RSS Feed   

  • Latest News:

    Another world is possible

    • The OB Media Rundown for 4/7/12

    April 7th, 2012 · · Daily Media Rundown Comments Off on The OB Media Rundown for 4/7/12

    MBTA Fare Hikes and Service Cuts Draw Transit Activists to Protest at State House

    Yesterday, over 200 activists with Occupy Boston, Occupy the MBTA, the T Riders Union, the Amalgamated Transit Union, and other mass transit advocates, held an afternoon rally inside the MA State House and an evening demonstration and teach-in outside the building, on the State House steps along Beacon Street.

    Advocates called on the state legislature to find a lasting solution to the MBTA’s financial woes. The agency is burdened with hundreds of millions in debt, in part due to a legislative restructuring of bills left over from the Big Dig Project.

    The legislature, which has until April 15th to approve the transit agency’s budget, has the power to bail out the T and potentially stop the proposed cuts in service and fare hikes. Governor Deval Patrick has proposed diverting money from an account containing funds collected during automobile inspections to the MBTA. But many advocates and legislators agree that would be a temporary fix only. (Open Media Boston)

    http://tinyurl.com/8yhod7k

    Greater Boston transit fares hiked by 23 percent

    The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) board of directors on Wednesday approved a fiscal year 2013 budget that includes a 23 percent average systemwide fare hike to buses, rapid transit, and other commuter services in Greater Boston and beyond. The proposal also cuts or reduces services on more than a dozen bus routes and eliminates weekend service on three commuter rail lines.
    . . .

    A crowd of about 200 people shouted down the MBTA board, chanting “Shame on you!” following a 4-1 vote to implement the changes. In addition to the fare hikes and service cuts, the new budget is contingent on $61 million in one-time revenues yet to be approved by the state legislature. This includes $51 million from a motor vehicle inspection trust fund, $5 million from a snow and ice removal surplus, and $5 million from a garage lease payment. (World Socialist Web Site)

    http://tinyurl.com/826rs7c

    Transit Troubles Provoke National Day of Protests

    The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is a lot like other urban transit systems across the country. It’s underfunded, understaffed, and overworked as the Great Recession pushes more and more working people onto public transit. But the “T” was proposing fare hikes-from $1.70 to $2.40-and service cuts that are among the harshest in the country. And that ignited a firestorm on April 4, the national day of action for transit justice.

    Marking the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) joined with community movements and Occupy in 15 cities to protest fare hikes and service cuts to public transit. Chicago, Denver, and Pittsburgh saw rallies, leafleting, and candlelight vigils.

    In Boston, following a 24-hour vigil at the Statehouse led by young people and seniors, 150 people packed a meeting of the MBTA’s board and shouted “Shame on you!” as the directors voted to make riders pay more for less. (Labor Notes)

    http://tinyurl.com/blzvoyg

    Continue reading »

    April 6th, 2012 · · News and Announcements Comments Off on

    Camp Charlie: Schedule of Events!

    April 6th, 2012 · · News and Announcements One comment

    On April 4, the MBTA Advisory Board voted on a 23 percent fare hikes across the board, plus the elimination of four weekday routes. Pitched as a more palatable alternative to the two earlier proposals (35-43% hikes, cuts to over 100 bus lines), this proposal nevertheless represents an unacceptable burden on T riders, students, seniors, and the unemployed. It also leaves us with a $184 million budget deficit, which we’ll have to resolve with even bigger hikes and cuts next year.

    On April 3, members of the Youth AffordabiliT Coalition occupied the State House steps to demand that the legislature intervene to cover the $91 million deficit for this year, as well as institute a long-awaited youth pass. On April 4, members from Occupy MBTA held a National Day of Action around Public Transportation and began a 10-day occupation of the State House steps to demand comprehensive transit plan for the entire state of Massachusetts. On our third day of Camp Charlie, we’re looking forward to a packed weekend of education and organization around the MBTA!

    Here’s a quick rundown of what you can expect over the next few days.

    Crash course on the MBTA budget crisis
    TODAY, Friday, April 6, 3 p.m.
    State House Steps
    Over the years, the MBTA’s financial viability has been wrecked by Big Dig debt, forward funding, and interest rate swaps ($26 million owed annually to Wall Street banks; the MBTA now possesses a total debt load of $5.2 billion and counting. How did the MBTA get into this position? What are the current proposals on the table? How does this occupation fit into this plan?

    Riding the Rails: Outreach Training
    TODAY, Friday, April 6, 4:30 p.m.
    State House steps
    Take our message directly to T riders across Boston – no hikes, no cuts, no layoffs! This is about as direct as outreach can get. Spend a few hours learning how to talk to strangers, and help us start a longer conversation about the T.

    Occupy MBTA Meeting + Open Strategy Session
    TODAY, Friday, April 6, 6 pm
    State House Steps
    A comprehensive overview of where we are, what our demands are, why these dates are important, and so forth, followed by an action assembly to talk plans, strategy, and next steps. ALL ARE WELCOME — please come, a great place to plug in for the first time and learn more about this campaign, and figure out what you can do in the next eight days to really drive this message home.

    Camp Charlie Potluck and Teach-In
    Saurday, April 7, 1 pm – 4 pm
    State House steps
    Bring a dish to share and join us for an teach-ins about the fight to save the T and the broader struggle for transit justice. Interest rate swaps, debt cancellation, history fo the T, and more. For more details, contact: Josh Golin (golingolin@yahoo.com)

    Joint Committee on Transportation Hearing on Bill H.4011
    Monday, April 9, 10 am
    State House, Room B-1
    This is a big one. On Monday, Deval Patrick will offer a short-term solution to this year’s gap in the MBTA’s budget – a $51 million transfer from the Motor Vehicles Inspection Trust Fund at the MBTA. The proposal acknowledges a structural deficit, yet fails to make any provisions forlong-term funding of the MBTA. At the same time, he will be recommending that MassDOT amend its current lease agreement with the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy Board to require the Conservancy to comply with open meeting and public records laws.

    Both issues have obvious relevance of Occupy MBTA! Join us as we call on Governor Patrick to offer a comprehensive plan that builds force in the entire state — not just piece by piece correction.

    WHY HERE? WHY THESE DATES?

    Many people have asked, “Why ten days? What happens on the 14th?”

    By law, the MBTA must balance its budget every year by April 15. But the MBTA can’t balance its budget — it has been chronically underfunded for years, with no allocation made to cover huge losses under Forward Funding and the Big Dig debt. The recommendation that came forward on April 4 — a 23% fare hike across the board, plus cuts to buses, with more to come next year — is an unacceptable solution, which leaves us with a $200 million deficit for the upcoming year.

    The occupation is a people’s veto. We’re holding them to the date, but we’re taking it above the MBTA to the legislature, which got the MBTA into this mess in the first place and has the ability to do something about it. In three months of hearings, Governor Patrick, House Speaker DeLeo, and Senate President Murray have been woefully silent on this issue. If the MBTA is truly to balance its budget by the 15th, we need our leaders to step in to offer a real solution, both to this year’s crisis, and to the spiraling debt costs that the MBTA will continue to face in years to come.

    How do we do that? With a comprehensive transit plan that benefits the entire state. With a one-year bailout to stave off devastating hikes and cuts. And with a commitment to do this without privatizing and selling it piece by piece. We’ll be here until the 14th. We hope you’ll join us!

    www.occupymbta.org

    Occupy Boston Daily Digest 4-6-12

    April 6th, 2012 · · Daily Digest Comments Off on Occupy Boston Daily Digest 4-6-12

    Good Morning from Occupy Boston!

    Stories of the Day: In reaction to OWS, NYC Property Owners Want All Public Plazas Closed at Night. More Americans Went Without Medicine Last Year Because They Couldn’t Afford It: Report. Monsanto Threatens to Sue Vermont if Legislators Pass a Bill Requiring GMO Food to Be Labeled. And see this review of three books on Occupy. And check out this great 8-minute video – Occupy, we’re still free!

    Other Occupies/Protests: OWS and Occupy Student Debt are having an NYC Kiss-In! Saturday, April 7th, at 1 pm. If the banks can make out like bandits, so can we. Students and folks with student debt in groups around the country will kiss in public spaces to protest the out of control tuition hikes and education cuts that are plaguing the country. This is a creative and effective way that we as students can bring awareness to this issue that is so often ignored. Find out more at http://occupystudentdebtcampaign.org and http://1tday.org. April 7 is the day student loan debt passes the $1 trillion mark.

    “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” – Anaïs Nin

    Volunteer Opportunities/Announcements: 

    Help support Camp Charlie! Protesters need healthy food, water, hand warmers, sweaters, blankets, duct tape, and you!

    The following proposal was passed by the Occupy Boston General Assembly on April 5th:

    The genesis of the State House occupation was an autonomous action by members of Occupy Boston. Moving forward, Occupy Boston as a community endorses the continuation of the occupation at the State House until April 14th as an Occupy Boston action. Occupy Boston stands in solidarity with actions nationally that attempt to secure public transportation as a right.

    Have you entered the Occupier’s Haiku Contest yet? I did! Send submissions to submit@occupier.com by April 7, no more than 3 haikus per person. For rules, click here. Prizes!

    For a partial listing of Working Groups looking for volunteers, please click here!

    Upcoming Events:

    The State House is Occupied and we’re calling it Camp Charlie! See below for more info.

    •  Camp Charlie Potluck and Teach-In Saturday, April 7, 1pm – 4pm, at Camp Charlie at the State House. Join us at Camp Charlie for a pot-luck lunch. Bring a dish to share (we’ll also have some food donated by our friends). Afterwards, we’ll have a number of teach-ins about the fight to save the T and the broader struggle for transit justice. Contact: Josh Golin (golingolin@yahoo.com)
    • On Saturday April 7th at 12:30 p.m. at Ruggles Station, there will be a rally in support of justice for Trayvon Martin. The march will go from RUGGLES to DUDLEY, ending in front of the Police Station, with a speakout near the old B2 barracks grounds. Please come and stand up against racism, racial profiling and corruption! For more information, click here.
    • Raise Taxes on the 1% Tax Day Rally and March, Tuesday, April 17, 5:30PM, Dewey Square (South Station). Occupy JP and Occupy Boston will participate, along with many other groups, in a protest against the unfairness of the current tax regime, where people such as Mitt Romney pay at rates far lower than those earning far less, and Warren Buffet’s now-famous secretary pays at a higher rate than Warren Buffet.  The Rally and March will begin at 5:30pm at Dewey Square (South Station) and the march will begin at 6pm and proceed through the city streets, pass by several notorious corporate tax dodgers, and end at the bandstand in the Commons. Things to bring:  yourself (most important), signs, noise-making stuff (pots, pans, kazoos, whatever)

    Friday, April 6, 2012

    Event Highlights:

    • Good Friday – Way of the Cross – Procession and Vigil for Nonviolence, 12pm – 3pm. Procession begins at Dewey Square, ends at State House. Sponsored for over 20 years by the Agape Community (Hardwick, MA), House of Peace (Ipswich MA), Pax Christi MA in our first collaboration with the Protest Chaplains of Occupy Boston The first half of the vigil will consist of a procession through Boston’s financial district calling for the faithful to repentance for the violence of economic injustice. Through the traditional Christian practice of The Way of the Cross, we will meditate on modern “crucifixions” caused by both corporate greed and our own greed. We will highlight the devastating toll of economic injustice on the 99% and reflect on our own complicity in economic structures that cause suffering at home and abroad. The procession will become a stationary vigil at the Massachusetts State House by 1:30pm. Themes of reflection will include the death penalty, a violence Jesus suffered but never recommended; homelessness in Boston (led by a homeless outreach psychiatrist from Boston); the violence of war (often led by a member of Veterans for Peace); human rights; women’s rights – human trafficking and sexual slavery; dominative power in the church. Procession begins at Dewey Square, travels through the financial district, and ends at the Massachusetts State House front steps. Contact: Agape Community: Brayton Shanley – 413-967-9369 – www.agapecommunity.org Occupy Boston Protest Chaplains: John Crawford-Gallagher – 603-957-0325
    • Occupation of State House Steps for Public Transportation, April 5 – 14, 2012, Camp Charlie at the State House. On April 4, Occupy the MBTA, a working group of Occupy Boston, launched Camp Charlie, a ten-day occupation of the Massachusetts State House steps to protest fare-hikes and service cutbacks on the MBTA. Having survived the depths of the recession, the 99% now faces additional taxes in the form of escalating T fares and the loss of essential transport routes. This is a further transfer of public wealth to the banks. These are the same institutions that were bailed out by the American taxpayer after being rendered insolvent by their own, criminal recklessness. The only debt in need of servicing is their debt to us. In a country that lavishes four billion dollars in subsidies on the oil companies, the relentless assault on public transport could not make less sense – ethically, environmentally, or otherwise. Camp Charlie will be a place for public debate, conversation, and outreach – a living testament to the refusal of the people to be further abused by a clutch of corporate interests, multinational banking cartels and consolidated oil interests.
    • TOWN HALL FORUM: JUSTICE FOR TRAYVON, “The Attack on Black Men & Boys” Stop S. Bill 661 H. Bill 1568 at Hibernian Hall (Dudley Sq), FRIDAY APRIL 6th 6-8pmTopics to be addressed:* Trayvon Martin case: Justice for Trayvon
      * Cases of violence against Black Men throughout the US; Lynchings, Draggings, etc.
      * Racist Rhetoric, Racial profiling, Police Brutality, Murders, Violence, Mass Incarceration
      * ACTION ITEM: Stop SB 661 HB 1568 which are the “Stand Your Ground Laws” currently being proposed in MA
      * ACTION ITEM: THURS. APRIL, 12th RALLY & LOBBY DAY – Meet at Boston Commons Bandstand 11AM
      RALLY IN BOSTON COMMONS; MARCH TO STATE HOUSE LOBBY AGAINST STAND YOUR GROUND IN MAFor More Info
      Blackstonian.com
      617-297-7721

    Calendar for Friday, April 6, 2012

    8:00am – 8:30am Occupy Lent: Prayers of Repentance for Economic Injustice, Bank of America Building, 100 Federal St, Boston, MA 02114

    5:30pm – 7:00pm, Women’s Caucus Working Group Meeting, 14 Beacon St, First Floor, Boston.

    6pm – 8pm, Occupy MBTA WG Meeting, at Camp Charlie, in front of the MA State House on Beacon Street.  Please join OccupyMBTA in defending our city’s transportation system and connecting with Boston’s 99% on this issue!

    7pm – 9pm Radio WG Meeting,  City Place Food Court (In State Transportation Building)

    8:30pm – 10:00pm Queer Trans DA Working Group Meeting, at City Place Food Court (In State Transportation Building)

    These are just some of the many events at Occupy Boston. Check out our Daily Calendar for more information.

    For more information on Occupy Boston’s General Assembly, including passed resolutions, click here!  

    And if you’re interested in learning more about Occupy Boston and how you can participate, click here! 

    Contact Us: Want to subscribe to the Daily Digest? Click here to have it sent to your email inbox every morning! All Working Groups or Occupy Boston events that need placement in the Daily Digest, please email AnnaC@OccupyBoston.org. And subscribe to the Occupy Boston Media Rundown, a daily listing of Occupy-related news, by contacting JohnM@OccupyBoston.org.

    April 6th, 2012 · · News and Announcements Comments Off on

    TOWN HALL FORUM: JUSTICE FOR TRAYVON, “The Attack on Black Men & Boys”
    Stop S. Bill 661 H. Bill 1568 at Hibernian Hall (Dudley Sq),
    FRIDAY APRIL 6th 6-8pm

    Topics to be addressed:
    * Trayvon Martin case:

    Justice for Trayvon
    * Cases of violence against Black Men throughout the US; Lynchings, Draggings, etc.
    * Racist Rhetoric, Racial profiling, Police Brutality, Murders, Violence, Mass Incarceration

    On Saturday April 7th at 12:30 p.m. at Ruggles Station, there will be a rally in support of justice for Trayvon Martin. The march will go from RUGGLES to DUDLEY, ending in front of the Police Station, with a speakout near the old B2 barracks grounds. Please come and stand up against racism, racial profiling and corruption!

    Contact us

    Occupy Boston Media <Media@occupyboston.org> • <Info@occupyboston.org> • @Occupy_Boston