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    The power of the 99%: MBTA scraps initial draconian proposals; activists vow to escalate fight for public transit!

    March 13th, 2012 · · News and Announcements, Press Releases 7 comments

    After an uprising from the 99%, MBTA General Manager Jonathan Davis announced last night that neither of the agency’s proposals to slash service, raise fare hikes, and layoff hundreds of workers will be adopted.  No details for the new proposal have been released. On January 3, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) released two proposals – both a toxic mixture of draconian service cuts and unacceptable fare hikes – to close the MBTA’s $161 million deficit for the coming fiscal year.  But thousands of members of the 99% – including members of Occupy the MBTA and other advocates for seniors, the disabled, students, workers, low-income communities, and the environment – flooded public hearings and rallied to tell the MBTA, “No Hikes! No Cuts! No Layoffs!”

    The MBTA’s retreat demonstrates the growing power of the 99% movement, but our work is far from done.  We will not accept any plan that attempts that attempt to balance the MBTA’s books on the backs of those who can afford it the least. We will continue to demonstrate, speak-out, and Occupy to ensure that the MBTA’s final proposal does not include any cuts to service, layoffs or fare increases and to demand that the legislature develop a comprehensive, affordable, and sustainable transportation plan that works for the 99%.  Public transportation is a right and must be accessible to all.Since January 31, over 6,000 people have attended 31 public hearings about the MBTA’s proposals, according to the Boston Globe.  In addition, a coalition of organizations including OccupyMBTA, Mass Senior Action, the T Riders Union, Students Against T Cuts, the Save the T coalition, MassUniting, Occupy Boston, Occupy Somerville, Occupy JP and many more have taken to the streets over the last two months to raise awareness and organize opposition to the proposed fare hikes, service cuts and layoffs. Members of these organizations and the broader 99% organized several major marches and rallies, mic-checked on trains, and spread the message through flyering and social media.
    Let’s keep the pressure on! Join us today  at 12:30 as we rally inside and outside of the MassDot board meeting.  And on April 4, we’ll bring our message to the State House (think Wisconsin!) for a people’s hearing and rally as part of our national call to action on public transportation.

    Canceled: Socializing for Justice party for Occupy Boston

    March 13th, 2012 · · News and Announcements 2 comments
    Unfortunately, the transformer fire in Back Bay last night left the area without power. So we have to cancel tonight’s event.

    Please join us at the 99% Sprint Direct Action Training on Wednesday, April 11- http://www.sojust.org/events/55667142/– where you’ll be able to learn more about Occupy Boston and other groups planning actions against big banks and greedy corporations this spring.For Justice,
    Robbie
    SoJust

     

    The Latest Issue Boston Occupier Is Out Tomorrow (3/14)! Distribution Help Needed!

    March 13th, 2012 · · News and Announcements Comments Off on The Latest Issue Boston Occupier Is Out Tomorrow (3/14)! Distribution Help Needed!

    The latest issue of the Boston Occupier is coming out this Wednesday (March 14). We want to get the word out — all over Boston and beyond — that our movement is growing, changing, and as urgent as ever. We need help distributing all 15,000 copies of Issue #6!!! Here’s the game-plan:

    • Our big distribution push will be the Wednesday afternoon commute. We need volunteers!!! We’ve found that the best strategy is actually to ride the T, moving from car to car, passing out papers to riders. This is especially appropriate because we are covering the ongoing protests against MBTA fare hikes & service cuts. Volunteers should meet at 5 pm at Encuentro 5 (33 Harrison Ave, 5th floor, Boston). (If you can’t come until 5:30 or 6 pm, that’s ok too.) It’s more fun to go out in pairs, so hopefully we’ll have enough volunteers to make that possible. So, come and spread the Occupy news!
    • Copies of the paper will be available for anyone and everyone to pick up, beginning at 2 pm on Wednesday at Encuentro 5 (33 Harrison Ave, 5th floor). They’ll be there all week! Please take a stack and commit to distributing them in your community (small stacks in cafes, libraries, bookshops, laundry mats, community centers, waiting rooms, campuses, etc). In this issue: Occupy the T, rallies for Harvard’s library workers, March 1st student protests, Occupy & race, International Women’s Day, the mortgage fraud settlement, and more!
    • If you are a part of another local-area Occupy movement, a union, or a community organization that’s willing to distribute papers — let’s make it happen! Send questions or suggestions about distribution to Julie O (juliettejulianna@gmail.com) — or, better yet, just pick up a big pile of papers from E5.
    • Also available with this issue is our new subscription service, part of our effort to raise funds and make the Boston Occupier sustainable for the foreseeable future. Read about it online here. I hope you’ll encourage those you know to subscribe to the paper!

    Please feel free to respond to me (juliettejulianna@gmail.com) with any questions, ideas, or suggestions. Thanks!

    Protest MBTA Fare Hikes, Service Cuts & Layoffs on Wednesday, March 14th at the MBTA Board Meeting

    March 12th, 2012 · · Events, News and Announcements One comment

    Meet March 14th at 12:30 PM at the Transportation Building, 10 Park Plaza, Boston
    As the Massachusetts Department of Transportation meets to discuss the fate of the MBTA, we’ll be rallying outside and inside the meeting to demand:

    • No service cuts
    • No fare hikes
    • No layoffs
    • No privatization of our treasured public transit system.

    A comprehensive state-wide plan for affordable and sustainable transportation that works for the 99%.

    For years, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has failed to fund public transportation adequately, and forced the MBTA to borrow exorbitant sums.  Now the MBTA is trying to balance its books on the backs of those who can afford it the least.  Drastic fare hikes, service cuts, and layoffs will devastate students, seniors, low-income communities, people of color, workers and everyone who must rely on the T.  The MBTA’s proposals will also force between 55,000 and 92,000 more cars on the road each day, creating traffic nightmares, and 50,000 tons of additional carbon dioxide emissions per year.

    For weeks, outraged T riders have packed public hearings to say no to MBTA’s ill-conceived and damaging proposals.  It is critical that we keep the pressure on as the Board meets for the first time after the hearings.

    Join Occupy the MBTA, along with other advocates for seniors, low income communities, workers, and the environment, on March 14th! For more information visit http://occupymbta.org/

    Save the Date: April 4th – People’s Hearing on Transportation in the State House
    3 pm Hearing and 5pm Rally Come after Work! (Think Wisconsin)

    As the MBTA’s Public Hearings come to an end, the MassDOT boards are meeting to decide how to squeeze more money out of the T-riding 99%, while the banks’ profits keep flowing. Tell the MBTA and state legislators we want real solutions, and we won’t accept higher fares, less service, layoffs, or more pollution! We need a transportation plan for the whole state that works for the 99%.  Join us as we take our message to the State House as part of the National Call to Action on Transportation.
    Download flyers in:

    Health Justice Working Group to Host Monday’s Community Gathering

    March 10th, 2012 · · Events, News and Announcements One comment

    A Solution to Disparities in Healthcare: Single-Payer (socialized) Health Insurance. “Nobody Out! Everybody in!”

    On Monday, March 12, two members of the Health Justice Working Group, Cassie Frank, a full-time primary care physician and longtime activist, and Jim Recht, a psychiatrist, addictions specialist, and chairman of the Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), will present on single-payer health insurance to the community.

    The United States suffers from great unmet medical needs. Infant mortality rates are greater and life expectancy is shorter than in any other developed nation. Yet, the United States spends more than twice as much on healthcare than any other country.

    What has gone wrong? One of the main causes of high infant mortality and shortened life spans is the country’s health insurance system. Our current system is based on multiple, redundant, private health insurance corporations competing for profit. Competition for profit and market share create the wrong incentives and make it impossible for these corporations to deliver affordable, comprehensive care to the 99%

    The solution is a single, nationwide healthcare program; insurance by a single payer. Such a single-pay system would cover every person, automatically, for comprehensive medical care without deductibles or copays.

    There is no need to wonder, “How will we pay for this?” In fact, we are already paying for it by pouring money into those multiple, redundant, for-profit health insurance corporations. Sadly, we are just not getting what we think we are paying for.

    Come and learn more at 6pm, Monday, March 12 at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul (138 Tremont)!

    For more information, contact Jim Recht, MD at occupy@jimrecht.com

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