two-tiered employee system. By the time the old contract expired on February 23, their respective positions had hardened.

‘We were just treading water, and I started to get upset,’ Pietros says. ‘The company was not taking us too seriously, but without us, they don’t have a company. We are the ones who take care of the people. The customers come in to see us, not the people in corporate. We had to send the company a message.’”

NewspaperGuest UserAugust 13, 2019Gillian Mason, Labor Unions

"Inside the Bitter Battle to Defend Workers and Patients at a Low-Income Clinic"

“When Whittier Street Health Center unveiled its glass-sheathed, six-story, environmentally-advanced, state-of-the-art, new facility in 2012, it was seen by its Boston community as a commitment to the neighborhood and the people it serves. With brightly painted walls and expansive views across the city, it sits at the heart of Roxbury, extending an invitation of convenience and care to a population that is mostly Black or Latinx and among the poorest and least healthy in the city.

Of Whittier’s patients, 91 percent live in poverty; 50 percent deal with food insecurity; two-thirds have been diagnosed with diabetes, hypertension, cancer, asthma or obesity; 35 percent of adults are without health insurance; and life expectancy for the area served is 58.9 years. Everyone agrees that this is a vulnerable population in need of highly trained, consistent and committed healthcare. Not everyone agrees that this population is getting it.

The reasons are a mix of difficulties shared by many community health centers, including political maneuvering, funding constraints and societal disregard for the poor. But some problems are distinct to Whittier: Staff and patients have complained that ill-advised, high-handed and destabilizing management practices interfere with and disrupt clinical care.”

NewspaperGuest UserJuly 30, 2019Healthcare Justice, Unions

"Residents Telling Congressman Lynch to Close Detention Camps"

“Local grassroots organization JP Progressives will be visiting Congressman Stephen Lynch's Boston office on July 25 to specifically ask him to close the immigrant detention camps on the southern border.

‘We are joining with other constituents in the district and hope to actually speak with Representative Lynch,’ said Anne Rousseau, co-chair of the JP Progressives.

‘The conditions at the detention camps are unacceptable and that has to change,’ said Molly Rose Tarpey, Director of Communications for Congressman Lynch, to Jamaica Plain News. ‘He believes that anyone in U.S. custody must be treated humanely and with dignity. In addition, the asylum cases need to be adjudicated expeditiously.’”

NewspaperGuest UserJuly 22, 2019Immigration, ICE, US-Mexico Border

"Migrant detention protest planned for Framingham on Friday"

“BOSTON - More than 30 vigils are planned across Massachusetts - including one in Framingham - for Friday, in connection with a national campaign protesting the conditions in migrant detention centers.

Immigrant, religious and labor groups, along with other advocacy organizations, throughout the country are holding ‘Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to End Human Concentration Camps’ demonstrations, with ‘key events’ planned for El Paso, Texas; San Diego, California; Homestead, Florida; New York City; and Washington, D.C.

The Framingham Lights for Liberty event takes place starting at 7 p.m. Friday outside the Memorial Building at 150 Concord St. Following speeches by community leaders, advocates and impacted persons, a silent candlelight vigil will take place at 9 p.m.”

NewspaperGuest UserJuly 10, 2019ICE, Immigration

"Stop & Shop Workers End 11-Day Strike With a Tentative Agreement"

“After more than a week of strikes, 31,000 workers at Stop & Shop, a major supermarket chain in the northeastern United States, will go back to work thanks to a tentative new contractwith their employer. The United Food and Commercial Workers announced that the proposed contract — which still requires a vote from union members to be ratified — ‘preserves health care and retirement benefits, provides wage increases, and maintains time-and-a-half pay on Sunday for current members.’

When the Dutch company Ahold completed its merger with the Belgian Delhaize Group in 2016, the resulting $29 billion company became one of the biggest supermarket chains across the entire United States. In addition to Stop & Shop, the company owns grocery stores like Giant and Food Lion, as well as grocery delivery services like Peapod.

Ahold-Delhaize boasted of massive savings to come from the merger, in addition to more than $200 million in savings last year alone from the 2017 Republican tax cuts. But rather than share that wealth with its workers, the company has returned roughly $4 billion in stock buybacks to enrich shareholders over the last few years.

Ahold-Delhaize itself said that the ‘best talent is key’ to its financial success in a media release of its 2018 earnings. And workers know that, too. ‘This is not a company in financial trouble,’ the UFCW said in a statement, pointing to Ahold-Delhaize’s $2 billion in profits last year.”

NewspaperGuest UserApril 22, 2019Stop and Shop, Unions, Strike

"Boston organizers serve the community In honor of Black Panther Party"

“PSL members Nino Brown and Joe Tache presented on the history, politics and strategy of the Black Panther Party, and on why there is always a housing crisis in Boston. During Brown’s presentation several attendees exclaimed ‘All power to the people!’ and after Tache described why the wages workers receive are always less than the value they produce, one member in the audience stated ‘We’re making and creating everything, but they’re giving us a minimum wage off of our work because they’re making all the profit off of what we’re creating.’ After the presentations, attendee Deondre Morton received a copy of Mumia Abu Jamal’s autobiography, We Want Freedom, for answering a trivia question correctly. He told Liberation News, ‘I learned a lot about the Black Panthers…I learned about the figures, I had heard of their names before but I didn’t really know how they were connected to the struggle. Particularly, about Black people back in the day and how it’s affecting us today.’”

NewspaperGuest UserMarch 19, 2019Socialism, Black Panther Party

"Back from the border: Local activists join ‘Sanctuary Caravan,’ share stories from trip"

“NORTHAMPTON — Two people from western Massachusetts recently spent time in Tijuana, on the border between the United States and Mexico, supporting the migrant caravan of thousands of Central American people who are seeking asylum in the U.S. The activists are part of the Sanctuary Caravan, a national initiative launched by immigrant rights group New Sanctuary Coalition that is working to get Americans to the border to support migrants there.

Adelita Simon, a Mount Holyoke College senior studying international relations and geography, and Caroline Murray, the national coordinator for Sanctuary Caravan, spoke about their experiences on the border during a panel on Monday evening, ‘Report Back From the Border: What Can We Do?’

Simon met Murray, a longtime western Massachusets organizer, at the Pioneer Valley Workers Center, where Murray is an adviser and Simon is an organizing fellow.”

NewspaperGuest UserDecember 6, 2018ICE, Immigration, US-Mexico Border

"Protesters gather to rally against ICE, immigration legislation"

“GREENFIELD — A call to action from two activist groups in the Pioneer Valley brought about a group of roughly 50 protesters to the Franklin County House of Corrections Friday morning.

The message advocated was twofold: Abolish the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, or at least the detention centers it oversees and to advocate for policy regarding the rights of immigrants in the Legislature that looks like it will be left out of the state budget Gov. Charlie Baker is expected to sign by the end of the month.

‘We want to bring the community together to show we stand with immigrants,’ said Eduardo Santiago, who is of Mexican descent and a member of Pioneer Valley Worker Center, a co-organizer of the protest. ‘We’re coming out here today to also send a message to our elected representatives and officials.’”

NewspaperGuest UserJuly 20, 2018ICE, Immigration

"Boston Jobs Coalition Decries Economic Disparity in Boston, Announces Wealth And Income Campaign For Residents"

“The Boston Jobs Coalition held a press briefing on Wednesday, May 30, to begin their Campaign for Wealth and Income Now, which seeks to help residents stay afloat in a city with an ever-rising cost of living. The campaign — lead by a score of advocacy groups such as City Life/Vida Urbana, the Black Economic Justice Institute, and Reclaim Roxbury — started off its mission with announcing a new ordinance to be filed to the City Council which would help residents enter jobs largely taken by suburban workers.”

NewspaperGuest UserJune 13, 2018Economic Justice, Tarshia Green-Williams

"Protesters demand Harvard divest from Baupost"

“More than 100 students and community activists protested last week against Harvard University for profiting from Puerto Rico’s debt.

The coalition of activists demonstrating last Wednesday at the school’s campus included groups such as Community Labor United, The Hedge Clippers, Raices Boriken Collective, Harvard Student Labor Action Movement, Center for Popular Democracy and Massachusetts Jobs with Justice.

The demonstrators called on the university to divest its $2 billion stake with a Boston-based hedge fund, Baupost Group, which is a large holder of Puerto Rican debt and is managed by billionaire Seth Klarman.”

NewspaperGuest UserJanuary 31, 2018Puerto Rico, Baupost Group

"Massachusetts residents rally in protest of DeVos at Harvard"

“Approximately 1,000 protestors gathered for the Stand for All Students rally outside the Harvard Kennedy School’s Institute of Politics Thursday night to protest the U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who was invited to talk at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum.

The purpose of the demonstration was to express unity in supporting all students, in addition to resisting the school privatization agenda of the DeVos administration, said Gillian Mason, co-interim director for Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, prior to the Stand for All Students rally.

‘The message is that we here in Mass[achusetts] stand by our schools and we stand by our students,’ Mason said. ‘That means students of color, that means students who are trans students, that means survivors of campus sexual violence. We are all in this together. And because we stand for every student, we are ready to get up and fight for it.’”

NewspaperGuest UserSeptember 29, 2017School Privatization

"As strike looms BMC nurses tell alarming stories about patient care"

“Pittsfield — An organized group of healthcare professionals with longstanding grievances against Berkshire Health Systems held a forum Tuesday night (September 19), airing in graphic detail what they say are chronic understaffing problems that have caused patient neglect at Berkshire Medical Center.

About 100 people attended the forum at the First United Methodist Church organized by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which, at 23,000 members, is the largest union of registered nurses in the state and the one that represents BMC nurses.

BHS holdings also include Fairview Hospital in Great Barrington. However, Fairview nurses are represented by a different union, which reached an agreement with BHS on a new contract late last year, a BHS spokesman told the Edge.

With a potential strike looming, moderator Liz Recko-Morrison told the audience, ‘We think the community should be part of that discussion.’ The union, she said, has been ‘bargaining in good faith for over a year,’ while BHS management has dragged its feet.

Union members said hospital representatives had been invited but declined to attend the event, which was sponsored by a variety of labor-oriented groups including the Berkshire Democratic Brigades, the Berkshire Central Labor Council, Indivisible Pittsfield and Massachusetts Jobs with Justice.”

NewspaperGuest UserSeptember 20, 2017Nurses' Strike, Healthcare Justice

"Nurses strike at Tufts Medical Center, set to return to bargaining table"

“When staff nurse Mary Havlicek Cornacchia reported to TuftsMedical Center at 7 a.m. on July 12, it was not for the early morning shift. Rather, Cornacchia, along with nearly 1,200 of the Tufts Medical Center nursing staff, was joined by community members in what would be the first nurses’ strike in the city of Boston in over 30 years, and the largest nurses’ strike to ever occur in the state, according to the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA), the union representing the Tufts nurses.

The strike came after the nurses attempted to parse out the details of their contract with Tufts Medical Center and make addendums to the existing agreement.

‘Staffing, wages and our retirement plans are the three big sticking points,’ Cornacchia, who is also the co-chair of the MNA bargaining unit at Tufts Medical Center, explained.

According to David Schildmeier, the director of public communications at MNA, the amount of participation from the nurses was unprecedented.”

NewspaperGuest UserAugust 29, 2017Nurses' Strike, Healthcare Justice

"Activists protest Santander bank’s role in Puerto Rico debt crisis"

“Local activists gathered outside Santander’s State Street bank branch in downtown Boston last week to decry the company’s role in Puerto Rico’s debt crisis. During the demonstration, organized by Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, protestors charged that executives from Santander — a Boston-based bank with a significant dealings in Puerto Rico —not only profiteered off the island’s financial turmoil, but also used government positions to push policies that exacerbated it. Worst of all, two of its executives are among the handful of powerful board members granted authority over fixing the crisis.

As Puerto Rico’s finances soured and loans began to look difficult to repay, the government issued more bonds to pay off interest on their debts and maintain their credit rating, and then issued bonds to pay off interest on those bonds. Meanwhile, banks like Santander earned high profits for their underwriting services on such bonds, pulling more cash from the depleting public coffers. Demonstrators say it was unethical to pursue such profit at the expense of a distressed government and that a conflict of interest was inherent due to members of government’s previous bank executive roles.”

NewspaperGuest UserDecember 22, 2016Puerto Rico, Gillian Mason, Santander

"Haverhill Nurses Win Raises, Bonuses in Holy Family Hospital Pact"

“Haverhill nurses receive pay raises, bonuses and a pension plan in an agreement reached last week with Holy Family Hospital-Haverhill.

The three-year agreement between the hospital and 141 members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) also promises reduced out-of-pocket costs for health insurance. It settles a longstanding dispute between nurses and the hospital that went public last summer with some community groups backing the nurses.

‘We are pleased to announce this agreement which was ratified overwhelmingly by our valued nurse employees through their union. Holy Family Hospital is pleased to offer exceptional pay, benefits, and education opportunities to all of our employees, including MNA members. This contract will continue and further that tradition,’ said Holy Family Hospital President President Craig Jesiolowski.

The new contract includes 3.2 percent pay raises over three years, a 2 percent bonus on wages paid in the last year and a 1 percent bonus on paychecks between November and next April.”

NewspaperGuest UserDecember 13, 2016Nurses' Strikes

"Guards at Boston Museum of Fine Arts Protest More “Militarized” Role"

“For the past three weeks, guards who usually serve to protect the treasures of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) have instead been walking the pavement outside. Members of the Museum Independent Security Union (MISU) object to changes that museum officials want to make to reduce flexible scheduling and the coverage they’ve provided inside the galleries to assist patrons and protect the art. According to Hyperallergic.com this week, MISU president Evan Henderson explained the guards’ position saying the proposed changes are ‘pushing guards out of their positions,’ and would ‘reportedly be less focused on providing artwork protection and guest support within the galleries, and require them to cover shifts in areas of the museum like the attic, offices, or outdoors.’

Henderson was quoted in the Boston Globe saying, ‘They want us to be more like unlicensed cops, in which we’ll be more militarized…. We’ll be doing, like, drills in the morning. They want us to not focus on the artwork and be able to fight things like active shooters.’”

NewspaperGuest UserDecember 18, 2015Policing, Museums