[Antiracism] [Workers' Rights] Upcoming Events 2/6-4/7

[WMass Jobs With Justice]

Here are some opportunities to learn about and show solidarity with
workplace and working class struggles ...

Wednesday February 6
     WESTERN MASS JUSTICE @ SMITHFIELD COMMITTEE
     7-8:30pm, Conference Room, room 236, second floor, Potpourri Plaza, 243
King St, Northampton, opposite Stop & Shop.
http://maps.google.com/maps?oi=map&q=243+King+St,+Northampton,+MA. On the
agenda: Review of Jan. 26 action; Seeking a Resolution from Northampton City
Council (and then Chicopee Board of Aldermen and maybe Holyoke City
Council); Creating an Honor Roll for Atkins, Stop & Shop, and other stores
not selling Tar Heel pork (this will require more store visits); Latest on
the national campaign and lawsuit. Info: 827-0301, mailto:wmjwj at wmjwj.org. 

Thursday February 7
     HEALTH CARE RALLY AT AETNA
     3pm, Aetna Insurance Company, 151 Farmington Ave, Hartford. Aetna's
profits are leaving us out in the cold! The insurance industry reaps huge
profits while 400,000 in Connecticut are left out in the cold without health
care. Premiums, co-pays, and deductibles keep increasing and health care
coverage keeps decreasing. The time is now to stand up to the insurance
industry. Info: Labor for Universal Health Care, Cari Carter,
mailto:ccarter at c-e-o.net.

Tuesday February 12
     AFL-CIO PRESIDENT SWEENEY AT HARVARD
     6pm, doors open at 5:30, John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum, Littauer Building,
79 John F. Kennedy St, Cambridge. Here's an historic moment to be part of.
If you can offer a ride or want to catch one, please tell Jon at PVAFLCIO,
732-7970 or mailto:mail at pvaflcio.org.
     AFL-CIO President John Sweeney has been invited by Harvard University’s
John F. Kennedy School of Government and the Harvard Trade Union Program to
participate in a discussion at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum. This
prestigious forum regularly features addresses by major world leaders, heads
of state, and elected officials. Forum events are open to the press and are
frequently covered by C-SPAN and other national media outlets. The event
will include a 20-minute interview style format with Kennedy School
professor Alex Keyssar, which will be followed by a question and answer
discussion with the audience. The discussion will focus on the future of the
labor movement in the United States. 
     Info: AFL-CIO Senior Field Representative Yael Foa, 617-816-0324,
mailto:yfoa at aflcio.org. 

Friday February 15 
    STREET HEAT - THE PIONEER VALLEY CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL MOBILIZATION
COMMITTEE
    9:30-11am, AFL-CIO Hall, 640 Page Blvd, near corner of Osborne Ter,
across the street from the old Westinghouse, Springfield. On the agenda:
Channel 40! Comcast! Verizon! Wal-Mart! Smithfield! Safe Hospitals! Your
Organizing! Info, send agenda items to mailto:street_heat at pvaflcio.org.
Community and labor activist guests are welcome, but RSVP to Jon at
732-7970, mailto:mail at pvaflcio.org

Tuesday February 26
     HAMPSHIRE/FRANKLIN CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL
     7:30pm, Northampton Fire Station Community Room, 26 Carlon Drive at
King St/Route 5 (across Carlon Dr from Northampton Athletic Club),
Northampton (587-1148). Community and labor activist guests are welcome, but
RSVP to Pres. Fiore Grassetti, 877-725-0357, mailto:org7 at comcast.net. 

Wednesday February 27 (postponed from Third Wednesday)
     PIONEER VALLEY CENTRAL LABOR COUNCIL 
     7pm, 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,
mailto:mail at pvaflcio.org, or Rick at 374-1492.

Thursday February 28
     COST OF WOMEN'S CARING
     4pm-5:30pm, Five College Women's Studies Research Center, 83 College St
(Rt 116), S Hadley. Lynn Hatch, Research Associate, UMass Amherst, speaks on
"Another Cost of Women’s Caring: Teaching in the Child-care Industry." It is
estimated that 20% of the cost of child care is borne on the backs of
low-paid teachers, of whom 97% are women. Historically, many of these
teachers were not their family’s primary earners. Today, with the increase
in both women’s labor force participation and the demand for childcare, they
often are. Using recent data, Hatch looks at who these teachers are, their
wages and financial responsibilities, and their work in child care. Info:
538-2275, www.fivecolleges.edu/sites/fcwsrc.

Thursday March 6
     THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT AGAINST SEXUAL HARASSMENT
     4pm-5:30pm, Five College Women's Studies Research Center, 83 College St
(Rt 116), S Hadley. Carrie Baker, Visiting Assistant Professor, Smith
College, discusses her recently published book, "The Women's Movement
Against Sexual Harassment", which examines how a diverse grassroots social
movement placed sexual harassment on the public agenda in the 1970s and
1980s in the United States. She will present a slideshow of images of the
movement and answer questions. Copies of her book will be available for sale
after the talk. Info: 538-2275, www.fivecolleges.edu/sites/fcwsrc.

Saturday March 8
     INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
     Folks planning events, please contact Susan Dorazio,
mailto:susandor at crocker.com.

Saturday March 8 and 15
     WILD IN THE WINTER
     The Women's Institute for Leadership Development announces WILD in the
Winter and WILD in the Winter (West).  WILD in the Winter will be in Boston
on Saturday March 8, 9am-1pm. Skill-building workshops in the morning,
followed by lunch with inspiring speakers and opportunities to network with
other labor movement women. WILD in the Winter West will take place in
Amherst on Saturday March 15, 8:30am-1:30pm, and will include a workshop
looking at proposals for health care reform, also followed by lunch,
speakers, and networking. Info: Dale Melcher, 545-6166,
mailto:dmelcher at lrrc.umass.edu.

Wednesday March 12
     JIM HIGHTOWER - AMERICA'S MOST POPULAR POPULIST - WWW.JIMHIGHTOWER.COM
!
     5:30-7:00pm – Reception/Booksigning/Jobs with Justice Fundraiser at
Odyssey Bookshop, 9 College Street, in the Village Commons, at Routes 116 &
47, South Hadley (534-7307, 800-540-7307) - $35 – Book on Sale - "Swim
against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go With the Flow".
     7:30pm – Public Chat/Q&A/Booksigning, Gamble Auditorium, Mount Holyoke
College Art Museum, Lower Lake Road, off Park Street and off Morgan Street,
South Hadley (538-2245) – Free (Donations to WMJwJ Accepted) – Book on Sale
- "Swim against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go With the Flow".
     Info: WMass Jobs with Justice, 827-0301, mailto:wmwjw at wmjwj.org.

Thursday March 13
     JIM HIGHTOWER - AMERICA'S MOST POPULAR POPULIST - WWW.JIMHIGHTOWER.COM
!
     10:00am-Noon – Brunch/Booksigning at Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO, 640 Page
Boulevard, Springfield (732-7970) – Free (Donations to WMJwJ Requested) –
Book on Sale - "Swim against the Current: Even a Dead Fish Can Go With the
Flow". 
     Noon-1:00pm – Media Availability at Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO.
     Info: WMass Jobs with Justice, 827-0301, mailto:wmwjw at wmjwj.org.

THE JIM HIGHTOWER VISIT MARCH 12-13 - CO-SPONSOR IT with the Harriet L. &
Paul M. Weissman Center for Leadership & the Liberal Arts at Mount Holyoke
College; Odyssey Bookshop; Pioneer Valley AFL-CIO; and Western Massachusetts
Jobs with Justice. $100 donation to WMJwJ. Info: WMass Jobs with Justice,
827-0301, mailto:wmwjw at wmjwj.org.

Thursday March 20
     BUILDING WORKERS' POWER! JOBS WITH JUSTICE ANNUAL DINNER
     6-8pm, Suffolk Downs, Route 1A, East Boston
(www.suffolkdowns.com/about/directions.html). $40. Please help Massachusetts
Jobs with Justice celebrate the past year of fighting for workers' rights
and look forward to a year of new beginnings and taking back our country.
Honoring ... 
     * Boston Hotel Workers Rising! For their historic victory for low wage
workers.
     * Verizon Business Workers in their struggle for a voice at work.
     * Quincy Teachers in their fight to protect the right to strike and
defend their health care.
     * The Fair Wage Campaign for their effort to protect immigrant workers
from predatory employers.
     * The John O'Connor Youth Activism Award to SLAM and the Harvard Hunger
Strikers for their solidarity with organizing by campus security guards.
     With a special tribute to Father Ed Boyle, our brother in the movement
for worker rights, founding Workers' Rights Board member, and a long time
friend to Jobs with Justice. Info: 617-524-8778, mailto:jwj at massjwj.net,
www.massjwj.net.

Friday March 21
     INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR THE ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
     The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is
observed annually on March 21. On that day, in 1960, police opened fire and
killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa,
against the apartheid "pass laws." Proclaiming the Day in 1966, the United
Nations General Assembly called on the international community to redouble
its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination (resolution 2142
(XXI)). Info: www.ohchr.org/EN/.

April 2-5
     NINTH ANNUAL WHITE PRIVILEGE CONFERENCE
     Sheraton Hotel, Monarch Place, Springfield (for discounted conference
rates: 781-1010 or 800-426-9004). Registration for the Ninth Annual White
Privilege Conference is now open at www.uccs.edu/wpc. Early bird discounts
available until February 28. Academic credit and continuing education units
available. Sponsorship opportunities also available. 
     Featuring a wide range of workshops, single-day institutes, and youth
programs examining the intersections of race, gender, sexual orientation,
class, religion, and the broader dynamics of  privilege and oppression.
Keynotes: Rhea Almeida; Joe Feagin; Jawanza Kunjufu; John Palmer, and Salome
Raheim. The WPC is a project of the Matrix Center for the Advancement of
Social Equity and Inclusion at the U of Colorado at Colorado Springs.    

Monday April 7
     TRANSNATIONAL MIGRATION & DOMESTIC & CARE WORK
     4pm-5:30pm, Five College Women's Studies Research Center, 83 College St
(Rt 116), S Hadley. Encarnación Gutiérrez-Rodríguez, Ford Associate, U of
Manchester, speaks on "Transnational Migration, Affective Labor and
Precariousness: On Domestic and Care Workers' Rights." A wide range of
research indicates that domestic and care work in private households is now
the largest employment sector for migrant women entering the European Union.
How do EU migration policies constrain the social mobility of migrant women?
How does paid domestic and care work structure interpersonal relationships
between those who pay for and those employed to do this work in private
households? Info: 538-2275, www.fivecolleges.edu/sites/fcwsrc.

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