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Strong for the Employee Free Choice Act. Write a letter
to the editor for the Employee Free Choice Act!
A NOTE ABOUT PUBLIC MEETINGS & CHEMICAL
SENSITIVITIES: Men and women are requested to avoid wearing scented
personal products when attending public meetings. Scents trigger adverse responses
in those with chemical sensitivities. Note that many workers develop chemical
sensitivities on the job.
Friday January 9 (Second Friday)
STREET HEAT - THE AFL-CIO
MOBILIZATION COMMITTEE
9:30-11am, AFL-CIO Hall, 640
Page Blvd, near corner of Osborne Ter, across the street from the old
Westinghouse, Springfield. This meeting will focus on the campaign to win passage
of the Employee Free Choice Act. Also on the agenda: the YWCA; Postal
Privatization; Your Organizing! Community and labor activists are urged to
attend. Info; send agenda items to: Jon Weissman, 732-7970, street_heat@pvaflcio.org.
Friday January 9
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LUNCH
– ABOUT EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT
11:45am-1:15pm,
TD BankNorth Conference Center, 1441 Main St at Harrison Av, Springfield. The
Springfield Chamber of Commerce says that this membership lunch is “To
speak with employers of [sic] the effects of the ‘Employee Free Choice
Act.’" What will they say? Come support Chamber Member Dan
D’Alma (Business Manager, IBEW Local 7; President, Pioneer Valley
Building & Construction Trades Council; and Executive VP, Pioneer Valley
CLC) as he tries to speak for the proposition that it is our human right, as
well as an economic stimulus, to form unions, and it’s about time a new
labor law got employers out of our way. Info: 732-7970; 827-0301; 734-7137.
Saturday January 10
SPRINGFIELD
HEALTH DISPARITIES PROJECT
9:30am,
Tapestry Health, 365 Bay St, Springfield. Addressing existing disparities in
health care and outcomes, and the underlying racism, poverty, and homelessness.
Deciding whether to become a coalition and how to obtain future funding. Info:
Betty Agin, 627-4028, betagi7@verizon.net.
January 10-11
NATIONAL LABOR FOR
SINGLE-PAYER HEALTHCARE MEETING
St. Louis. Our health care
system is in crisis and the American people are demanding change. As a new
Democratic Administration takes office, those of us in Labor who support HR
676, the Single-Payer "Medicare for All" legislation introduced by
Congressman John Conyers, have an important role to play. With health care
reform back on the agenda, we must bring together the hundreds of HR 676 supporting
Labor organizations and build a strong "Medicare for All" campaign at
the grassroots where the crisis is taking its devastating toll.
To
date, 39 state AFL-CIO federations, over 100 Central Labor Councils and 400
local unions have endorsed HR 676. The first step is to unite the huge
reservoir of support for single payer in thousands of local unions and labor
bodies. To take that step, a number of labor federations and unions are meeting
in St. Louis on January 10. Info: Organizing Committee Coordinator Mark Dudzic,
201-314-2653, mdudzic@igc.org, http://www.laborforsinglepayer.org/.
Tuesday January 13
MASS-CARE LOBBY DAY FOR
SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE
10am,
State House, Boston. Car pooling from Northampton–Amherst area: leave
around 7:30–8am and arrive home around 3–4pm. 10am Briefing on
Mass. Health Care Trust bill, newly revised. This is the bill that would
establish universal single payer health care in Massachusetts. 10:45am Training
on how to talk to your legislators (lobbying). Then we will fan out across the
State House to meet with our legislators and urge them to sign on as
co-sponsors of Mass. Health Care Trust, which is being re-filed. Info, to car
pool: Alice Swift, 253-3197, acswift@comcast.net.
Thursday January 15
NATIONAL
CALL-IN DAY FOR HR 676 – MEDICARE FOR ALL
Thousands
of calls to Congress in support of HR 676! Targeting the Washington DC offices
– main switchboard is 202-224-3121 (http://www.house.gov/). Also
Senator Kennedy's office: 617-565-3170 or 202-224-4543. According to a letter
he sent in response to a request to support HR 676, he stated "In recent
weeks I have been working on legislation that will have bipartisan support and
guarantee quality, affordable health care for all Americans and their
families." We need to let him know that the only way to achieve this
is by implementing single-payer national health care for all. Info: Leadership
Conference for Guaranteed Healthcare, info@healthcare-now.org.
JASON VASSELL’S
PRE-TRIAL HEARING
2pm, Hampshire Superior Court,
15 Gothic St, Northampton; arrive early to get through the metal detectors on
time. The judge will decide whether to proceed with a hearing on Jason’s
motion to dismiss or throw the case out altogether. Almost a year ago, Jason
Vassell, a black student at UMass, a senior hoping to go to med school, was the
object of an unprovoked attack at 5am while in his dorm room by two drunk white
men who are not students, were on campus for no
legitimate purpose, and provoked the confrontation by smashing Jason's window
and repeatedly referring to him as a "nigger." Jason
was charged with assault and battery and attempted murder. District Attorney Elizabeth Scheibel, perhaps
because of public outcry, dropped the attempted murder charges but let stand
the assault and battery. If he is found guilty at trial (which may take place
in January or February), he could go to prison for 30 years. Jason was the only one charged at first. The more
aggressive of the white men has since been charged with four misdemeanors,
which could mean 18 months in jail. The Justice for Jason Campaign is calling
for the DA to drop all charges against Jason. Supporters in the court room send
that message.
Info: www.justiceforjason.org. Petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/J4JDismissalofcharges/index.html.
To contribute, write a check to Esmie James, Vassell's mother; mail to
"Justice for Jason," PO Box 197, Amherst MA 01004.
Thursday January 15 (Third Thursday)
NORTHAMPTON LIVING WAGE
COALITION
7pm, Western Mass Legal
Services, 20 Hampton Ave, Northampton, enter near Pleasant St. Drafting a City
Council resolution updating the Northampton Living Wage to reflect the cost of
living increase since 1998 (when the living wage was $7.49/hour for employees
with health insurance and $9.44 for employees without health insurance).
Collecting petition signatures supporting the resolution. Asking local business
owners to commit to paying a living wage or at least commit to working toward a
living wage. Info, to help get signatures: Kathryn Collins, kathryncollins52@yahoo.com.
WMASS JOBS WITH JUSTICE HAMPSHIRE
WORKERS' RIGHTS COMMITTEE meets with the NORTHAMPTON LIVING WAGE COALITION.
Info: 827-0301, wmjwj@wmjwj.org.
Thursday
January 15
DEPRAVED INDIFFERENCE: THE WORKER’S COMPENSATION
SYSTEM
7pm, Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St
(Routes 116 at 47), in the Village Commons, S Hadley, 534-7307 or 800-540-7307;
odysseybks@aol.com; www.odysseybks.com (www.odysseybks.com/directions.html).
Patrice Woeppel will read from and sign her new book, Depraved Indifference:
the Worker’s Compensation System.
Every eight minutes in America,
someone dies from a work injury or illness - more deaths than from most
diseases. Depraved Indifference: the Workers’ Compensation System
dissects a system that destroys the health and life of workers without fear of
prosecution, or even public outcry, while throwing the preponderance of costs
onto families and taxpayers. The stories in Depraved Indifference are
the stories of ordinary people. Discarded and forgotten by their employers,
denied medical coverage by the workers’ compensation insurer; many have
been left to die, slowly and agonizingly, unnoticed by all but their grieving
families. Depraved Indifference represents over five years of research
and interviews. The final chapter lays out recommendations and strategies for
action to bring justice and fairness, corporate accountability, and public
disclosure to this system. Info: www.patricewoeppel.us.
Saturday January 17 (First & Third Saturday of each
month)
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS AT WORK!
Noon-4pm, ADP Workers
Center/Casa Obrera, 130 Union St, Springfield. Registration required.
Comprehensive know your rights training. Also serves as orientations that are
mandatory for people who want to join the Workers Center. The ADP Worker Center
has a number of programs and benefits for members, including a food co-op, ESOL
classes, democracy school, leadership training, and a legal clinic. Info,
to register: William Cano, 739-7233, william@a-dp.org.
More events at http://www.westernmassafsc.org/calendar/calendar.html
& http://people.umass.edu/jgerber/SustEvents.htm.
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[Workers' Rights] posts opportunities for you
to learn about and show solidarity with workplace and working class struggles. And
these events are opportunities for JwJ members to fulfill their pledge: "I'll be there for workers' rights at
least five times a year!" This is the core mission of Jobs with
Justice (www.jwj.org), affirming that workers' rights are
human rights. To subscribe, send an email to wmjwj@wmjwj.org
with a Subject of "Subscribe Worker's Rights".
Western
Mass Jobs with Justice
640 Page Blvd #101
Springfield MA 01104
(413) 827-0301