50 at Brattleboro Rally

In Brattleboro on October 24 about 50 people rallied outside the Hannaford supermarket. The goal was justice for Vermont's Latino dairy farm workers. “The supervisor on the farm where my family and I worked was a very violent man. He would force us to work extra hours, didn’t allow us to take food breaks, and constantly insulted us. My wife, my mother, and I all had to work eleven hours a day. Our housing had pest infestations, and my employer didn’t care,” one worker said on the web site of the group that organized the rally. That quote is from the group's web page at:

81 Rally

In Greenfield on June 23, a women's rights rally was moved indoors due to the heatwave. Seventy-one people were there. “Here in Franklin county in the past year (a local nonprofit) served 1,933 women survivors of mainly male sexual and physical violence,” Pat Hynes said in her speech at the rally. The rally organizers have a web site at https://fccpr.us

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900 March, Rally

About 500 people marched in Springfield to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, organizers told the Valley Post. The march was on March 2. One of the groups that organized the march has a web site at www.CodePink.org. The same day in Brattleboro about 150 people marched for the same cause. The march was organized by a group that has a web site at www.soVT4Palestine.org.

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Teachers' Union Rally is Jan. 8

On January 8 in Westhampton, Massachusetts there will be a teachers' union rally. Westhampton borders Northampton. The rally will be at 5:30 p.m. outside 19 Stage Road in Westhampton. Details are at:

www.facebook.com/events/1365432547425203

70 Rally, 67 Acres Saved

In Brattleboro on December 23 about 50 people attended a rally to demand politicians stop U.S. military aid to Israel. Some of the protesters blocked traffic on Main Street, most stayed on the sidewalk. No one was arrested.

Workers Win

In Greenfield about 60 people attended a rally to call on Biden and congress to stop funding Israel's war in Palestine. The November 4 rally was organized by a group that has a web site at www.traprock.org.

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Thanks to the work of environmental and affordable housing activists, 15 new apartments will soon be for rent in downtown Brattleboro. The apartments are at 47 Flat Street.

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Peace and Quiet

On October 4, 2023 eleven peace protesters were arrested for nonviolent civil disobedience at Bernie Sanders's Washington office. In Brattleboro, peace protesters presented Sanders with a petition on August 10, 2023. The October protest was over Ukraine and was organized by a group that has a web site at www.CodePink.org. The Brattleboro action was over Yemen and was organized by a group that has a web site at www.ActionCorps.org.

With 4 percent of the world's population, the USA spends as much money on war as the rest of the world combined.

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100 at Rally

About 100 people attended a rally in Springfield on July 17. Nurses are asking the community to join them in protesting corporate moves to make health care in the region worse. Nurses at Mercy Medical Center, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) union (www.MassNurses.org) held an informational picket outside the hospital on July 17 in response to Mercy's owner Trinity Health Corporation recently closing 20 intermediate care beds, “temporarily” closing other essential services without any indication they will be re-opened, and creating a staffing and patient care crisis.

Labor, Peace Rallies; Floods

A labor rally is set for July 17 in Springfield. Nurses are asking the community to join them in protesting corporate moves to make health care in the region worse. Nurses at Mercy Medical Center, represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association union (www.MassNurses.org) will hold an informational picket outside the hospital on July 17 in response to Mercy's owner Trinity Health Corporation recently closing 20 intermediate care beds, “temporarily” closing other essential services without any indication they will be re-opened, and creating a staffing and patient care crisis.

590 Rally

About 500 people attended a rally at the Greenfield town common on May 25. They were protesting cuts in school funding. Julie Carew was at the rally. She runs a group called Strings for Kids, which is a partnership between the Greenfield public schools and Artspace Community Arts Center in Greenfield. Carew told the Valley Post, "I was at both city council meetings... This is a slap in the face from the mayor who was 'virtually' in attendance at both meetings where it was made crystal clear that the numbers the councilors were trying to meet were counting on that $365,000 from the mayor....