Posts in Newspaper
MNA Nurses at Baystate Noble Hospital and Baystate Home Health Seeking Fair Contracts on Wednesday, January 27
MNA Nurses at Baystate Noble Hospital and Baystate Home Health Seeking Fair Contracts on Wednesday, January 27

“WESTFIELD, Mass., Jan. 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The registered nurses of Baystate Noble Hospital and Baystate Home Health, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, will hold a safe, socially distanced Light Brigade action in downtown Springfield on Wednesday, January 27 calling on Baystate Health to reach fair contracts with the nurses that respect and value the care they have provided patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Noble nurses, along with Massachusetts Jobs with Justice and community supporters, have also delivered a public petition with more than 1,000 signatures urging Baystate Health CEO Dr. Mark Keroack to agree to a fair contract with Noble nurses that values the care they provide and improves and preserves local, quality care. That petition can be seen at bit.ly/supportnoblenursesand media can request a copy of the petition by emailing jmarkman@mnarn.org.”

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NewspaperGuest UserNurses
"Our View: Lawmakers must act quickly to help economy, businesses"

“The dawn of the new year brought a some good news for Massachusetts workers, with another increase in the minimum wage and, more importantly, the implementation of guaranteed paid family and medical leave.

The changes, negotiated as part of the so-called "grand bargain" in 2018, will certainly bring at least a modest boost to the fortunes of workers across the state struggling with the financial and health challenges brought on by relentless coronavirus pandemic.”

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NewspaperGuest UserMinimum Wage, Lily Huang
As new year turns, minimum wage climbs

“Some say the minimum wage is not high enough.

‘Sure it was a win, but it’s not enough,’ said Alicia Fleming, co-executive director of Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, said of the wage increase set to eventually reach $15 per hour. ‘People deserve and need so much more.’

Lily Huang, Fleming’s co-director at Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, echoed that sentiment in a recent statement from Raise Up Massachusetts, a coalition that gathered signatures to get a $15 minimum wage question on the ballot.

‘While many white-collar workers have spent the pandemic sheltering in their home offices and seeing their savings accounts grow, hundreds of thousands of low-wage workers have spent the past nine months struggling to afford protective equipment, food, and rent while working on the frontlines to keep others safe,’ Huang said.”

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NewspaperGuest UserLily Huang, Alicia Fleming, Minimum Wage
"New year will usher in 2018’s ‘grand bargain’"

“IT’S BEEN A TOUGH YEAR for low-wage workers, who were hit hard by the pandemic – losing jobs and income and facing housing and food insecurity.

But in Massachusetts, changes in state law that go into effect January 1 could bring at least slight relief. The minimum wage is set to rise next year, and the state’s paid family and medical leave program will go into effect as well.”

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NewspaperGuest UserMinimum Wage, Lily Huang
"Gloribel Rivas Recognized by the Boston Foundation"
"Gloribel Rivas Recognized by the Boston Foundation"

“In its annual report, The Boston Foundation (TBF) decided to profile leaders of social justice and public service from across the city.

One of those remarkable leaders profiled was Gloribel Beatriz Rivas, who serves as a legislative aide to Rep Adrian Madaro.

Legislative Aide Gloribel Beatriz Rivas was featured in The Boston Foundation’s annual report celebrating those working for social justice.”

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NewspaperGuest UserGloribel Rivas, Immigrant Rights, Racial Justice
MNA Nurses at Baystate Noble Hospital to Hold Informational Picket with Community Members at Noon on Wednesday, October 21

“WESTFIELD, Mass., Oct. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The registered nurses of Baystate Noble Hospital, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, have scheduled a safe, socially distanced informational picket on Wednesday, October 21 at 12 p.m. outside the hospital.

Noble nurses, along with Massachusetts Jobs with Justice and community supporters, have also launched a public petition at bit.ly/supportnoblenurses urging Baystate Health CEO Dr. Mark Keroack to agree to a fair contract with Noble nurses that values the care they provide and improves and preserves local, quality care.”

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NewspaperGuest UserNurses' Strike, Picketing
"MNA Nurses at Baystate Noble Hospital File Unfair Labor Practice Charges Against Baystate Health

“WESTFIELD, Mass., Oct. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The registered nurses of Baystate Noble Hospital, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, filed unfair labor practice charges on Wednesday with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after Baystate Health refused for months to respond to information requests from the nurses about councils, committees, boards and local trustees Baystate claims to rely on for public input when making decisions about hospital services.

Baystate has also refused to provide information to nurses about the impact of the Noble ICU closure in August 2019, data about staffing on the 2N/tele unit that merged last year and information nurses need to fully understand Baystate's proposal to eliminate an important overtime standard.”

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NewspaperGuest UserNursing, Healthcare, Pickets
"Coalition to Safely Reopen Schools Citing Serious Occupational Health Concerns to Be Addressed"

“In response to the statewide push to reopen schools for in-person education, the recently formed Coalition to Safely Reopen Schools, has issued its position statement citing a number of issues that need to be addressed to ensure that schools can be reopened without jeopardizing the health and safety of students, staff, or the communities schools serve. As a result of that analysis, the Coalition is calling for a phased approach to reopening, with no in-person learning unless and until those issues are resolved.”

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NewspaperGuest UserCOVID-19, Reopening, Education
"Supporters rally to save birthing services in Holyoke"

“HOLYOKE — The sound of drivers approvingly honking their horns filled the intersection of Beech and Northampton streets Thursday as protesters held signs with a simple message: “birthing access = racial justice.”

The protest was a response to Holyoke Medical Center’s plans to close its Birthing Center by Oct. 1, despite the fact that the state Department of Public Health has deemed those services essential to the community. The group Coalition for Birthing Care Access organized the demonstration to urge HMC’s leadership to reverse course and keep the Birthing Center open.”

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NewspaperGuest UserHealthcare Justice, Alicia Fleming
"Seeking more than a ‘symbolic gesture’: Around 200 join anti-racism protest in Easthampton"

“EASTHAMPTON — When Stephany Marryshow and her family moved into the Treehouse Foundation community in the city in 2005, it was because her mother wanted to provide her four children with the best opportunities possible.

But Marryshow stood on the lawn outside of the building that houses the city’s police station on Saturday afternoon and recounted some of the ways she and her loved ones experienced racism while living in the city: A seventh grade teacher asking her brother if he was in a gang or had ever been shot at, a postman asking her mother if she lived in the ‘projects on Pleasant Street’ and being pulled over, herself, by the police ‘way too many times.’”

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NewspaperGuest UserAnti-racism, Policing
"Sen. Markey Introduces Bill To Halt Deportations & ICE Actions During Coronavirus Pandemic"

“BOSTON – With states continuing to experience alarming upticks in the number of new coronavirus infections, Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) today introduced legislation to halt the Trump administration’s harmful immigration enforcement activities, including deportations, during the coronavirus pandemic to protect public health.

Continued arrests and apprehensions discourage immigrant communities from accessing services necessary for their health and well-being and contribute to dangerous crowding in immigration detention centers.”

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NewspaperGuest UserImmigration, ICE, Ed Markey
"Mayor responds to A Knee Is Not Enough’s demands"

“EASTHAMPTON – Mayor Nicole LaChapelle released an initial response to 01027: A Knee is Not Enough (AKINE), addressing their mission and demands.

AKINE is a community-based, grassroots group that was founded in partnership with Massachusetts Jobs with Justice, led by Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC). They believe that more than a symbolic gesture needs to happen in order to address issues of systemic bias, systemic violence, and systemic oppression.

Some of AKINE’s immediate demands included the public release information about the Easthampton Police Department (EPD) practices and policies to the community, regular meetings between EPD and community organizations including AKINE representatives, and an immediate ban on chokeholds and no-knock warrants.”

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NewspaperGuest UserAnti-racism, Policing, Western Mass
"Columbus, race pride and racism"

“For Italian American families like the one I grew up in, recalling our past is a shared obsession. Over endless family dinners, we tell stories about our parents and grandparents and the obstacles they overcame in their early years in the U.S. — arriving here with nothing, speaking a foreign language, working long hours as farmers, garment workers and tradesmen. Like all immigrant communities, pride in our history is the cornerstone of our culture.

That’s why it isn’t surprising that the decapitation of the Christopher Columbus statue in Boston’s North End last week caused a strong reaction from old-guard Italian Americans. Among the ritual condemnations of the destruction of private property, an old argument re-emerged — the Columbus statue is a symbol, not of genocide, but of our heritage.”

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NewspaperGuest UserAnti-racism, Colonialism, Gillian Mason
"As Pandemic Layoffs Top 17 Million, Mutual Aid Networks Arise"

“The latest weekly unemployment figures from the US Department of Labor came in today, and the bottom line, note Heather Long and Andrew Van Dam, is that “more than 17 million new jobless claims have been filed in the past four weeks.”

Astonishingly, the unemployment rate, which was 3.5 percent as recently as February, is now higher than it has been since the Great Depression.

“It looks like the unemployment rate is headed to 15 percent,” Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Bank, wrote in a note to clients, report Long and Van Dam. “This isn’t a recession, it’s the Great Depression II,” Rupkey adds.”

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NewspaperGuest UserMutual Aid