workers rights

When they say, "there's no alternative..."

Saturday, December 3, 2011, 6:00 p.m.  As discontent with the economic and political status quo mounts in the wake of the “great recession”, America Beyond Capitalism is a book whose time has come. Gar Alperovitz’s expert diagnosis of the long-term structural crisis of the American economic and political system is accompanied by detailed, practical answers to the problems we face as a society. Unlike many books that reserve a few pages of a concluding chapter to offer generalized, tentative solutions, Alperovitz marshals years of research into emerging “new economy” strategies to present a comprehensive picture of practical bottom-up efforts currently underway in thousands of communities across the United States.

Thursday, September 22, 2011, 6:00 p.m. The Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA) and the Boston Recycling Coalition (BRC- an emerging campaign between community, environmental and worker groups in Boston to dramatically improve the recycling system in Boston) co-host a gathering of inspiring grassroots waste/recycling movement leaders from around the world. Following a panel, there will be a wide-ranging discussion between local recycling workers, international guests and members of the Boston community interested in improving dismal conditions in Boston's waste/recycling sector. Come join us! This event is organized by the Boston Recycling Coalition.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011, 7:00 p.m. Join organizers Jeff Crosby and Carly McClain in a conversation about the Workers Center for Economic Justice organized by the North Shore Labor Council and the New Lynn Coalition. The coalition’s mission is to organize all sectors of working class people in the region into a unified permanent, political and economic force that is union and non-union and transcends racial, linguistic, ethnic, citizenship and gender boundaries. Together the organizations within the New Lynn Coalition are identifying goals for regional development which revolve around social and ecological needs and concerns and where there is a renewed sense of the public role in social welfare.

Tuesday, July 20th, 2011, 7:00 p.m.  Rescheduled due to another event. New date to be announced soon: Join organizers Jeff Crosby and Carly McClain in a conversation about the Workers Center for Economic Justice organized by the North Shore Labor Council and the New Lynn Coalition. The coalition’s mission is to organize all sectors of working class people in the region into a unified permanent, political and economic force that is union and non-union and transcends racial, linguistic, ethnic, citizenship and gender boundaries. Together the organizations within the New Lynn Coalition are identifying goals for regional development which revolve around social and ecological needs and concerns and where there is a renewed sense of the public role in social welfare.

Friday, June 24, 2011, 6:30 p.m. Join activist historian Mark Solomon for reflection on the racial justice battles of the 1940s and 50s - that great in-between period that provided the connective tissue between the great upsurges of the 1930s and powerful peace and justice movements of the 1960s. Going beyond mere generational analysis, this personal account integrates race, class and gender dimensions with a global perspective in an era when such transformative figures as Paul Robeson and W.E.B du Bois were still widely recognized and respected. In a period largely defined by the Cold War, other exciting processes ranging from epic national liberation struggles in the Global South to block-by-block tenant organizing in the US. Mark takes us back to that period and our discussion will help draw lessons for today's challenges. The event will be followed by a wine-and-cheese-style reception. 

Thursday, November 4, 2010, 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. José Brito formerly worked at the Cerrejon mine in Colombia. He is a trade unionist representing thousands of workers at giant surface strip-mines. The Drummond and Cerejon mines produce 90% of Colombian coal exports. These help fire Massachusetts' Salem and Somerset electrical generating plants in addition to other generating stations in the United States.

Saturday, September 11, 2010, 7:00 p.m. Join Sergio Reyes (Boston May Day Committee and Latin@s for Social Change) and Omar Sierra (sociologist and Consul General of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) for a survey of the radical changes and advances in Latin American constitutional development. Using his firsthand impressions of the process in Bolivia and a textual analysis of the new constitution of the Plurinational Republic of Bolivia, Reyes will provide his assessment and lead the conversation. Additional speakers and experiences will be announced shortly. Sponsored by the Boston May Day Committee.

Friday, September 10, 2010, 7:00 p.m. The Community and Resistance Tour seeks to communicate about current struggles for justice and liberation, from the current BP Oil Drilling Disaster devastating the Gulf Coast to nooses hung in the northern Louisiana town of Jena. From women organizing inside prisons to cultural resistance. The tour also seeks to connect communities of liberation, and to build relationships between grassroots activists and independent media. This tour is for anyone interested in issues of health care, education, criminal justice, housing, or the ways in which systems of racism, patriarchy and other forms of oppression intersect with these struggles.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010, 7:00 p.m. The NAACP, SEIU 1199, La Raza and Green Jobs for All have called upon the peace and justice movement to join a mass mobilization in Washington DC, October 2. This is a large national protest demonstration for jobs, justice and progressive change, and to counter the right wing. It will be the largest progressive mobilization in years.

A Story of Mexico City

Thursday, April 29, 2010, 7:00 p.m. Join renowned journalist John Ross for an evening connecting the people of Latin America and the United States... Nor ordinary scribe, Ross’ writing and presentations blend beat generation poetry with magical realist prose all while rooted in concrete social struggles and real politics... Ross leaves his audiences inspired to action and craving social change...

April 25th to April 30th, 2010 (At encuentro 5, Lucy Parson's Center, & Haley House) Leading up to the MayDay 2010 rallies and marches, join us across the city for six days of movies and discussion on the topics of workers' struggle, immigration, history, political analysis, and alternatives. Featuring an exhibit of Justice Artwork at encuentro 5 from local worker-run cooperative Red Sun Press!

Festival Schedule (read more):

Saturday, February 13, 2010, 6:00 p.m. Join Victor Wallis and Sylvia Escarcega in a discussion concerning the potential political and ethical contributions of indigenous thought and social movements to building alternatives to capitalism. Victor's paper, "Beyond 'Green Capitalism'" recently published in Monthly Review (61:9, February, 2010) provides a starting point for the conversation. In it, he notes the connection between the present economic recession, the crisis-ridden character of capitalist economy and the ecological limits to the capitalist growth model. But he goes on to observe that most of the world is still caught up in capitalist institutions and does not yet recognize the link between socialism and ecologically appropriate responses. He finds hope and examples in the Global South, insurgent socialism and indigenous resistance.

Thursday, February 4, 2010, 7:00 p.m. In the face of a deepening economic crisis and continuing brutal raids on immigrant workers and their communities, this event brings together union workers, immigrant organizers and community activists. It is part of the campaign by the Boston May Day Committee and its affiliates to unite workers across sector and borders. Join the conversation and help build toward May Day 2010!

Visit BostonMayDay.org for more information 

Thursday, January 28, 2010, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. While Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez continues to capture headlines, a much larger story involving a wider cast of characters has gone largely ignored. Venezuela Speaks!, published by PM Press, is a collection of interviews with activists and participants from across Venezuela’s social movements. From community media to land reform, cooperatives to communal councils, from the labor movement to the Afro-Venezuelan network, Venezuela Speaks! sheds light on the complex realities within the Bolivarian Revolution.

with Elaine Bernard & Rand Wilson

Tuesday, July 7, 2009, 7:00 p.m. Join Steve Early, author of Embedded with Organized Labor: Journalistic Reflections on the Class War at Home. Find out more about:

• Workers and the economic crisis
• The fight for health care reform
• The fate of "Employee Free Choice"
• Current struggles for union democracy and rank-and-file control
• The future of national labor federations like Change to Win and AFL-CIO

Steve will address his critique of organized labor, using examples from his book, propose his vision and what American workers can do to get out from under the terrible economic and political institutional constraints they endure.