The rail freight carriers that employ approximately 125,000 unionized employees have spent years prioritizing shareholders and executives, making record profits for the railroad industry. At the same time, the carriers have downsized the rail workforce by furloughing approximately 30% of rail workers, increasing the workload for those who remain. Workers do not receive paid sick …
Fund, Fix, and Free the T! Boston DSA statement on T closure
Painting credit: @Lizzie Rutberg Today, in an unprecedented and historic move, Governor Charlie Baker’s MBTA will shut down the entire Orange Line for thirty days of emergency maintenance. This, the severs a vital transit artery for hundreds of thousands of greater Boston residents, and forces riders to pay the price for decades of disinvestment from …
Continue reading "Fund, Fix, and Free the T! Boston DSA statement on T closure"
Zoom Safety for Organizers (and Everyone Else)
- Boston DSA Direct Action, De-escalation & Security (DADS) Committee Basic Security Practices for Zoom Events Organizers have used video calling app Zoom for a while now, but it has seen a flood of activity recently as people across the world shift to remote work and schooling, due to novel coronavirus. More activity means more bad actors …
Continue reading "Zoom Safety for Organizers (and Everyone Else)"
The Power to Remake Our Cities: An Interview with Samuel Stein
PEWG Blog is excited to present a conversation between Adam H from Boston DSA Housing Working Group and Samuel Stein, author of "Capital City" (2019, Verso) on the real estate state & capital, gentrification and the housing crisis, tenant organizing, equitable housing and the Green New Deal, and more! Check it out below (the interview …
Continue reading "The Power to Remake Our Cities: An Interview with Samuel Stein"
Unafraid Educators in Boston Build Sanctuary Schools from the Ground Up
PEWG Blog recently had the chance to interview Unafraid Educators, a dedicated group within the Boston Teachers Union who actively organize to build Sanctuary schools from the bottom-up, on their origin, work, immigrant rights organizing and how to help undocumented students within the public school system. PEWG Blog: What led to the formation of Unafraid …
Continue reading "Unafraid Educators in Boston Build Sanctuary Schools from the Ground Up"
Reflections on the First National Gathering of DSA Elected Officials
- Ben Ewen-Campen, Somerville City Councilor According to DSA, there are now nearly 100 members holding elected office across the country. Over the weekend of August 3rd and 4th, 28 of us gathered in Atlanta as part of DSA’s National Convention. I was elected to the Somerville City Council in 2017 (with the support and endorsement …
Continue reading "Reflections on the First National Gathering of DSA Elected Officials"
DSA Convention 2019: A Reportback
- Boston DSA Delegates What it is Every two years, DSA has its national convention. Delegates come together from across the country to vote on changes to our constitution and bylaws, resolutions of various kinds, and our new National Political Committee (NPC). Chapters received one delegate for every fifty-one members - 1,056 total delegates were sent …
How to Walk Out
- Maddie H. One of the most important tools anyone can use to resist injustice is economic pressure. Whether it’s externally boycotting or internally refusing to provide your labor, economic pressure can be an extremely effective form of resistance, which is why corporations are particularly desperate to stop people from using that power. As one …
Insights on Tenant Organizing from Stonybrook Village: A Conversation with Boston DSA Housing WG Comrades
Boston DSA housing working group comrades, along with City Life/Vida Urbana folks, have been actively canvassing residents of Stonybrook Village in Hyde Park since last August. After close to a year of hard work, the Stonybrook Tenants Union held a public rally against the abusive management on June 2, drawing over a hundred people. PEWG …
Activism in the surveillance state: A follow-up with Leslie James Pickering
Leslie James Pickering (LJP), former Earth Liberation Front spokesperson and current owner of the radical, independent bookstore Burning Books in Buffalo, NY, was recently invited to give a talk by the Boston DSA PEWG and Ecosocialism WG. The event was co-sponsored by the Grassroots Infrastructure Charitable Foundation and was held in the Cambridge Public Library …
Continue reading "Activism in the surveillance state: A follow-up with Leslie James Pickering"