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BWA 2011 Year in Review
2011 marked a year of protests, where everyday Americans stood up against corporate greed and called for justice and fairness for the 99%. In Boston, the BWA helped bring our members together to fight for decent jobs and equal opportunities for our most affected communities. While unemployment grips the national economy, the crisis of joblessness has been ongoing in Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan. The need for an organization fighting to end urban joblessness has never been so clear.
Since 2005, the BWA has grown into a powerful force for social and economic justice. As a small grassroots organization, we THANK YOU, our broad community of supporters who have helped us come this far!
As we approach year’s end, please consider supporting the BWA today through a tax-deductible donation today! Your support helps pay for food at our weekly member meetings, counseling for our job seekers and supplies to keep our office running. Whether its $5 or $500, your contribution has a direct impact on the livelihood of our members and our ability to fight for social change!
BWA’s 2011 Highlights
1. CORI Reform: After working to pass nationally recognized CORI reforms, Massachusetts officially “Banned the Box,” making ours one of two states to eliminate the CORI question from all job application forms. Full CORI reforms take effect in May of 2012.
2. Home Weatherization: With the Green Justice Coalition, BWA helped create green jobs by winning new city investments in home weatherization services. BWA members signed up over 400 households for free Renew Boston energy audits and helped place over 15 people in green trainings and jobs.
3. Boston Staffing Alliance (BSA): BWA’s innovative staffing agency helped place over 75 people in temporary and temp-to-permanent positions in 2011. BSA is a non-profit temp agency that values its workers and provides pathways to permanent employment for our members.
4. Right to the City: BWA joined the national Right to the City Alliance and marched with 40 organizations and 3,000 people onto the financial district. 24 people were arrested after shutting down Bank of America for their greedy tax and foreclosure practices. The action gained international media attention.
5. MassUniting: BWA became a steering committee member of MassUniting, bringing thousands into the streets to demand jobs and corporate accountability. BWA participated in “Take Back the Capitol” week of action in Washington DC, shutting down K-Street lobbyists and Senator Scott Brown’s Office for voting against jobs.
6. Employment and CORI Support: BWA’s Worker Center, open Mon-Thurs 10-2pm helped over 700 people with employment and CORI services. Hundreds got help with their resumes and job searches and hundreds more received help in requesting and sealing their CORI records.
7. Voter Engagement: 20+ BWA members led a non-partisan voter outreach campaign, knocking on 3,500 doors in Grove Hall and increasing voter turnout by over 40%. At-large candidates Ayanna Pressley and Felix Arroyo took the top votes in BWA’s wards and precincts.
8. Green Living: BWA’s Urban Garden project trained new families in gardening skills and produced free organic vegetables for members. Roxbury Green Power, BWA’s first worker-owned cooperative business continued to collect waste veggie-oil to recycle and sell as a green bio-fuel.
9. Growing Staff: BWA hired two members to fill part-time Worker Center Coordinator and Office Manager positions, growing our staff capacity and employing those who have been dedicated to BWA over the years.
10. Media Attention: BWA received media attention in local and national publications, including a front page story in the Boston Globe about our direct services and an article in YES! Magazine on “Ban the Box.”
11. Community Building: BWA held quarterly community gatherings bringing over 250 members together. BWA held its annual Holiday Party and gave over 100 gifts to children of our members. BWA grew as a organization and increased our political power to fight for good jobs for our community.
As a grassroots organization, we thank the hundreds of BWA members and allies who have volunteered their time, money and energy to build our movement. We ask for your increased support as we approach a pivotal year of economic justice organizing. With our many partners across the city and state, we look forward to growing a more powerful movement for social and economic justice in 2012!
Take Back the Capitol
TAKE BACK THE CAPITOL: OCCUPY DC!
December 5-9th
BWA joined MassUniting to bring 250 people from Boston to DC for a week of protest!
All across the country, people have taken to the streets to demand change. From New York to LA, from Wall Street to Dewey Square, we have made our voices heard loud and clear — the 99% are here to stay. But even after thousands of marches and people willing to take arrest for the cause, our leaders aren’t listening.
Tuesday Nov 8 is Election Day!
City Council Elections are Tuesday November 8th!
Check Out the Candidate’s Questionnaire developed by the BWA and NUBE under the Civic Engagement Initiative. Learn more about the 7 at-large candidates and where they stand!
* Download 2011 At-Large Councilor Questionnaire Responses *
Right to the City
On Friday Sept 30, BWA was proud to co-sponsor the Take Back Boston march and rally that gathered over 3,000 people and resulted in 24 arrests at Bank of America downtown.
As an unemployed workers organization, we organize against banks and corporations that are making record profits while leaving the rest of the country poor and less secure. The action was organized by a broad coalition of under Right to the City, which is a national alliance of progressive base-building organizations that fight for social and economic justice.
BWA Featured in Boston Globe
On the long road up, the past is close behind
Step off the bus and into the world of job-seekers determined to put early misdeeds behind them, the critical first step to getting right with life.
By Patricia Wen
BOSTON GLOBE
SEPTEMBER 25, 2011
Second in a series of occasional articles chronicling the people, and the world, of Bus 19.
The young man stood outside a street corner office, near a shelter for drug-addicted prostitutes, a boarded-up natural herbs store, a Bus 19 stop. He had left home early that summer morning, crossing Dorchester to pick up his 4-year-old son and take him on a 3-mile bus ride to preschool, then returned home alone to get ready for this.
He’d put on a pressed blue shirt and an oversized Red Sox cap, and before heading off, grabbed the backpack in which he’d stuffed the papers he would need.
His resume. And a copy of his criminal record.
The easy part of Clayton’s journey was over. A longer road lay ahead, one he didn’t know how to travel alone.
CORI Ordinance Campaign Announcement
Boston Workers Alliance is announcing a new campaign to create opportunities for job seekers with CORI. The City of Boston in partnership with community organizations passed a landmark CORI ordinance in 2005. “The Ordinance Regarding CORI” was implemented to help individuals with criminal records apply to non-sensitive positions with businesses that have contracts with the city.
The City contracts for goods and services with thousands of vendors. The city does not screen for CORI for there non-sensitive positions (children, elderly, disabled, handling large amounts of money). These vendors should have similar hiring practices as the city.
While this policy is a national model that has proven to be helpful there is no enforcement process with this ordinance. Boston Workers Alliance wants to add teeth to the ordinance and develop a review process and sanctions if vendors are out of compliance.
If you or your organization wants to support us in this effort please contact Hakim Cunningham – Lead Organizer @ hakim@bostonworkersalliance.org
Join us to fight the good fight and help put a dent in the unemployment rate in Boston. For more info on this ordinance here is a link to the actual document.
Make Redistricting Fair – End Prison Based Gerrymandering
BWA is working to ensure that the Massachusetts Redistricting process is fair and transparent. In particular, we are working to ensure that prisoners are correctly counted in their home districts instead of their place of incarceration. See the video on how to adjust for this problem, and a statement prepared by the Black Empowerment Coalition on prison-based gerrymandering.
Testimony Against Prison-Based Gerrymandering and Solution Development
G.E. Pay Your Taxes!
On June 9, BWA participated in a rally in downtown Boston calling on General Electric to pay their taxes. G.E. made over $11 billion and received a $3 billion refund. They paid $0 in taxes. Meanwhile, crucial programs for low income communities like ABCD are being cut. We demand that American corporations pay their fair share to support the services and programs our communities need!
Participatory Budgeting Forum
come check out this exciting forum to hear from a city councilor in chicago whose residents democratically decided how to use $1.3 million of their tax dollars to improve their own neighborhood. participatory budgeting is happening across the globe, lets bring it from chicago to boston!
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APRIL 12
DO YOU DECIDE WHERE YOUR TAX DOLLAR GOES? WANT TO MAKE THOSE DECISIONS? YOU CAN! …. REALLY!
The Fund Our Communities/Cut Military Spending 25% Coalition invites you to learn about a PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING organizing initiative in Chicago.
Join us and hear CHICAGO ALDERMAN JOE MOORE in a lively dialogue on how community residents in Chicago’s 49th Ward collectively decided how to spend a $1.3 million discretionary budget in their district. Participatory budgeting offers residents decision-making power over their local budget.