In the News — Massachusetts Jobs with Justice

"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

"One of the Biggest Problems on College Campuses Is One We Never Talk About"

“The time for quietly enduring discrimination on college campuses is over.

From the University of Missouri to Yale University to Claremont McKenna College in California and beyond, students of minority groups which were only relatively recently permitted access to higher education are protesting the unacceptable ways they're treated in their ‘elite’ communities.

But while protests against racism on campus are perhaps the loudest — or at least the most visible — there's another damaging force against which students are pushing back: classism.

Low-income students' concerns often intersect with issues of race: Almost two-thirds of African-American undergraduate students and 51% of Latino undergraduate students receive Pell Grants, or federal funds allocated to low-income students, according to the Washington Post. But confrontations over class-based issues on campus often emerge in ways that are different than debates over race. While many low-income students certainly encounter blatantly classist attitudes, their socio-economic backgrounds frequently disadvantage them in more subtle — though equally detrimental — ways.

Is higher education really an equalizing force? For centuries, ‘college was reserved for elite, mostly white men,’ Anne Phillips, executive director of Class Action, an organization that seeks to end classism, told Mic.“

NewspaperGuest UserNovember 23, 2015Classism, Gillian Mason

"Baker Outlines Charter School Plans At Mattapan School"

“Gov. Charlie Baker reignited a debate on Thursday that has vexed and divided Democrat and Republican lawmakers in recent years, proposing an expansion of charter schools that would be targeted toward the lowest performing districts statewide.

Baker chose the Brooke Charter School in Mattapan, in the district of Education Committee Co-Chair Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, to lay out a case and proposed path forward to expand and more closely align charter schools with traditional public school districts.

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Baker's pitch, and the expected push from the administration to get the Legislature to act by next summer, makes good on a campaign promise to fight for a charter school expansion in the face of critics both on and off Beacon Hill who argue that charters siphon important financial resources away from traditional public schools.

‘As I stand here today, there are 37,000 kids who want to get in to a charter school, 37,000 families who simply want ... something bigger and better for their children,’ Baker said, later indicating that he could be willing to negotiate with legislative opponents over the funding issues that doomed a bill in the Senate last year.”

NewspaperGuest UserOctober 8, 2015Education Justice, Russ Davis

"Boston Snow Is Making This a Really Bad Week for the MBTA"

“The Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority remains in the hot seat as this winter’s record-breaking snowfalls continue to pummel the city. Over the course of a few weeks, three major snowstorms dumped more than six feet of snow on the area, causing transit delays and an eventual shutdown of the city’s railways.“

NewspaperGuest UserFebruary 13, 2015MBTA, Russ Davis

"Black Friday protests held against Wal-Mart in Salem, Danvers"

“While shoppers flooded Wal-Mart in Salem and Danvers for Black Friday deals, others lined up by the stores to boost awareness for the workers inside.

Members of the Massachusetts Jobs with Justice and Massachusetts Interfaith Worker Justice coalitions came together at about 50 Wal-Mart locations around the state to demand higher wages and better working conditions for employees that they say don’t have adequate rights on the job.

Many of the protests were held in the early afternoon hours on Black Friday, one of the biggest shopping days of the year.

Those protesting at the locations held hand-written and printed signs with phrases like ‘I stand with #WalmartStrikers’ and ‘Wal-Mart, treat your workers fairly, justly. Do the right thing.’

Paul Drake, who led the protest in front of Salem’s Wal-Mart location, said employees struggle with low wages, scheduling demands that don’t accommodate their needs and management styles that leave them voiceless.”

NewspaperGuest UserNovember 8, 2014Walmart, Black Friday

"8 fast food workers arrested in protest"

“Eight Boston fast-food workers and a community organizer were among dozens of protesters arrested across the country yesterday in an ongoing national effort to pressure McDonald’s, Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts and other fast-food companies to pay workers $15 an hour and to earn the right to unionize.

Darius Cephas, a 22-year-old employed by McDonald’s in Dorchester, was among the Hub workers and a Massachusetts Jobs With Justice organizer who volunteered to risk arrest by staging sit-downs in two downtown intersections to draw attention to a movement that started in New York City in 2012 and yesterday included protests in about 150 cities.”

NewspaperGuest UserSeptember 5, 2014

"Millionaires in MA Are Collecting Unemployment Benefits"

“Federal tax data shows that millionaires and other high income earners have been collecting tax benefits just like the rest of the world.

For the most recent year available, 2011, the IRS reports that 189 millionaires had received unemployment benefits, accounting for $2.4 million. 49,302 people who had made $100,000 or more in the same year accounted for $532.6 million in unemployment benefits, accounting for 15-percent of all unemployment cases.

‘Unemployment insurance is not an entitlement program so earnings, race, gender, etc. are not factors for eligibility,’ said Ann Dufresne, the Communications Director for the Massachusetts Department of Labor and Workforce Development. ‘Anyone who has lost their job through no fault of their own can apply for unemployment benefits.’”

NewspaperGuest UserMay 24, 2014Unemployment, Income Inequality

"Congressional report recognizes difficulties faced by adjunct professors"

“As adjunct professors at many institutions of higher education fight for adequate employment benefits, a report recently issued by Congress recognizes the challenges part-time professors face.

Issued by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, the report highlights the struggles faced by adjunct professors in the United States trying to earn a living from their adjunct salary. It is a response to a government-created forum that asked adjunct professors to express their career concerns.

The report marks the first time the government has recognized adjunct faculty mistreatment at universities as a growing issue, said Malini Cadambi Daniel, a spokesperson for an organization that aims to garner better benefits for adjunct professors called Adjunct Action.”

NewspaperGuest UserJanuary 31, 2014Gillian Mason, Academia

"Protests loom at Bay State Walmarts"

“Demonstrations are planned at two Massachusetts Walmarts to protest alleged company retaliation against 80 workers who went on strike in June — including two Bay Staters — and the firings of 20 others.

The union-backed protests will be staged today in Chicopee and Saturday in Chelmsford. They follow similar events scheduled yesterday in 14 other cities.

David Coulumbe, a cart pusher at the Chelmsford Walmart, and Chicopee cashier Aubretia Edick received warnings for excessive absences after their strike participation, according to Russ Davis, executive director of Massachusetts Jobs With Justice.”

NewspaperGuest UserNovember 26, 2013Black Friday, Walmart, Strikes

"Coalition Of Groups, Springfield Mayor Agree To Meet About Refugee Resettlement"

“Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno’s call for an end to refugee resettlement in the city has drawn a strong rebuttal from several social service agencies, faith- based groups, and anti-poverty activists.

A coalition including representatives of Catholic Charities, Council of Churches of Western Massachusetts, Jobs with Justice and several more groups that work with immigrants met in Springfield Friday and later held a news conference to call for a meeting with Mayor Sarno to discuss his claims that refugee resettlement had become a crisis in Springfield.

Rev. Susannah Crolius of the South Congregational Church in Springfield said she was taken aback by the mayor’s claims that refugees were causing a strain on housing, schools and public safety.”

NewspaperGuest UserAugust 16, 2013Refugees, Immigration

"Obama’s Budget Chief Nominee Led Walmart’s Targeted Giving"

“Recent reports suggest that President Obama is about to nominate Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the president of the Walmart Foundation, as director of the Office of Management and Budget. Her nomination would be a coup for Walmart and its foundation, which under Burwell’s watch has wielded its massive budget to expand the retail giant’s influence at all levels of government and to pave the way for store expansions.

The most recent tax disclosure from the Walmart Foundation, obtained by The Nation, shows that between February 2011 and January 2012, the company gave over $175.68 million in grants to charities, municipalities, churches and various community groups across the country, from the Environmental Defense Fund to Friends of NRA to Puppies Behind Bars. Our review of the foundation’s giving reveals that it has donated considerable cash to groups that have gone on the record to support Walmart during its most contentious political disputes, including the ongoing effort to open stores in New York City. The foundation also donates directly to municipalities, funds groups tied to powerful elected officials and instructs grantees to publicize Walmart’s generosity.

Leslie Dach, who oversees the foundation as Walmart’s most senior executive devoted to political affairs, touted the benefits of the company’s philanthropy during a presentation to investors in October 2010. According to a transcript, Dach described ‘our reputation’ as ‘a lever’ in pursuing the company’s goals, which he said include ‘new markets,’ among them ‘urban America.’ A former Democratic Party operative, Dach also extolled the company’s improved polling numbers among self-identified ‘liberals’ and ‘moderates.’”

NewspaperGuest UserFebruary 15, 2013

"Protesters Descend on Central Mass Walmarts"

“On Black Friday – the busiest shopping day of the year – labor and community allies descended on the Walmart locations in Northborough and Worcester as part of a nationwide mobilization of community support for striking Walmart workers. The local actions were undertaken to educate customers about Walmart Associates’ fight for respect in the workplace.

Employees of the world’s largest retailer have taken action at warehouses and retail stores across the country in recent weeks, walking off the job to protest low wages, unsafe working conditions, and the company’s continued attempts to silence workers’ voices on the job. From hour reductions to outright termination, Walmart has retaliated against the workers, prompting a formal federal complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.”

NewspaperGuest UserNovember 23, 2012

"SEIU Settles Sodexo’s Racketeering Suit, with Organizing Gains Uncertain"

“A long-running corporate campaign by the Service Employees to organize workers at the food-service multinational Sodexo ended shrouded in secrecy in September.

Sodexo had slapped SEIU with a lawsuit charging that the union’s attempts to pressure the company into a deal to allow organizing amounted to ‘extortion.’ A judge refused in July to dismiss the suit, filed under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

RICO was originally intended to be a tool against organized crime, but corporations have used it against unions since the late ’80s, to stop corporate campaigns that bring pressure on a company from all angles and seek to win concessions by bruising a company’s brand image.”

NewspaperGuest UserNovember 14, 2011Service Workers, Strikes

"Verizon Strike Turns Away Customers and Chases Scabs"

“Verizon’s strike in the Northeast is into Day Five, and big picket lines are turning away customers at Verizon’s wireless stores.

Injunctions could threaten one of the union’s most effective tactics, mass picketing at stores. But another—mobile picketing—is causing havoc for the company. Techs are chasing scab managers through the field, making them cross their very own personal picket line at the bottom of a pole or while they try to work in a manhole.

The strike covers 45,000 members of the Communications Workers and Electrical Workers (IBEW) from Massachusetts to Virginia. Verizon wants to eliminate pensions, as well as limit raises and force big health care costs onto current workers and retirees. The concessions would take $1 billion from workers, at a company which made almost $20 billion during the last four years.”

NewspaperGuest UserAugust 11, 2011Verizon, Strikes