BOSTON - Congressional gridlock and federal budget cuts all too often come across as a maddening string of abstract numbers, amid repeated news of failure to reach an agreement.

But for the people who rely on the affected programs—the disabled, seniors, the unemployed, the working poor—the across-the-board cuts implemented by the so-called sequester has been anything but abstract. It’s lost work, fewer days of childcare, even the threat of homelessness.

On Thursday, organizations and people directly affected by recent federal budget cuts rallied in Boston, both to put a face on the impact of the cutbacks, and to protest the sequester and deeper reductions to social services that loom in current talks in D.C.

BOSTON - Prof. George Katsiaficas of Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston has launched a federal lawsuit against the Central Intelligence Agency over documents he seeks relating to the assassination of a former Korean premier.

The complaint comes after Katsiaficas made two requests of the agency under the federal Freedom of Information Act in March 2010 for documents surrounding the rise and fall of Park Chung-hee.
The agency has released some documents to Katsiaficas since his requests over three years ago, but he is not satisfied, calling them “paltry,” and alleges that the CIA has more information to which he is legally entitled.

Somerville, Mass. - Somerville officials are considering adopting a new ordinance that would see employers guilty of wage theft lose or fail to gain licenses and permits issued by the city.

The ordinance drafted by the city’s Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone came after Somerville residents and activists signed a petition in April seeking a public hearing by the Board of Aldermen on the issue of wage theft in the city.

The board heard testimony at the hearing at Somerville City Hall Tuesday night from members of a labor rights group Centro Presente, as well as local residents.

Cambridge, Mass. - In the less than two weeks since a devastating collapse at a Bangladeshi garment factory on April 24, over 650 workers have been confirmed dead with many more still missing and the death toll is still expected to rise.

Following the loss of life that allegedly resulted from a management decision to ignore structural faults in the building, picketers targeted the Gap outlet at 15 Brattle St. in Harvard Square on Saturday to call on the company – a major purchaser of garments from Bangladesh – to sign a safety agreement in the country.

BOSTON/East Boston - Deportations, ongoing labor disputes, raising the minimum wage, health care, student loans, workplace safety, social security, housing foreclosures, bank debt, drivers’ licenses, and community investment were just some of the issues raised on May Day in East Boston.

The traditional workers’ holiday was part protest and part community celebration with many families with young children gathered at Liberty Plaza listening to music and watching an acrobatic performance, but also bearing placards saying “Immigration Reform Now” and “Stop the Attacks on Working Families.”