Events Will Help People Get State Money for Home Energy Efficiency

A group of people in Springfield is helping Valley residents get state money to make their homes more energy efficient. The group, the Alliance to Develop Power, is hosting free, public evening meetings in: Amherst January 19, Easthampton January 20, Northampton January 26, and Greenfield February 2.

People at the meetings will learn how to sign up for a free energy assessment, get money for weatherization and other energy efficiency services, said Boone Shear of the Alliance.

The meeting will be in:

-Amherst, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m., Bangs Community Center, 70 Boltwood Walk;

Springfield Nursing Home Workers Form Union

On December 14, more than 300 nursing home workers in Springfield voted to form a union. They work for Sullivan and Associates Corporation. The voted workers voted 190 to 94 to join the Service Employees union www.seiu509.org Two dozen workers' votes are being disputed by the company or the union.

Union workers in the U.S. make more money than nonunion workers, 29 percent more. That’s $9,300 a year extra for the average worker who joins a union. For Latino workers, the union advantage is 50 percent; for black workers, 31 percent.

Rite Aid Workers Rally Near Springfield Dec. 15

There will be a rally at the Chicopee, Massachusetts Rite Aid store at 5 Saint James Avenue at 3 p.m. on December 15. Chicopee is near Springfield. The public is welcome to attend. At the rally, Rite Aid customers will learn from volunteers about:

-- Rite Aid's decision to hike its CEO's compensation to $4.5 million per year;

-- The company's effort to impose major cost increases on workers for health insurance;

-- Rite Aid's pattern of delays in reaching fair agreements with its union workers, and;

Nov. 30 Rally in Springfield to Help Jobless

On November 30 at 2:30 p.m. there will be a rally in Springfield to call on congressman Richard Neal to take action to extend benefits for unemployed workers. Congress recently decided to cut off benefits for some jobless workers – including some 60,000 Massachusetts residents -- on November 30. The rally will be at 300 State Street.

About 2 million Americans will lose their unemployment benefits on November 30 unless Congress reverses its earlier decision.

March for Jobs is Sept. 15 in Springfield

There will be a march in Springfield at 4 p.m. on September 15 calling on Congress to raise taxes on the rich to create jobs for unemployed people. The jobs would include work building better trains and train tracks, making homes and other building more energy efficient, and installing solar panels and windmills.

Organizers are asking the public to meet at 1550 Main Street at 3:45 p.m. Putting the millions of jobless Americans to work would raise wages for workers who already have jobs because employers would be forced to compete for skilled workers.

Northampton Nursing Home Workers Ask Public to Rally July 19

On July 19 at 2:30 p.m., Northampton nursing home workers will hold a rally for justice. The workers are asking the public to attend. The rally will be at 737 Bridge Road. Directions are at www.maps.google.com

Photos: At Work at the Dump and Fixing a Stone Bridge

These photos were taken on July 12. They show workers at the dump in Brattleboro, and fixing a stone bridge on Tucker Reed Road in Dummerston, Vermont. Town road chief Lee Chamberlin said the bridge will re-open on July 20. photos by Eesha Williams

Union Claims Victory for Shaw's Workers; Strike Over

On July 8, workers at Shaw's supermarkets voted to end a months-long strike. There is a Shaw's store in Keene. The union www.ufcw.org called the new contract a victory for workers. The contract includes "good wages, comprehensive and affordable health care, and a generous retirement plan," according to a union press release. The union did not make workers available for media interviews. Coverage of the strike is at:

www.valleypost.org/2010/04/27/photos-shaws-workers-strike

www.valleypost.org/2010/04/28/grocery-warehouse-strikers-speak-out

For Massachusetts Workers, Consumers Boycott Shaw's

On May 8, workers stood outside a Shaw's supermarket near Brattleboro and asked people not to shop at Shaw's until a strike is settled. Many customers said they would do what the workers asked. Some 300 workers at a Shaw's warehouse near Boston have been on strike for weeks. Shaw's is using the Keene-based C&S corporation to scab. C&S has warehouses in Brattleboro and near Northampton. The May 8 action, and recent pickets at the C&S warehouses in the Valley, were organized by the Massachusetts and Vermont chapters of www.jwj.org

Photos: At Work in Greenfield

On May 6, union iron workers built an addition at Greenfield Community College and the owners of the Greenfield Music Store sold and installed home and car stereos, while also gathering signatures on a petition seeking to slow down city approval of a new Wal-Mart. The iron workers said they are proud members of the www.IronWorkers.org union which has given them a middle class standard of living.