Now
Michael Moore has done it again! With impeccable timing, he goes
right to the heart of the most current issue on our recession-weary minds: the
global economic meltdown. His new documentary explores the root causes of the
meltdown. He takes a comical look at the corporate and political shenanigans
that culminated in what he describes as “the biggest robbery in the
history of this country” - the massive transfer of US taxpayer money to
private financial institutions. See October 7.
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
October 6
LEGISLATURE
“LITERATURE DROP” FOR SAFE HOSPITALS
Carpool
to State House, Boston, leaving around 9am. Please join us. As
part of the Coalition to Protect Massachusetts Patients, Western Mass. Jobs
with Justice members and other activists will participate in a
“literature drop” to the Legislature next Tuesday beginning at 11am. We
will be educating the lawmakers about the Patient Safety Act and in
particular talking with our Western Mass legislators about it. The Patient
Safety Act (H. 3912) would dramatically improve hospital care by setting a safe
limit on the number of patients assigned to a nurse. The Department of Public
Health would set the safe limits and adjust them based on patient needs. It
would also ban mandatory overtime and provide initiatives to increase nursing
faculty and nurse recruitment. More info is at www.protectmasspatients.org. If
you can participate in this drop (part of a series in which activists from
different regions of the state take different days), please Reply to wmjwj@wmjwj.org.
Tuesdays October 6 & 20
FREE FILMS: THE END OF LIFE
ON OIL
7-9pm, Merrill Science Building,
Lecture Room 4, Amherst College, Rts 9 & 116, Amherst. Followed by a
Q&A discussion.
Oct. 6: The End of Suburbia:
This award-winning and original film depicts the coming end of our inefficient
and unsustainable suburban life style created only during the post World Word
II period. Academic, geological, environmental and business professionals
explain why the car culture is coming to a close.
Oct. 20: Looming Crisis In
Oil Depletion: Richard Heinberg, nationally known authority on peak oil,
describes the history of energy use from the dawn of agriculture to the present
industrial and computer age, while offering solutions to the coming collapse of
cheap oil.
Peak oil is the peak in world
oil production in barrels per year, and academic oil geologists and oil
industry analysts put the peak right about now or within a few years from now. As
we get farther from the peak year, the rate of oil production will drops more
and more rapidly, and the price will correspondingly increase more and more
rapidly. Sponsored by the Town of Amherst's Energy Task Force, the Hitchcock
Center for the Environment, and the Pioneer Valley Relocalization Project
(PVRP), the latter being an environmental group working in Amherst and the
Pioneer Valley to educate on peak oil and global warming. Info: Steve Randall,
256-2130, chanrandall24@comcast.net,
or Rob Crowner, 253-6526, rcrowner@hampshire.edu.
Wednesday October 7
PAID SICK DAYS HEARING
10:30am-1pm, State House Room A2,
Boston. Press conference at 9:30am will release the Health Impact Assessment
(HIA) of Paid Sick Days in Massachusetts. Info, to testify: Attorney Ellen
Wallace, Coordinator, Mass. Paid Leave Coalition, 617-603-1672, ewallace@gbls.org.
Wednesday October 7
PLANNING THE WESTERN MASS. JOBS
WITH JUSTICE MEMBERSHIP MEETING
3-4:30pm, UAW Local 2322, room
406, 4 Open Square Way, Holyoke (http://www.opensquare.com/map_directions.php).The
WMass JwJ Membership Meeting Saturday January 16 2010, beginning early
afternoon into the evening, will be an educational and social gathering as well
as a short business meeting. To join the Membership Meeting Committee, RSVP: wmjwj@wmjwj.org.
Wednesday October 7 (First Wednesday)
FRANKLIN COUNTY WORKERS'
RIGHTS COMMITTEE ~ ORGANIZING AN UNEMPLOYED SPEAK-OUT
7-8:30pm, Traprock Center for
Peace and Justice, 24 Miles St, Greenfield (773-7427). Organizing a public
event where unemployed workers can speak out and develop community standards
for lay-off and recall, etc. Info: 827-0301, wmjwj@wmjwj.org.
CLASS ACTION SPECIAL
SCREENING OF CAPITALISM: A LOVE STORY
7:30pm, doors open 7:05pm, Amherst
Cinema, 28 Amity Street, Amherst Center. Join Class Action and friends at this
screening and stay for a brief discussion after the film. Tickets are $8.50 for
adults, and $7.50 for students with a valid ID and for seniors who are ages 65
and up. Purchase tickets at the door or online at www.amherstcinema.org. There is no
extra charge to attend this screening. Located in Hadley, Class Action is a
national nonprofit that inspires action to end classism by providing training,
strategies, and resources to explore class and dismantle classism. Info: 585-9709,
www.classism.org.
Thursday October 8 (Second 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. 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
October 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 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.
Friday
October 9
FREE FILM: MONEY-DRIVEN MEDICINE
7pm, Media Education Foundation,
60 Masonic Street, same building as Woodstar Café, Northampton. Discussion following.
A fact-filled and powerful documentary that dramatically illustrates the
failures of the profit driven health care system in American today. It
demonstrates the US need for a rational single-payer reform similar to what is
cost-effectively offered in most modern industrial nations. Sponsored by the
Northampton Committee to Stop the War in Iraq and Franklin/Hampshire Health
Care Coalition. Info: Steven Randall, chanrandall24@comcast.net.
Saturday
October 10 (Second Saturday)
HEALTH EQUITY ROUNDTABLE
9:30-11am, Tapestry Health, 365 Bay St, Springfield. Let’s
Talk, Let’s Act! What does health mean to you, and to your community? What
does a healthy community look and feel like? Why do some communities suffer
from health problems more than others? What can we do about the causes of these
problems? The HER addresses 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.
Topic: Community Health and Violence – Homes, Schools, &
Streets. Info: Betty Agin, 654-2888, betagin7@verizon.net.
October 10 & 11
Washington DC. Lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgendered people are guaranteed equal protection by the 14th
Amendment of the US Constitution. Free and equal people do not bargain for or
prioritize their rights. Marchers will demand equal protection in all matters
governed by civil law in all 50 states. Now. Info, bus from Western Mass:
617-851-5354, www.equalitywmass.blogspot.com.
Monday October 12 (Indigenous Peoples Day)
INTERNATIONAL TRADE ACTION
DAY: REPLACE THE FAILED NAFTA MODEL
Jobs erased, farmers displaced. Environment
polluted, democracy diluted. NAFTA has now been in effect for 15 years – 15
years too many. People throughout the Americas, including a proven majority of
U.S. citizens, reject the destructive model of the North America Free Trade
Agreement. Yet, it continues to profit the few at the expense of the
many. On October 12 – Indigenous Peoples Day – activists across
the hemisphere will call for this failed model to be replaced with trade that
actually benefits the majority. More info and ideas for action at www.witnessforpeace.org/october12.
NEW "LARAMIE
PROJECT" PLAY
7:30pm, Academy of Music, 274 Main St,
Northampton. Free admission. Last year, on the 10th anniversary of the grisly
murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming, the members
of the Tectonic Theater Project who created "The Laramie Project"
returned to Laramie to find out how things have changed ~ or not ~ for the
people involved. From those interviews, they've created a new play: "The
Laramie Project, Ten Years Later: An Epilogue." On the anniversary of Matt
Shepard's death, it will be premiered simultaneously in staged readings at over
100 theaters nationwide and around the world. One of those productions will be
at the Academy of Music, with a cast of 20 local professionals and public
figures. Produced and directed by Chris Rohmann and Meg Gage; Production
Manager Steve Morgan. Cast (partial): Frank Aronson, Andrea Ayvazian, Jo
Comerford, Bill Dwight, James Emery, Kelsey Flynn, Harrison Gregg, Jeannine
Haas, Matt Haas, Andrea Hairston, Jennifer Ladd, Linda McInerney, Chris
Shanahan, Robert Williams, and Sen. Stan Rosenberg. Info: Chris Rohmann, crohmann@crocker.com.
Tuesday October 13
IMMIGRATION LAW & RIGHTS
Western New England College
School of Law, 1215 Wilbraham Rd., Springfield.
Noon: Public Lecture on
immigration rights and policy by Professor Mike Wishnie, School of Law Commons.
Wishnie directs Yale Law School’s Immigration Rights Clinic and is deeply
involved in defending immigrants against deportation and violations of their
civil and workplace rights. Info: Sudha N. Setty, 782-1431, ssetty@law.wnec.edu; Giovanna Shay, 796-2279,
gshay@law.wnec.edu.
2-4:40pm: Immigration Rights
Training for lawyers, staff of organizations that work with immigrant
communities, and others. $25, cash or check at the training (scholarships
available). Conducted as part of a pro bono effort to find legal representation
for immigrant detainees being held by ICE at the Franklin County Jail. The
training will be conducted by legal advocates from the Political Asylum and
Immigration Reform Project (PAIR). Info, to register: Giovanna Shay, 796-2279, gshay@law.wnec.edu.
Tuesday October 13
LEGAL RESOURCE & ADVOCACY
CENTER (LRAC) SILENT ART AUCTION FUNDRAISER
5:30-8:30pm, Montenia's Restaurant, 137 State
St, Downtown Springfield (www.montenia.net).
Come by and enjoy Montenia's homemade soul food and fresh-fruit Martinis while
viewing and bidding on artwork crafted by talented and skilled local artisans! Proceeds
from the event will be used to help LRAC pay for basic office supplies and
costs in order for LRAC to be able to continue to promote its work and provide
free legal resources. Info: Jessica Levy, jlevy@lracsite.org,
www.lracsite.org.
Tuesday October 13
HELP FOR INJURED WORKERS
6-8pm, Chicopee Public Library,
449 Front St. A free walk-in help session for injured workers, sponsored by the
Alliance for Injured Workers, a project of the Western Massachusetts Coalition
for Occupational Safety and Health. No appointment or registration is
necessary. Injured workers are invited to bring their questions about workers
compensation. Info: 731-0760, wmasscosh@verizon.net.
FREE FILM: THE LITTLE TRIP
OF A DREAM
Tuesday: 7pm, Traprock Center
for Peace and Justice, 24 Miles St, Greenfield.
Wednesday: 9:15am, Media
Education Foundation, 60 Masonic St, Northampton.
Wednesday: 7pm, Alliance to
Develop Power Worker Center, 130 Union St, Springfield.
Thursday: 5pm, Food For Thought
Books, 106 N Pleasant St, Amherst.
Followed by facilitated
community conversations, bilingual in Spanish and English, with the filmmaker
and local immigrant rights activists and organizers about how immigration and
immigration policies are impacting our local communities. The Little Trip of
a Dream: a tale of border crossings, families and struggle (2009; 34
minutes; Spanish and English subtitles), by Jen Lawhorne, portrays the
experience of a US woman who travels to Mexico and gets to know the village of
Ocotitlan, Morelos, the home of her undocumented co-workers back in Richmond VA.
Through interviews and encounters with community members in Ocotitlan, Lawhorne
begins to understand her friends’ migratory motivations.
Part of the Immigrant and
Workers’ Rights Coalition’s on-going effort to raise awareness
about immigration and get people involved in immigrant justice organizing in
Western Massachusetts. Info: Javiera Benavente, Food For Thought Books, 253-5432,
javiera@foodforthoughtbooks.com;
William Cano, Alliance to Develop Power (ADP), 739-7233, william@a-dp.org.
Wednesdays October 14, 21, 28, November 4, 11
BASIC STEWARD TRAINING
6:30-9pm, Gordon Hall, 3rd floor conference
room, 418 N Pleasant St, Amherst. $125 (includes banquet); $100 each if local union
sends 3 or more. Instructor: Dale Melcher, UMass Labor Extension. Co-sponsored
by the Hampshire-Franklin and the Pioneer Valley Central Labor Councils, AFL-CIO.
This training’s for anyone considering becoming a steward in their local
union ~ any new steward feeling ill-equipped to handle workplace problems ~ anyone
steward for awhile who’s still feeling confused about some aspects of
grievance handling ~ long-term stewards looking for a refresher course on the
fundamentals. Topics include: roles and responsibilities of the steward, legal
rights (including Weingarten and Duty of Fair Representation), basic grievance
handling, and a mobilizing approach to problem-solving. The final class is
dinner at an area restaurant with a guest speaker. Send name, full contact
information, and check to UMass Labor Extension, Dale Melcher, 418 N Pleasant
St, Amherst MA 01002, and include a description of your experience, if any,
handling grievances or problems. Info: 545-6166, dmelcher@lrrc.umass.edu.
Wednesday October 14
REORIENTING
U.S. HEALTH REFORM TOWARD HEALTH FOR ALL
7:30pm,
Gamble Auditorium, Art Building, Mount Holyoke College, Rt 116,
South Hadley. Erika Blacksher (http://www.mtholyoke.edu/wcl/23370.shtml)
speaks as part of Weissman Center for Leadership and
the Liberal Arts program, Rethinking Health Care. Info: 538-3071, wcl@mtholyoke.edu.
Thursday October 15
NEAL APPEAL & WHOLE FOODS
BOYCOTT COMMITTEE
5:30-7pm, AFSC, 140
Pine St #10, Florence (584-8975). Planning events asking Congressman
Richard Neal to support the single-payer solution to the health care crisis and
planning Whole Foods Boycott actions too. Info: Western Mass. Single Payer
Network, 827-0301 x1, wmspn@wmjwj.org.
Friday October 16
NUEVA ESPERANZA'S ANNUAL
CELEBRATION
6-9pm, Yankee Pedlar Inn, 1866
Northampton St, Holyoke (532-9494, www.yankeepedlar.com).
Celebrate Nueva Esperanza's programs - YouthBuild Holyoke and El Arco Iris -
and see the goals Holyoke's youth are setting and surpassing! Presenting two
“Emerging Leader in Holyoke” awards. Dinner is free - bring friends
and family! You will be asked to make a meaningful donation that evening. RSVP:
info@nuevaesperanzacdc.org or www.nuevaesperanzacdc.org.
Friday
October 16
FREE FILM: CONSUME THIS MOVIE
7pm, Media Education Foundation, 60 Masonic
Street, same building as Woodstar Café, Northampton. Discussion following. Consume
This Movie (80 min.) takes a critical look at social injustice, peak oil,
resource depletion, and our need to feel connected to each other through what
we choose to consume. Info: http://www.northamptoncommittee.org/.
October 16-17
10TH ANNUAL
GRASSROOTS USE OF TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE
Northeastern University, Boston.
Bringing together hundreds of grassroots and social change organizers with
media activists, writers, and techies from all over New England. A wide array
of workshops that focus on social media and organizing work for both beginners
and experts. Topics include: creating websites, building rapid response
networks, using databases and e-mail lists, fundraising and "micro"
donations, community art, virtual worlds, and more. Rather than offering a
blind "techno-lust," the conference engages in levelheaded thinking
about using the latest technologies towards the strategic objectives of an
organization for both problem solving and empowerment. Info & Registration.
2009 MASS RELOCALIZATION
CONFERENCE
9am-6:30pm, Reggie Lewis Center, 1350 Tremont
St, Roxbury. $10-$30 sliding scale (includes food); scholarships available. A statewide
conference celebrating and highlighting the grassroots initiatives that are
springing up in response to systemic breakdowns and meltdowns, from the economy
to healthcare to the environment. Speakers, panel discussions, workshops,
tabling, great local food, music, fun, and transformative action. Info, to register:
http://relocalizemassachusetts.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=1;
www.RelocalizeMassachusetts.org,
617-821-1453, info@relocalizemassachusetts.org.
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UNSUBSCRIBE, send an email to wmjwj@wmjwj.org with a Subject of "Unsub
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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
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Western
Mass Jobs with Justice
640 Page Blvd #101
Springfield MA 01104
(413) 827-0301