BOSTON/State House - The Mass. House of Representatives passed a new bill on Wednesday that would see the current state minimum wage of $8 an hour rise to $10.50 an hour by 2016.
BOSTON/Downtown Crossing – The luxury building developer Millennium Partners was slammed in a demonstration at Filene’s Basement in Downtown Boston on Monday for its claimed lack of adherence to local policy that sets hiring rates for city residents, people of color, and women.
Around 200 members and supporters of the Boston Jobs Coalition picketed the condominium development before moving onto Millennium’s office on Tremont St., calling on them to meet the Boston Residents Jobs Policy (BRJP) rules, and to make required affordable housing payments to the city.
Somerville, Mass. - Magoun Square resident Melody Chapin is not Brazilian. But, she told Somerville Neighborhood News, “I’m in solidarity with the Brazilians who are having a hard time keeping their businesses up.” As Chapin walked around Magoun Square recently, she stopped by a Nepali-owned grocery store and bought a Brazilian soda at her favorite bakery, but she also found shuttered shops and boarded-up windows.
BOSTON/City Hall - With federal stimulus funding for youth summer jobs off the table in the wake of a failed U.S. Senate vote earlier this month, over 200 Boston teenagers attended a rally for youth jobs on Tuesday called by City Councilor Felix Arroyo and several community organizations - including Teen Empowerment, Hyde Square Task Force, Project RIGHT, Project HIP-HOP, Maverick Landing, Reflect and Strengthen, and Medicine Wheel.
