Saturday March 1 2014
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Community Church of Boston
565 Boylston Street, Copley Square, Boston, MA
617-356-ROSA (7672) rosanegra.boston@gmail.com Facebook Event Page
Wheelchair Accessible / Childcare & Spanish Interpretation Upon Request
Study Group: Fast Food Workers, Recent Strikes, and "Alternative" Labor
Photo: Jenny Brown Originally posted on Labor Notes
Saturday September 21st: 6-8 PM
Community Church of Boston
565 Boylston Street, Boston, MA (Copley Square)
This Summer, fast food workers across the country have launched strikes and pushed for unions and better jobs. SEIU has played a large role in this movement, utilizing a "new" or "alternative" labor model, supporting smaller, independent workers' initiatives, organizing symbolic strikes, and pushing for a higher national minimum wage. Locally, workers at Insomnia Cookies recently launched a strike and joined the Industrial Workers of the World.
Saturday, May 18th
6:00PM
Community Church of Boston
565 Boylston St, Boston, MA
Topic this month: The Politics of Women and Health: how gender inequality serves capital and state control. We'll be reading several articles describing the lack of access to healthcare, mistreatment by medical institutions, and forced treatment (psychiatric and reproductive) that affect women, paying attention to the similar and different forms of oppression experienced by women who are from the dominant culture and those who are from minority communities or developing countries. Drawing upon insights from previous readings, such as Caliban and the Witch, we'll speculate on how such maltreatment benefits capital and the state.
In March and April, long-term Harvard employee Johany Pilar reported being sexually harassed at work. In May she was threatened with "big, big problems," by a manager. In September she was told verbally and in writing she could be fired, the first discipline she received since she started at Harvard in 1998! Shortly after a picket in October, at which two of Johany's co-workers spoke up for her in public, all three were informed they are now considered "essential staff," meaning they have to work during emergencies, like during the recent hurricane, when almost everyone else gets the day off. These workers were never considered "essential" until they helped publicize Johany's treatment. This is another example of the tit-for-tat retaliation which management has sunk to ever since Johany stood up against rape culture in the workplace.
A forum on the intersections of direct action and cultural resistance. Panelists will lead a discussion on the importance of cultural intervention in building movements for radical change.
Thanks to all who came out to talk about The Housing Monster with us last month! There's a ton going on in the Boston area this month. Here's a few actions and events you could find Common Struggle at in November.