April 20 & 21
WAR
CRIMES, ACCOUNTABILITY, PROSECUTION
Monday:
7pm, Berkshire Community College, Pittsfield. Progressive Democrats of America
Board Member David Swanson and Valeria A. Gheorghiu.
Tuesday:
7pm, Bangs Community Center, 70 Boltwood Walk, Amherst. Swanson and PDA Board
Member John Bonifaz.
Is
it still a crime if a President does it? If Obama keeps the powers Bush seized,
what powers do we have? If war criminals walk, what will prevent war crimes?
Join the conversation. Info http://www.chathampeace.org,
http://davidswanson.org/node/1680.
Tuesday April 21
THE
NEW NATIONAL UNION OF HEALTHCARE WORKERS
1-
2:30pm, New Africa House Room 109, UMass Amherst. United Healthcare Workers
West (UHW), a Local of SEIU, was trusteed by the international in January. In
response, much of the union has left SEIU, and formed a new union, the National
Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW). Since then, the NUHW has grown rapidly,
filing representation petitions for more than 90,000 workers. There has been
considerable controversy and debate about the SEIU-UHW struggle. Attend this
session to hear what's happening in California health care from NUHW
representatives, and discuss this development in the context of broader changes
in the labor
movement. Info: Stephanie
Luce, 545-5907, sluce@econs.umass.edu.
Tuesday April 21 (Third
Tuesday)
FRANKLIN/HAMPSHIRE HEALTH CARE COALITION
7pm,
Lathrop Village Community Room, Shallow Brook Drive, off Bridge Rd,
Northampton. Organizing for the Massachusetts Health Care Trust Fund Bill - a
universal health care system, providing universal access, a comprehensive range
of physical and mental health benefits, choice of provider, quality, unified
financing and cost controls, accountable governance, and stability. A
Massachusetts Health Care Trust Fund will be a “single-payer” of all health
care costs, statewide. Also organizing for the national alternative to state
action: Medicare for All – HR 676. Info: info@fhhcc.org.
Please visit www.masscare.org and www.healthcare-now.org.
PROTEST MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET CUTS
4:30pm, State Office Building, 436 Dwight St, Springfield (784-1200). Join
community and labor organizations whose communities will be devastated by
proposed cuts. The House Ways and Means budget proposal is worse than the
Governor’s. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center’s analysis says it
relies on $489 million less in stabilization fund money than the Governor
recommended, and approximately $300 million less in new revenues. Proposed cuts
include a 32% cut in unrestricted local aid and significant cuts in education,
human services, health care, and most other areas of state government. The cuts
recommended in the House Ways and Means budget are deeper than they would need
to be if the state were to use all of the federal stimulus money to maintain
services - as Congress intended - rather than to reduce draws on the
stabilization fund. More at www.massbudget.org.
Info: Liz Wills-O'Gilvie, Western Mass Director, Neighbor to Neighbor,
739-2951, lizw@n2nma.org.
Wednesday
April 22 (Fourth Wednesday)
Note time & location this month
WESTERN MASS GREEN ECONOMY WORKING GROUP ~ EARTH DAY GATHERING
5-7:30pm,
Springfield Technical Community College, Scibelli Building 7th Floor, 1 Federal
St, Springfield. Speaker: Marybeth Campbell, Workforce Development
Program Director, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center. This
Working Group consists of advocates for a Green Economy which serves local
communities; guarantees workers' rights to organize; and promotes
community-owned sustainable projects. Subscribe to the WMGEWG listserve
(“GreenWork”) at http://lists.gaiahost.coop/mailman/listinfo/greenwork
or send an email to greenwork-subscribe@lists.gaiahost.coop.
Info: Jon Weissman, 827-0301, wmjwj@wmjwj.org,
or Eduardo Suárez, 335-6224, echonyc@hotmail.com.
Thursday April 23
UNDERSTANDING
THE ECONOMIC CRISIS
6:30-9pm, 3rd Floor Gordon Hall (UMass Amherst Labor Center), 418
N Pleasant St, Amherst. Mark Brenner, Labor Notes, leads this
Labor Extension Program Workshop. $15. Are you angry that bankers get
bailed out and workers get sold out? We know that our economy’s in freefall.
What can the government do? That depends on the goal: Are we looking to save
the financial system or to save good jobs? How can unions make a difference
here in Massachusetts and across the country? This workshop will discuss what a
real recovery would look like, why our bosses are fighting it, and what labor
needs to do. Info: Dale Melcher, 545-6166, dmelcher@lrrc.umass.edu.
Rescheduled from
Thursday April 23 (Fourth Thursday) to Wednesday May 6 (First Wednesday)(new monthly
schedule)
FRANKLIN COUNTY WORKERS' RIGHTS COMMITTEE
7-8:30pm,
Traprock Center for Peace and Justice, 24 Miles St, Greenfield (773-7427).
Organizing local solidarity for Franklin County workers and unions; nurses and other
workers at Franklin Medical Center; Greenfield municipal employees; and
statewide and national workers' rights campaigns, including People's
Bail-Out and Employee Free Choice Act. Info: 827-0301, wmjwj@wmjwj.org.
WORKERS MEMORIAL DAY COMMEMORATION
Noon,
City Hall, 210 Main St, march to memorial stone near Jake's restaurant, 17 King
St, Northampton. Info: Fiore Grassetti, 246-8508, org7@comcast.net.
Friday April 24
RALLIES
FOR SINGLE-PAYER HEALTH INSURANCE ~ “MEDICARE FOR ALL”
4-5:30pm,
Town Common, Greenfield. Speaker: Jackie Wolfe, co-president, MassCare. Info:
Susie or Les, 625-9388.
5-6pm,
Park Square, Route 7, downtown Pittsfield. Part of a national week of Single
Payer actions. Info: Tim Carpenter, info@pdamerica.org.
Saturday April 25
WMCOSH NYC BUS TRIP
8am,
leave from West Springfield High School; leave New York City 7:30pm. $35. Fund-raising
bus trip benefits the Western Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety
and Health. Passengers are on their own to plan their day. Drop-off points
include the Metropolitan Museum, Times Square, Radio City, and Ground Zero.
Info: 731-0760 or send name, phone number, and check payable to Western
MassCOSH, 640 Page Blvd, Suite 104, Springfield, MA 01104.
April 25-26
TRAINING FOR TRANSITION
9:30am-5pm;
Saturday: Grace Episcopal Church, 14 Boltwood Ave, Amherst (www.gracechurchamherst.org);
Sunday: Hitchcock Center for the Environment, 525 South Pleasant St, Amherst (www.hitchcockcenter.org). $215, includes
lunches. A new movement, “Transition Towns”, is now spreading around the world:
more at www.transitiontowns.org & www.transitionus.org. Western Mass activist Tina Clarke is one of a
handful of certified Transition Towns trainers in the US. She will offer
this “Training for Transition” for people who would like to know more. Info:
549-6834, tinaclarke2@comcast.net.
Saturday April 25
DEMAND
CONGRESSMAN NEAL TAKE ACTION FOR SINGLE PAYER HEALTH INSURANCE ~ “MEDICARE FOR
ALL”
Noon,
corner of Main & King Sts, Northampton. Urge passers-by to take out their
cell phones, or use ours, to call Rep. Richard Neal’s office and direct him to
support HR 676, Expanded and Improved Medicare for All. Neal's Washington
office has voice mail on the weekends, so we can call until the mailbox is
full; then we’ll urge people to call again on Monday to Neal’s offices in both
Washington and Springfield. We’ll also pass out leaflets with more info on
lobbying Neal for single payer. Info: Jackie Balance, PDA, jrickball@yahoo.com.
Tuesday April 28 (Fourth Tuesday)
HAMPSHIRE/FRANKLIN CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL
7:30pm, Northampton Fire Station Community Room, 26 Carlon Drive
at King St/Route 5, Northampton (587-1148). Community and labor activist guests
are welcome, but RSVP to Pres. Fiore Grassetti, 877-725-0357, org7@comcast.net.
Wednesday April 29
ELECTION
DAY REGISTRATION LOBBY DAY
10am-1:30pm,
State House, Boston. No previous lobbying experience necessary! Make your voice
heard on critical civil rights and liberties issues in Massachusetts: Increase voting
rights: Enable eligible voters to register to vote at certain polling locations
on election day. Info: www.aclum.org/events.
Wednesday
April 29
RALLY AT BANK OF AMERICA ~ PART OF
NATIONWIDE DAYS OF ACTION MONDAY & TUESDAY
Noon, 1 Monarch Place, at Boland Way
& Main St, Springfield. Tell Bank of America: FIRE KEN LEWIS!
Stop Fighting the Employee Free Choice Act! Stop Intimidating Your Workers!
Stop Foreclosing on our Communities. Stop Consumer Abuses. Provide Quality
Health Care for all of your employees and their families! Commit to Real
Financial Reform and Regulation.
Bank of America has received $45
billion in federal bailouts. That makes the government and us taxpayers BoA’s
largest single shareholder. CEO Ken Lewis is the poster boy for the CEO and
corporate excess that crashed the economy and continue to drain working
families’ finances. It’s time for Ken Lewis to go. And if we really want to
create an economy that works for everyone again, we need to pass the Employee
Free Choice Act to ensure that all workers have a voice on the job to protect
consumers. April 29 is BoA’s Annual Shareholders Meeting in Charlotte NC, and
we will be rallying here to support rallies there to demand justice from Bank of
America. Info: Chris Patterson, 508-791-1670, cpatterson@seiu615.org.
If you would prefer to rally at your
local BoA, we’ll get you the materials and publicize your event. Simply contact
Jon at WMJwJ, 827-0301, wmjwj@wmjwj.org.
Wednesday April 29
FREE FILM: STIMULUS
ROADBLOCK?
7pm, Amherst Community
Television, 246 College St, Amherst. Part of "Empowering Ourselves: Think
Globally - Act Locally" film series screening timely eco conscious films: Stimulus Roadblock? Info:
256-6005, www.actvamherst.com.
Thursday
April 30
WARD REPRESENTATION HAS ARRIVED IN
SPRINGFIELD! WANT TO RUN?
5:30pm-8pm, Central Labor Council
AFL-CIO, 640 Page Blvd, Springfield (732-7970). Refreshments.
Want to run for elected office in
Springfield? Want to help somebody else run? Arise for Social Justice with Avi
Green from MassVOTE present “Pathways to Elected Office”. What’s a platform?
How do you build a campaign? Recruit volunteers? Raise money? And more. Info:
734-4948.
More events at http://www.westernmassafsc.org/calendar/calendar.html
& http://people.umass.edu/jgerber/SustEvents.htm.
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, allergies, and asthma. Note that many workers develop chemical
sensitivities on the job.
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Western
Mass Jobs with Justice
640 Page Blvd #101
Springfield MA 01104
(413) 827-0301