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Rally Outside Welcome Party for GE Execs Hosted by Gov Baker & Mayor Walsh
Monday, April 4th, 2016, 3:30pm-5:30 pm
60 State Street, Boston, MA (State Street T)
“GE’s warm welcome to Boston shouldn’t include free rent”, Joan Vennochi wrote in yesterday’s Boston Globe. But in fact, Governor Charlie Baker plans to give GE $125 million in tax breaks to ease its move to Boston, and Mayor Marty Walsh will chip in $25 million plus spend $90 million on a bridge. This corporate welfare comes at a time when public education is underfunded and public transit is cutting services and raising fares.
This, for a company that refuses to pay the $613 million it owes to clean up pollution it caused in the Housatonic River in western Massachusetts; that has avoided at least $37 billion in federal taxes; and that is one of the state’s major military contractors, building the airplanes that are daily being used by the U.S. to destroy Iraq, Syria, and Afghanistan, and that were used by Israel to flatten Gaza in 2014.
The full extent of the government giveaways and influence buying that are part of the GE move are explained by Dig Boston’s Jason Pramas in “GE Boston Deal: The Missing Manual — GE’s Boston charm offensive presents dilemma for Boston nonprofits, others.
The broader context for the fight over GE, though it does not mention the company by name, is examined by Thomas Franks in “Beware the Blue State Model: How [Massachusetts] Democrats Created a ‘Liberalism of the Rich Franks writes that the knowledge economy epitomized by higher education, biotech, and pharma is destroying the middle class, and that its political representatives are ascendant in the Democratic Party over the working class.
April 4 is the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was killed after he stood up against what he called America’s racism, poverty and militarism. We will gather on April 4 in Dr. King’s memory.
The Budget for All campaign now joins with others, as Tax Day approaches, to challenge the giveaway of state and city tax dollars to the war manufacturer, General Electric. We are linking the need for a People’s Budget at the federal level with the need for people’s budgets at the state and local levels. Please join us Monday afternoon at 60 State Street as we protest GE and call for a people’s budgets at all levels!
WHAT: Rally Outside Welcome Party for GE Execs Hosted by Gov Baker & Mayor Walsh
WHEN: Monday, April 4th, 2016, 3:30pm-5:30 pm
WHERE: 60 State Street, Boston, MA (near Boston City Hall and State Street Stop on the Orange Line)
WHO: Coalition of Boston area social justice groups and leaders
#MakeGEPay! $37 billion in Federal Taxes: GE has parked $119 billion in profits overseas, avoiding over *$30 billion in federal taxes. If GE paid their fair share, billions would be available for public schools, low cost housing, fixing the T, renewable energy, green jobs and countless other needs. GE also receives federal funds for weapons used by the U.S. and Israel to commit war crimes in the Middle East.
#MakeGEPay! $125m in State Taxes + $613m Cleanup of Housatonic River: Governor Baker has promised $125 million in tax breaks for GE. $125 million would help reduce MBTA fare hikes, lower public college costs, move homeless families out of motels, and support jobs, not jails! Not a penny for GE until it cleans up its pollution of the Housatonic River in Western MA!
#MakeGEPay $25m in City Tax Breaks + $90m Bridge: Mayor Walsh has promised a $25 million tax break and a $90 million bridge over Fort Point Channel for GE. $25 million could stop budget cuts in the Boston Schools or provide rent vouchers for the homeless. And $90 million would be better spent to rebuild the bridge to Long Island to reopen facilities for people in recovery.
On April 4, Mayor Walsh and Gov. Baker are hosting a Public Forum with GE’s CEO Jeff Immelt at 60 State Street in Boston.
Let’s welcome GE to Boston!
Union of Minority Neighborhoods • Budget for All Campaign • Jewish Voice for Peace – Boston • Neighbor to Neighbor • Right to the City/Boston • Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants • Progressive Mass • American Friends Service Committee • Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom • Unitarian Universalist Mass Action Network • New England War Tax Resistance • OPENBoston • Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine • United for Justice with Peace • Massachusetts Peace Action • Boston Homeless Solidarity Committee • Housatonic River Initiative • MassMuslims • NoBoston2024 • Massachusetts Senior Action • Pass Mass Amendment
To get involved contact:
Union of Minority Neighborhoods • 617-522-3349 • horacesmall(AT)umnunity.org
Budget for All Massachusetts • 617-354-2169 • info(AT)budget4allmass.org
Jewish Voice for Peace – Boston • 339-223-3185 • jvpboston(AT)gmail.com
ACTION ALERT!
Say NO to new jails in Massachusetts!
Tell legislators you oppose S1297: “An Act establishing an eastern Massachusetts women’s county corrections facility.”
Call Senator Karen Spilka, Chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee and the lead sponsor of this bill: 617-722-1640
Call Representative Brian Dempsey, Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee: 617-722-2990
Tell them:
New jails are not the answer. We need a moratorium on jail building until Massachusetts invests in bail reform and alternatives to incarceration. Please vote against S1297.
www.exprisoners.org
https://twitter.com/epocama
https://www.facebook.com/exprisoners
4 King St Worceter mass 01610
What: Organizing Legal Workers and Public Interest Lawyers
Unions are under attack, and public sector workers’s unions have come under particularly heavy fire, but here in Massachusetts we are organizing a group of state employees who have been, up until now, disenfranchised and voiceless: public defenders. Let’s come together to discuss how to combat the ideology of austerity, imagine sustainable public interest careers, and build solidarity within the working classes. Jobs not Jails!
Who:
- Deborah Wright, President of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys,
- UAW Local 2325, AFL-CIO, in New York City (invited)
- Susan DeMaria, Regional Organizer for the National Organization of
- Legal Services Workers, UAW Local 2320, AFL-CIO
- Rudy Renaud, Organizing Director for the Service Employees
- International Union Local 888
- Christian Williams, staff attorney with the Committee for Public
- Counsel Services and member of the National Lawyers Guild
- Chris Gonsalves, staff investigator with the Committee for Public
- Counsel Services active in the organizing campaign
- and others involved in organizing to win collective bargaining rights for CPCS employees and the Fight for $15
When:
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
5:30pm to 7:00pm
Where:
Northeastern University School of Law
Dockser Hall (https://goo.gl/maps/yzktXSnTqj72)
65 Forsyth St, Boston
Ruggles – Orange Line T
Northeastern – Green Line T
The event is free; pizza will be provided.
Here’s a link for our petition to win basic worker rights for public defenders in Massachusetts:
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/extend-organizing-rights-to-massachusetts-public-defenders
some background:
http://www.seiu888.org/mass-defenders-cpcs/
We also be discussing plans for the action on April 14:
#WageAction April 14th Rally: Join the Fight for $15 in 2016!
April 14 @ 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm
Rally at the Massachusetts State House – National Day of Action
http://wageaction.org/event/april-14th-ff15-rally
yours in solidarity,
Benjamin Evans
National Lawyers Guild
northeastrvp(AT)nlg.org
Our neighbor, Occupy Natick, invites us – and you to a free screening of the movie “This Changes Everything“.
Film inspired by international best-selling author Naomi Klein’s book explores the transformative opportunity climate change presents for us all
Natick, MA- Occupy Natick invites the public to a free screening and discussion of the film, “This Changes Everything,” directed by Avi Lewis and inspired by the internationally best-selling book of the same name by author Naomi Klein, on Monday, April 18th, from 7-9 pm at Sherrill Hall, 39 East Central St. Natick (rear of St. Paul’s Church). The group is screening the film as part of its monthly “What Went Wrong” film and discussion series. The film and discussion is co-hosted by several local organizations including, Common Street Spiritual Center, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and Metrowest Peace Action. After the screening there will be an opportunity for attendees to identify ways in which they are inspired to take action. There is ample parking in the adjacent lot, and light refreshments will be served.
Filmed over 211 days, “This Changes Everything” offers powerful portraits of seven communities worldwide that have been forced to take action to address a local climate issue, from Canada and the Tar Sands, to Greece and the exploitation of local lands for mining, to an oil spill in Montana. Rather than using these experiences to scare people into action, the film acknowledges the interconnectedness of the economy and the climate crisis, and aims to inspire us to use these situations to advocate for the kind of overall lifestyle and environment we as human beings want to have.
According to Yes! magazine, “Klein and Lewis paint a picture of a post-fossil-fueled, post-capitalist future that seems not only within reach, but like a place where we actually want to live.”
Throughout 2016 and leading up to the presidential election, as part of their “What Went Wrong” film series, Occupy Natick is featuring films that explore important issues that should be an integral part of each candidates platform, or that highlight the brokenness of our current political system in an effort to help educate and inform citizens. To date films have included: “Dream On,” addressing the relevance of the American Dream, “The Bridge to the Ballot” on voter rights, and “Merchants of Doubt” on the use of propaganda and doubt to control debate around critical issues, among others. The monthly film and discussion series is free to the public, and all are welcome to attend and participate.
Occupy Natick is a group of Metrowest citizens, who, inspired by the original Occupy Wall Street protests, engage in activities and events that educate the community about areas of concern related to the undue influence of money in politics and policy making. The group hosts regular meetings that are open to the public, along with the free monthly film series. For a meeting schedule and more information, visit www.occupynatick.org or contact: info(AT)occupynatick.org.