A broader appeal could have resulted in a win for nurses and patients There was no way I was going to criticize Question 1, prosaically dubbed the Nurse-Patient Assignment Limits Initiative, in advance of Election Day. As a longtime labor advocate, I didn’t think it would be appropriate to publicly gainsay a decent […]
PIZZA BARONS LAY OFF 1,100: PAPA GINO’S & D’ANGELO WORKERS NEED TO ORGANIZE FOR JUSTICE
Mainstream press coverage of mass layoffs like Sunday’s shutdown of almost 100 Papa Gino’s and D’Angelo fast food restaurants generally looks upon such tragic events through a glass, darkly. Because journalism in the service of the rich and powerful is a poor reflection of reality when it comes to all things labor. Which is […]
FROM INJURY TO ACTION: A LABOR DAY REMEMBRANCE (PART III)
In parts one (DigBoston, Vol. 20, Iss. 36, p. 6) and two (DigBoston, Vol. 20, Iss. 40, p. 6), I discussed how working a temp factory job at Belden Electronics on assignment for Manpower for several weeks in early 1989 in Vermont led to my sustaining a sudden and permanent spinal injury while walking […]
FROM INJURY TO ACTION: A LABOR DAY REMEMBRANCE (PART II)
In part one (DigBoston, Vol. 20, Iss. 36, p. 6), I related how working a temp factory job at Belden Electronics on assignment for Manpower for several weeks in early 1989 in Vermont led to my sustaining a sudden and permanent spinal injury while walking to my car just after my last shift. At the […]
FROM INJURY TO ACTION: A LABOR DAY REMEMBRANCE (PART I)
Every once and a while, I move slightly differently than usual. Maybe I shift position too fast. Maybe I pick up something a bit too heavy. Maybe I’m sitting askew for just a bit too long. Whatever the cause, one second I’m fine… and the next, my old spinal injury flares up. It’s […]
SPECIAL INVESTIGATION: LIVING ON SCRAPS
Boston is aiming to achieve “zero waste,” which some say can create more living-wage jobs. Is part of this lofty goal rooted in the region’s dirtiest hypocrisy?
‘DON’T MOURN, ORGANIZE!’
Why Janus might actually be good for the American labor movement The Supreme Court issued a decision last week that will have profound consequences for American working people. In Janus v. AFSCME, the court overturned a 1977 decision, Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, that allowed public sector unions—like the National Education […]
REMEMBERING THE MAY DAY RIOTS
As tensions grew between authorities and socialist types, one infamous standoff in Roxbury in 1919 showed just how grisly things could get. At Monroe Avenue and Humboldt Street, activists and Boston cops fought hand to hand until police backup led to more than 100 arrests.
WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND
Or how tax breaks for fat cats relate to a defeat for Harvard management rats “Opportunity” for the few Gov. Charlie Baker submitted paperwork to the US Department of Treasury last week, according to the Republican, asking the federal government to consider 138 tracts in dozens of Massachusetts communities for inclusion in the […]
MADISON PERKS: LONG-STRUGGLING VOCATIONAL SCHOOL PROVIDES NEW OPPS FOR STUDENTS IN TRADES
“There’s so much work here, and the workforce is minimally women. Now they know they can come here and get the percentage raised.”
