[Antiracism] [Workers' Rights] Calendar 1/9-17

[WMass Jobs With Justice]

Join Over One Million <http://www.freechoiceact.org/page/s/jwj?source=s>
Strong for the Employee Free Choice Act.  Write a letter
<http://action.americanrightsatwork.org/campaign/mmm_obama_lte/>  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 at 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 at 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 at 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 at 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 at healthcare-now.org.  

 

Thursday January 15

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 at yahoo.com.

WMASS JOBS WITH JUSTICE HAMPSHIRE WORKERS' RIGHTS COMMITTEE meets with the
NORTHAMPTON LIVING WAGE COALITION. Info: 827-0301, wmjwj at 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 at 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 at 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:
<http://www.jwj.org/pledge.html> "I'll be there for workers' rights at least
five times a year!" This is the core mission of Jobs with Justice (
<http://www.jwj.org/> www.jwj.org), affirming that workers' rights are human
rights. To subscribe, send an email to wmjwj at 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 

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