Weekly Labor Reader, July 23, 2019
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Support striking workers by attending Wednesday's rally and by
WHERE: Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon Street, Boston, MA
The biggest benefit has been financial independence. “It enabled me to have good health insurance. It enabled me pay for my mortgage. It’s amazing to be able to do that.” Santoraknew that if only more women realized that this opportunity is out there, they too could enjoy the same economic security she benefits from.“Women don’t consider trades as an option. They don’t even think of trades as a career,” she says. That’s something Santora wants to change. With the trades, she says, “I know I’m gettingpaid the same as the guy standing next to me. I can’t think of another industry where that has happened.” She has thrown herself into recruitment efforts to spread the word among women about what great industries the union building trades are. She was named DC 35’s treasurer, and became involved in the District Council’s Women in Action program, which seeks to reach out and support all women in the trades. She also leads recruitment efforts in the Tradeswomen Tuesday initiative and Girls in Trades events throughout Massachusetts.Two years ago, she even traveled around India for 20 days, visiting Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai with a delegation made up of tradeswomen to learn from the situations of womenconstruction workers in that impoverished country. Santora was deeply touched by what she saw. “They have a large number of women in the trades, but working in the worst conditions -- and paid about half of what men are paid.” Moved by the conditions of those women, Santora is working with a group called Building Bridges, working towards the goal of a female workforce that is 20% female by 2020. “We’re all in this together,” she says. “Women all around the world are in the same boat. By connecting women we make an impact.”
And her plate is about to get even fuller. Last month, Santora was named to the City of Lynn’s Wage Theft Advisory Committee. Unscrupulous businesses steal nearly $700 million in wages from roughly 350,000 low-wage workers in Massachusetts every year, hurting individual workers, their families, and whole communities. This panel’s mission is to ensure that known bad actors are banned from receiving city contracts. “This committee is about protecting workers in Lynn, but ideally this could become a model for cities and towns throughout Massachusetts,” she says. “I want to be actively involved in my union because it’s been life changing for me. The union has given me a lot, so I feel compelled to give back to my union and my community.” While seeking to improve the lives of others, Santora says her own life has changed as a result of the union.
Have a member feature you’d like us to include? Email Rachael Running: rrunning@massaflcio.orgLabor Guild School of Labor-Management Relations Classes
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Support striking workers by attending Wednesday's rally and by
donating to their strike fund.
RALLY
WHEN: Wednesday July 24, 12:00PMWHERE: Massachusetts State House, 24 Beacon Street, Boston, MA
Donate to strike fund.You can help them by contributing to the Martha's Vineyard bus drivers strike fund today.
Read more from Labor Notes here.
With such chants as “What do we want? Fair fares!” and signs that read “Fares Going Up, Service Going Down,” dozens of supporters of a low-income T fare protested outside the Department of Transportation Monday.
Community Labor United and the Green Justice Coalition, two advocacy groups, called on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to create a low-income fare similar to the youth pass, which costs $30 per month for middle- and high school students who attend participating schools.
The organizers’ proposed low-income fare would apply to those who are registered in a public benefit program and include people who are at 300 percent of the federal poverty line or below, which organizers said equates to about $64,000 in annual income for a family of three.
Read more from the Boston Globe.Speak Up for the Promise Act and the Cherish Act
Massachusetts public defenders push to unionize
“I wanted to be able to do things on my own and I didn’t want to ask for help.”
The biggest benefit has been financial independence. “It enabled me to have good health insurance. It enabled me pay for my mortgage. It’s amazing to be able to do that.” Santoraknew that if only more women realized that this opportunity is out there, they too could enjoy the same economic security she benefits from.“Women don’t consider trades as an option. They don’t even think of trades as a career,” she says. That’s something Santora wants to change. With the trades, she says, “I know I’m gettingpaid the same as the guy standing next to me. I can’t think of another industry where that has happened.” She has thrown herself into recruitment efforts to spread the word among women about what great industries the union building trades are. She was named DC 35’s treasurer, and became involved in the District Council’s Women in Action program, which seeks to reach out and support all women in the trades. She also leads recruitment efforts in the Tradeswomen Tuesday initiative and Girls in Trades events throughout Massachusetts.Two years ago, she even traveled around India for 20 days, visiting Delhi, Mumbai, and Chennai with a delegation made up of tradeswomen to learn from the situations of womenconstruction workers in that impoverished country. Santora was deeply touched by what she saw. “They have a large number of women in the trades, but working in the worst conditions -- and paid about half of what men are paid.” Moved by the conditions of those women, Santora is working with a group called Building Bridges, working towards the goal of a female workforce that is 20% female by 2020. “We’re all in this together,” she says. “Women all around the world are in the same boat. By connecting women we make an impact.”
And her plate is about to get even fuller. Last month, Santora was named to the City of Lynn’s Wage Theft Advisory Committee. Unscrupulous businesses steal nearly $700 million in wages from roughly 350,000 low-wage workers in Massachusetts every year, hurting individual workers, their families, and whole communities. This panel’s mission is to ensure that known bad actors are banned from receiving city contracts. “This committee is about protecting workers in Lynn, but ideally this could become a model for cities and towns throughout Massachusetts,” she says. “I want to be actively involved in my union because it’s been life changing for me. The union has given me a lot, so I feel compelled to give back to my union and my community.” While seeking to improve the lives of others, Santora says her own life has changed as a result of the union.
Have a member feature you’d like us to include? Email Rachael Running: rrunning@massaflcio.orgLabor Guild School of Labor-Management Relations Classes
July 24: Martha Vineyard Bus Drivers Strike Rally in Boston
August 3: 1199 SEIU Community Fair, Boston
August 6: Boston Tradeswomen Tuesday
August 12: Harbor Cruise Greater Southeastern MA Labor Council
August 23: MA AFL-CIO Political & Legislative Roundtable, Dorchester
September 2: Labor Day Breakfasts in Boston and Worcester
September 2: Bread and Roses Heritage Festival in Lawrence
September 6: Western MA Area Labor Federation's Labor Day Breakfast, Chicopee
September 25-September 27: MA AFL-CIO Convention, Springfield
For a full list of events, visit the calendar on our website. If you have any events that you would like to be included, contact Rachael Running at rrunning@massaflcio.org
