Eesha Williams's Blog, page 6
August 23, 2024
Mobile Home Residents to Rally
In Brattleboro on August 18, about 75 people rallied to call on Biden and congress to stop sending weapons to Israel. The organizers have a web site at www.sovt4palestine.org
With 4 percent of the world's population, the USA spends as much money on war as the rest of the world combined.
August 16, 2024
Peace Rallies Set
On August 18 in Springfield and Brattleboro there will be rallies calling on Biden and congress to stop funding Israel's war on Gaza. The organizers have a web page at: www.mobilize.us/nab
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August 9, 2024
A Win for Nature
In a victory for environmental protesters, a proposed battery facility near Greenfield will not be built. On August 6 the battery corporation made the announcement. The facility would have been in Wendell, Massachusetts. Wendell borders Montague, which borders Greenfield.
On April 20, 2024 bicyclists joined the Solar Rollers River Ride near
Greenfield from the Great Falls Discovery Center to Unity Park.
Kayakers and canoeists arrived at the Riverview Picnic area for a
rally. Walkers joined a ma...
August 2, 2024
Farm Worker Rights
About 30 people were at a rally in Springfield on July 29. The goal was to get the state to provide good quality homes for homeless people. “The rally went well,” a spokesperson for one of the groups that organized the rally told the Valley Post. The group has a web site at:
www.SpringfieldNoOneLeaves.org
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July 29, 2024
AJ Lee & Blue Summit Concert is October 11
The band AJ Lee & Blue Summit will play at the Drake in Amherst on October 11. You can hear one of their songs at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFITdxsOZfY&ab_channel=TheBluegrassSituation%5BB...
July 26, 2024
Vermont Union Starbucks Worker Urges Valley Starbucks Workers to Organize
About 10,500 workers at Starbucks have formed a union. Workers at a store near Burlington, Vermont won their union election July 15. “It was a great feeling,” Katie Lam told the Valley Post in a voice phone interview on July 23. She works at the store and has worked for Starbucks for almost six years.
July 19, 2024
Court Date for 134 Peace Protesters Arrested
On July 17, some of the 134 people who were arrested in Amherst on May 7 for protesting UMass's support of Israel's war on Gaza had a court date. The protest was peaceful. The UMass professors' union president said he supports the protesters. Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning author Colson Whitehead responded to the arrests by canceling his planned speech at the UMass graduation ceremony, which was on May 18. Whitehead also won a MacArthur fellowship (the annual award is now $800,000) and the Nati...
July 12, 2024
Big Win for Home Healthcare Workers
On July 8, in Brattleboro dozens of home healthcare workers announced their union had a major win. “We voted to ratify a new agreement with the state of Vermont regarding the minimum hourly rate paid. The two-year agreement went into effect on July 1, and includes a 5 percent increase to the minimum base rate each year as well as a retention bonus based on time worked,” the workers said in a press release. The 5,000 or so home health care workers in Vermont save taxpayers millions of dollars eve...
July 5, 2024
Protest Leads to a Win for Workers and Education
In a victory for education and workers' rights, protesters in Northampton got some of what they wanted July 2 when the city council voted to approve the mayor's revised school budget, Rachel Maiore told the Valley Post. She is a member of the city council and former director of the Valley Women's March, which brought thousands of people into the streets of Northampton the day Trump became president, and every year of his presidency. Photos of the 2019 march are at:
June 28, 2024
Workers Unite
About 40 workers voted to form a union in Monson, Massachusetts. Monson is 10 miles from downtown Springfield. The workers work at Holistic Industries, a Washington, DC-based cannabis company. They are now negotiating their first union contract. “We will absolutely get a contract signed but it will be a long fight,” Jodi Madore told the Valley Post in a voice phone interview on June 27. She has worked at Holistic in Monson for three years. Madore grew up near Worcester, Massachusetts.
