Carpool using RIDEbuzz www.ridebuzz.com.

And check out the trailer for Michael Moore's new film, Capitalism: A Love Story.

Now through October 24

INTERNATIONAL LABOR POSTER EXHIBIT CELEBRATING WOMEN’S STRUGGLES

Tuesday through Sunday, Noon to 4pm, and other times by appointment. Holyoke Heritage State Park Visitor Center, 221 Appleton St, Holyoke. Free admission, fully accessible. Exhibit by Stephen Lewis, Treasurer, SEIU Local 509; sponsored in part by the Lawrence Cultural Council. Info: 534-1723.

 

Tuesday September 1

            NEAL APPEAL & WHOLE FOODS BOYCOTT MEETING

7pm, Lathrop Village Community Room, 1 Shallow Brook Drive, off Bridge Rd, Northampton. The Western Mass. Single Payer Network continues planning events asking Congressman Richard Neal to support the single-payer solution to the health care crisis and planning a Whole Foods Boycott action too. Info: Jon Weissman, 827-0301 x1, wmspn@wmjwj.org

See also September 5 & 12.

 

Wednesday September 2

“MAKING CONTACT” RADIO SHOW ON RITE AID AND THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT

5:30pm, WMUA 91.1 FM. With only 12% of American workers in unions (down from a third in the 1950s), passing the Employee Free Choice Act is one of Labor's number top goals. Weak penalties and lax enforcement of labor laws have allowed employers to brazenly use illegal union-busting tactics to intimidate workers. And with legal tactics it is possible for employers to delay union elections long enough to stop workers from organizing altogether. In this special collaboration with Public Eye magazine's Abby Scher, the radio show "Making Contact" tracks the calculated misinformation of business groups trying to stop labor law reform and hears from workers like Angel Warner, a Rite Aid warehouse worker from California, who know about employers' illegal tactics against workers first hand. Info: http://www.radioproject.org/listen/usaschedule.html.

            What if the 2008 presidential election went like an NLRB election to choose a union? Click here and we’ll send you a short Power Point answer, as seen on Amherst Community TV.

 

Wednesday September 2 (First Wednesday)

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.

The agenda includes planning a public event where unemployed workers could speak out and we could develop community standards for lay-off and recall, etc. Other items that folks have placed on the agenda: Safe hospital staffing – Franklin Medical Center staffing and state bill; Organizing non-RNs at Franklin Medical Center; Getting involved in the biomass plant controversy; Greenfield town ordinance 3.10, which requires “public demonstrations” to register in advance with the police and was applied to our Rite Aid leafleting. Info: 827-0301, wmjwj@wmjwj.org.

 

Wednesday September 2

MICHAEL RATNER OF CENTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

4:30pm, Neilson Browsing Room, Smith College Library, Rt 9, Northampton. His topic is CCR's 100 days campaign and his book, The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld: A Prosecution by Book. Info: ntalanian@gmail.com.

 

Wednesday September 2

CONNECTICUT DELEGATION SEND OFF

4:30-6pm, 221 Main St, Hartford CT. Sending the Connecticut Congressional Delegation back to Washington with thousands of declarations of support for meaningful health insurance reform. March from Congressman John Larson's office (221 Main St) to Senator Chris Dodd's office (30 Lewis St). Ride from Amherst: Bart Bouricius, 256-1376, canopy.bart@gmail.com, who will be carrying a sign reading “Single Payer: a Public Option.”

 

September 4-6

            21st ANNUAL STONE SOUL FESTIVAL

            6-10pm Friday; 9am-10pm Saturday; 11am-8pm Sunday, Blunt Park, 2460 Roosevelt Ave, Springfield.. Includes African-American Living History (Peter Brace Brigade, Civil War Re-enactment Encampment), Health Care Tent (over 30 medical/social service providers under one tent); and dancers, singers, musicians, comedians, ethnic cuisine, soul food, BBQ ribs, chicken, beef brisket, pig roast, Caribbean jerk chicken, oxtails, etc. Info: Jay Griffin, 731-0651, griffin756@aol.com.         

 

Saturday September 5

            WMSPN SUMMER MEETING

            9:30-11:30am, Lathrop Village Community Room, 1 Shallow Brook Drive, off Bridge Rd, Northampton.  The Western Massachusetts Single Payer Network is a nonpartisan, nonprofit coalition of advocates committed to achieving a universal single payer health care system.  At our quarterly meetings, we check in with each other to see how we're doing on meeting our Organizational Goals:

1)    to increase visibility of universal single payer health care across Western Massachusetts

2)    to strengthen the universal single payer movement through increasing numbers of people familiar with and committed to a single payer health care system

3)    to work in concert with eastern Massachusetts single payer groups, as well as other groups throughout the country who share the single payer mission

            This meeting will include Neal Appeal and Whole Foods Boycott planning. Please send agenda items to wmspn@wmjwj.org and say if you are definitely coming or your organization will definitely be represented. Info: Jon Weissman, 827-0301 x1, wmspn@wmjwj.org

 

Monday, September 7

LABOR DAY MARCH & RALLY

            11am, rally at Park Square (near Boston Common & Arlington Green Line Stop); march to Copley Square, Boston. Join with labor and community allies from across the state in a march and rally to show our support for real health care reform. Come out to help send our elected officials back to work in Washington DC with a message from the people of Massachusetts: we want health care that puts people before profits, and we want it now! Info: Jobs with Justice, 617-524-8778, jwj@massjwj.net.  

 

Wednesday September 9

PIONEER VALLEY SUSTAINABILITY NETWORK

            8-11am, Chicopee Department of Public Works, 115 Baskin Drive, Chicopee. Breakfast at 8am included. Everyone interested in sustainability in the Pioneer Valley (or anywhere else!) is welcome. RSVP by September 7 for headcount for food. Info: Tony Dover, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, 781-6045 x334, adover@pvpc.org.

 

Wednesday September 9

COMMUNITY HEALTH CARE SPA NIGHT

5-9pm, Quaker Meeting House, 43 Center St, Northampton. Choose from an amazing assortment of alternative healers, traditional medicine practitioners, and holistic health care providers. Explore the rejuvenating power of massage, acupuncture, cranial sacral, reiki, herbal, and ayurvedic medicine. Tickets will be sold at $5 a piece, 6 for $25, or purchase an all access unlimited pass for $50. Tickets will then be redeemed by a unique variety of healers. No referrals, proof of insurance, or premium payments necessary.

All proceeds will support the Frank Wellness Center in Pittsburgh that is being created in response to the $10-million police force that is coming there for the G20 summit September 22-25. Obama has allocated these funds, weapons, and promised that there will be 4,000 troops in Pittsburgh during the summit. Learn more about the organizing around the G20 protests at www.resistg20.org. The hope is that the Wellness Center will be fully equipped to support victims of police brutality and other protesters that are harmed during the summit. The Frank Center will be a center where people will be trained in NADA ear acupuncture, peer support, basic bodywork, basic herbal medicine, and street medicine, and will provide care beginning during the protests against the Pittsburgh G20 Summit and continuing to serve the Pittsburgh community long after the summit has ended. Info: activistgrrl@gmail.com.

 

Thursday September 10

EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT LOBBY DAY

Washington DC. Over 300 faith leaders, environmentalists, civil rights leaders, community activists, women's advocates, and other non-labor supporters of the EFC Act will make their voices heard. Info: Jen Kern, 202-822-2127 x127, jkern@americanrightsatwork.org.

 

Friday September 11 (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 the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, including a rally with Sen. Kerry. Also on the agenda: Green Jobs; Immigration Reform; Postal job loss; Servicenet; Your Organizing! Community and labor activists are urged to attend. Info; send agenda items to: Jon Weissman, 732-7970, street_heat@pvaflcio.org.

 

Saturday September 12

            BOSTON DUCK TOUR TRIP

Two Departure Points: 7:30am: Enfield Commuter Lot on Freshwater Blvd (behind Bob's); 8:00am: West Springfield High School, 425 Piper Rd. Bus leaves Boston at 6pm. $75 for adults; $65 for kids age 11 & younger. A fundraiser for the Western Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety & Health and the Alliance for Injured Workers. Includes: bus transportation to Boston; tickets to the Duck Tour; gratuity for Boston Duck Tour conductor; time to explore the city. Collection will be taken up for the Peter Pan driver. Info: 731-0760, nancywrites@verizon.net.

 

Saturday September 12

            CONFERENCE ON LEADERSHIP BUILDING & SOCIAL JUSTICE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

            9am-2pm, UMass Dartmouth Woodland Common. $20. With keynote speaker Greg LeRoy, director of Good Jobs First, this conference will offer workshops on developing and sustaining strong union leaders and activists as well as workshops on labor and community alliances for economic development. The plenary will discuss how these areas are intertwined in building strength for strong leaders in organizations and justice in the community. Info: Kim Wilson (508) 999-8781.

 

Saturday September 12 (Second Saturday)

HEALTH EQUITY ROUNDTABLE

9:30-11:30am, Tapestry Health, 365 Bay St, Springfield. Addressing existing disparities in health care and outcomes, and the underlying racism, poverty, and homelessness. This Springfield Health Disparities Project roundtable provides a forum to engage community people in dialogue with folks working on community health initiatives, keeping the community abreast of what is happening, and getting people involved in working with others to improve community health. Info: Betty Agin, 627-4028, betagi7@verizon.net.

 

Saturday September 12

WHOLE FOODS MARKET WINE PARTY

2-6pm, 327 Russell St (Route 9), Hadley. Shall we bring the nationwide Whole Foods boycott to this event? Hit Reply with your answer.

Whole Foods CEO John Mackey is opposed to real health care reform. He doesn't believe health care should be a human right, and wants even less regulation for the insurance industry. But he is not a hypocrite. He forces his own workers' to accept this vision of health care reform:

Whole Foods workers and their children were forced to enroll in subsidized public health insurance plans for uninsured families in Massachusetts last year, costing tax-payers almost $1.7 million. Whole Foods doesn't pay for health benefits for part-time employees. Whole Foods full-time employees are forced into high-deductible insurance plans that shift the costs of health care from the company to the worker.

There’s more about Mackey at http://www.motherjones.com/print/22757. He has contributed money to Tom DeLay's campaigns and legal defense fund. He has compared the prospect of having unions at his stores to "having herpes." One of his "six strategic goals for Whole Foods Market to achieve by 2013" is to remain "100% union-free." Again, he makes his employees live with his beliefs, quoting Mother Jones:

            Shortly before the inauguration of President Barack Obama, the manager of a Whole Foods grocery store in the San Francisco Bay Area gathered his employees in a conference room for a chat about labor organizing. "This is not a union-bashing thing whatsoever," the manager began, adding, however, that he'd called the meeting because Whole Foods believed Obama would sign the Employee Free Choice Act, legislation intended to ease unionization that was opposed by the company's lobbyists. According to a tape of the meeting obtained by Mother Jones, the manager went on to imply that joining a union would lead to reprisals: "It's interesting to note that once you become represented by the union," he said, "basically everything, every benefit you have, is kind of thrown out the window, and you renegotiate a contract." … labor law bars employers from threatening to strip benefits from workers in retaliation for unionizing.

 

September 13-17

            AFL-CIO CONVENTION

            Pittsburgh. http://www.aflcio.org  See September 23 for report-back by Steve Early.

 

Tuesday September 15

            SPRINGFIELD PRELIMINARY ELECTION

            Do you know where you vote?

 

Tuesday September 15 (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.  

 

Wednesday September 16 (Third Wednesday)

PIONEER VALLEY CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL

5:30pm, AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page Blvd, near corner of Osborne Ter, across the street from the old Westinghouse, Springfield. Community and labor activist guests are welcome, but RSVP to Jon at 732-7970, mail@pvaflcio.org, or Rick at 374-1492, rbrown@pvaflcio.org.

 

Wednesday September 16

POEMS FROM THE WOMEN’S MOVEMENT

7:30pm, Cole Assembly Room, Converse Hall, Amherst College, Rts 116 & 9, Amherst. Celebrating Poems From the Women’s Movement, edited by Honor Moore and published by the Library of America, now in its second printing. “What would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? / The world would split open.” These lines by Muriel Rukeyser epitomize the spirit that animated a whole generation of women poets, from the 1960s to the 1980s, who in exploring the unspoken truth of their lives sparked a literary revolution. Poets Joan Larkin and Honor Moore will read their poems and the work of others in the book. Several students will join them in reading poems from the anthology. Reading followed by a reception and book-signing. Info: Caroline Hanna, 542-2000 x8417, channa@amherst.edu.

 

Thursday September 17

WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS COALITION FOR IMMIGRANT & WORKERS RIGHTS

6-8pm (6-6:30, potluck), Conference Room, second floor, room 234 &/or 236, Potpourri Plaza, 243 King St, Northampton (opposite Stop & Shop, http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=243+King+St,+Northampton,+MA). Reorganizing this coalition first formed in 2006. Help set its priorities! Info: American Friends Service Committee, 584-8975, afsc@crocker.com.

 

Thursday September 17 (Third Thursday)

NORTHAMPTON LIVING WAGE COALITION

7pm, Western Mass Legal Services office, 20 Hampton Av #100, Northampton (enter near Pleasant St, south of, right angle to Sylvester’s). Organizing for a City Council resolution updating the 1998 Northampton Living Wage Resolution for employees with health insurance to $9.88, and to $11.87 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. Publicly recognizing them if they do. Info: Kitty Callaghan, kcallaghan@wmls.org.

WMASS JOBS WITH JUSTICE HAMPSHIRE WORKERS' RIGHTS COMMITTEE meets with the NORTHAMPTON LIVING WAGE COALITION. Info: 827-0301, wmjwj@wmjwj.org.

 

Friday September 18

ANNUAL PIONEER VALLEY AFL-CIO LABOR BREAKFAST

            8:30am, doors open at 8am, Castle of Knights, 1599 Memorial Drive, Chicopee. $20. Each year we pause to reflect on Labor’s contributions to our lives and our communities. Come break bread with the working men and women of the Pioneer Valley and Congressional, State, and Local officials. Register by September 8 (no tickets; check in at the door). Info: 732-7970, mail@pvaflcio.org.

 

Friday September 18

FREE FILM: A DANGEROUS BUSINESS REVISITED

7pm, Media Education Foundation Frances Crowe Community Room, 60 Masonic St, Northampton. Part of Northampton Committee to Stop the War Friday film series. Donations are gratefully accepted. Discussion follows the screenings.

This film is a follow-up to a 2003 PBS “Frontline” examination of workplace injuries and deaths at iron pipe foundries – the Justice Department response, company changes, and what happened to some of the injured workers and a whistleblower. Dr. Patrice Woeppel, author of Depraved Indifference: The Workers Compensation System, will speak after the film. Info: Michele Spring-Moore, 584-3158, springbyker@yahoo.com, http://www.northamptoncommittee.org.  

 

Friday September 18

BREAD & PUPPET THEATER CABARET

7pm, Amherst Regional High School Auditorium, 21 Mattoon St, Amherst. The internationally known theater group, Bread and Puppet Theater, will perform their Sourdough Philosophy Cabaret. Tickets are $8 for students, seniors, and low income; $15 for all others; can be purchased at Food for Thought Bookstore, 106 North Pleasant St, Amherst, or Broadside Bookshop, 247 Main St, Northampton. This event is a benefit for the South Amherst Conservation Association, http://www.filbert.com/saca/.

            The Cabaret offers a great variety of numbers from Bread and Puppet's earliest and newest productions, from the 47-year-old King Story to the latest financial sensation: a public money execution. Bread and Puppet has been entertaining audiences around the country and abroad for decades. Since 1974 the Theater has been on a farm in Glover in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The 100-year-old hay barn was transformed into a museum for veteran puppets. Bread and Puppet is one of the oldest, nonprofit, self-supporting theater companies in the United States. Info: Kevin Eddings, 256-1984, kjeddings@gmail.com, or Carol Gray, 256-0433, carolgray_2000@yahoo.com.

 

Saturday September 19

NOFA/MASS FOOD PRESERVATION WORKSHOP DAY

11 food preservation workshops in 11 towns (including Springfield, Northampton, Cummington, Shelburne, Winchendon Springs, Great Barrington). Preserving food that we grow or purchase locally at the height of its freshness and flavor saves money, lessens our dependence on the global corporate food chain, and provides wonderful flavor and real food all year round. Most workshops run for 6 hours with a lunch potluck. The cost for the workshops is $50 with a $5 discount for NOFA membership and a $5 discount for early bird registration before September 5, 2009. Full information, including a map of where the workshops will be, plus options for paper or online registration: http://www.nofamass.org/programs/extensionevents/preservation.php. Contact Ben Grosscup, Northeast Organic Farming Association/ Massachusetts Chapter, 549-1568, cell 658-5374, ben.grosscup@nofamass.org.

 

Tuesday September 22 (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.

 

Tuesday September 22

            LEGAL RESOURCE & ADVOCACY CENTER (LRAC) PANEL

7pm, location TBA. A panel of practicing attorneys will discuss their legal experiences. Info: Jessica Levy, jlevy@lracsite.org, www.lracsite.org.  

 

September 23-25

            MASS AFL-CIO CONVENTION

            Newton. http://www.massaflcio.org

 

Wednesday September 23 (Fourth Wednesday)

GREENWORK: THE WESTERN MASS GREEN ECONOMY WORKING GROUP

5:30-7:30pm, Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page Boulevard, Springfield (732-7970). 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 GreenWork listserve 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.

 

Wednesday September 23

            STEVE EARLY: EMBEDDED WITH ORGANIZED LABOR: JOURNALISTIC REFLECTIONS ON THE CLASS WAR AT HOME

7-8:30pm, Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College St (Routes 116 at 47), in the Village Commons, South Hadley, 534-7307 or 800-540-7307; odysseybks@aol.com; www.odysseybks.com (www.odysseybks.com/directions.html). Steve Early, labor journalist, lawyer, and former Communications Workers of America (CWA) International Representative, will talk about his new book and

• Workers and the economic crisis.

• The fight for national health insurance.

• The fate of "Employee Free Choice"

• Struggles for union democracy and reform.

• What happened at the AFL-CIO convention in Pittsburgh?

• The future of Change To Win.

            Embedded With Organized Labor describes how union members have organized successfully, on the job and in the community, in the face of employer opposition now and in the past. The author has produced a provocative series of essays—an unusual exercise in “participatory labor journalism” useful to any reader concerned about social and economic justice. As workers struggle to survive and the labor movement tries to revive during the current economic crisis, this book provides ideas and inspiration for union activists and friends of labor alike. Info: 617-930-7327. To order the book online, visit: www.monthlyreview.org.

 

September 24-25

GLOBAL MOBILIZATION AGAINST THE G20 SUMMIT

Pittsburgh PA. Info: www.resistg20.org; www.bailoutpeople.org. Local transportation organizing: Wayne Standley, w.standley@comcast.net; Adam Hurter, ahurter@wesleyan.edu.   

 

September 24-October 1

ECONOMIC RECOVERY WEEK OF ACTION

Details coming. Coinciding with the anniversary of the Wall Street Bailout and the G20 meetings in Pittsburgh. Info: www.jwj.org.

 

Friday September 25

FIRST ANNUAL MASSACHUSETTS AFL-CIO UNION CANDIDATE SCHOOL

Noon-7pm, Marriott, Newton. The Massachusetts AFL-CIO has been working hard to implement its Target 5000 Program to elect union members to all levels of political office. This Candidate School is open to, and perfect for, any union member who currently holds public office and wants to run for re-election or run for higher office, has considered running for public office, or has unsuccessfully run for public office and would like to run again. Led by campaign expert Murray Fishel, President of nationally recognized Grassroots Political Campaigns, and coordinated by the staff of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. Registration and sponsorship forms at http://www.massaflcio.org/node/81156. Info: Political Director Bob Bower or Political and Legislative Coordinator Chrissy Long, (781) 324-8230.

 

Saturday September 26

PETE SEEGER TRIBUTE FOR PACE

7pm (doors open at 6:30pm), Academy of Music, 274 Main St, Northampton. A tribute concert to Pete Seeger that will raise funds for Pioneer Arts Center of Easthampton (PACE) and its Green Mill project. PACE has an opportunity to purchase a 19th century abandoned mill building in Easthampton and make it as Green as possible, move PACE into it, expand programming, and rent out most of the building to small businesses and artists, to fund PACE's operations. Musicians lined up for the show include Chris Scanlon, Carrie Ferguson, Claire Dacey, Bruce King, Diane Sanabria, Chris Thompson, Emily Greene, David Bernz, The Nields, and Jim Henry. Info: 527-3700, pace@pioneerarts.org, www.pioneerarts.org.

 

Saturday September 26

TOM JURAVICH CONCERT

7:30pm (pot luck supper at 6pm), Echo Lake Concert Series, Town Hall, 9 Montague Rd, Leverett. Admission: $8-$10. The son of a factory worker, Tom Juravich worked on the line as a young man. Growing up in upstate New York, he played in his first band, The Strikers, at 13. He began singing professionally about work and labor back in the early 1980s, in the middle of the first wave of plant closings in the US. His first album, Rising Again was sponsored by the United Auto Workers in 1981. He went on to record A World to Win. His album Out of Darkness: The Mine Workers Story became the soundtrack for a film about the coal-miners’ union. According to the film’s producer, Academy-award winner Barbara Kopple, “Tom Juravich has put together an album that stirs the soul and shakes the body. A wonderful soundtrack for any struggle…that deals with the human condition." Always captivated by workers’ stories, Tom turned to them for the heart of his recently released album, Altar of the Bottom Line. Tom says, “We tend to think that labor songs as coming out of the Great Depression and industrial work during the 1930s and 1940s. But after listening to people talk about what they are facing today on the job, I just had to go write and sing about it.”  For all their different experiences, workers share much in common. So it’s fitting that Altar was sponsored by 17 diverse unions, including a number of international unions and several state union federations and coalitions “There hasn’t been a union support for a cultural project like this in a long time,” he says. Info: 548-9394, diacrowe@yahoo.com.