Greedy corporations are putting our families' futures at risk!
Boston -- The figures are staggering. Unemployment is at 9.1 percent and new unemployment claims continue to increase. By one measure real unemployment and underemployment are double the official rate. According to the Labor Department jobs seekers now outnumber openings by six to one! While hardworking families are struggling to get by many profitable companies are using the economy as an excuse to cut jobs. For example the Hyatt Hotel without warning replaced its housekeepers with subcontracted workers paid half their wages ($8 per hour) with no benefits. "The Hyatt treated us with no respect when they fired us and they insulted us even more by offering us temp agency jobs " said Lucine Williams who worked for the Hyatt in downtown Boston for more than 21 years until she was laid off on August 31. "We want our jobs back nothing else. We will not accept temp positions that are designed to put others out of work. We will not do to others what Hyatt has done to us." Hyatt isn't the only company abusing its workers. "If we lose our jobs it's going to be hard to pay our bills and take care of our families " said Mark Murray a security officer with John Hancock Financial Services in Boston whose job is currently threatened by management. "I was on the path to becoming a homeowner. Now what will I do?" "I know these are hard times but with Verizon there's no excuse " said Dan Manning a FiOS installation technician from Medway who is facing a layoff. "There is still plenty of work for us to do. Verizon management says it wants to provide high speed internet for America. Yet now it's orchestrating a slowdown by not marketing FiOS -- just to get rid of us." Because corporations don't pay their fair share in taxes state and local governments are slashing critical public services and eliminating jobs -- just when we should be expanding them. "With my personal and professional experience education and passion I have the potential to be one of the biggest assets to the Department of Children and Families (DCF) " said Ana Kincaid a recently laid off DCF social worker who was a client as a child. "Instead I am being let go from a job by the agency that set my passion on fire and my dreams afloat. Over 100 caseworkers and I have joined the ranks of the unemployed. Now I am living beyond my means. I am struggling to keep my apartment." Young people have been especially hard hit. "My goal is to find employment at an organization where I can help make my community a better place " said Jordan McLaughlin a recent college graduate frustrated by his lack of opportunities. "I've sent out over 100 resumes where are the jobs?" For the March and Rally for Jobs hundreds of working people will be joined by students clergy civic activists and community leaders to highlight the jobs crisis and to fight back against the corporate agenda that has left too many workers behind. The rally will also focus on how big banks have misused our tax dollars. So far few of the hundreds of billions in taxpayer money that went to the big banks have reached Main Street. José Ulloa and his wife Carmen bought their Chelsea condominium three years ago for nearly $250 000. When Carmen died and the family income fell to only one wage earner José could no longer make the payments. Bank of America foreclosed on his house and is trying to evict him and his family. "I don't want to leave and let the big banks that caused this crisis win " said Ulloa. "I'm fighting to be able to buy my house back from Bank of America at its new appraised value." But instead of working with Ulloa and thousands just like him bank executives have lined their pockets with stock options that guarantee them huge windfalls for years to come. At the Oct. 1 rally Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Robert Haynes will call for increased corporate accountability and a new approach to making the U.S. economy work for working people. In addition to the AFL-CIO the Greater Boston Labor Council Jobs with Justice and over 75 union and community groups are co-sponsoring the event. Due to concerns by the City of Boston about how the Oct. 1 March and Rally for Jobs could impact traffic and public safety the sponsors have moved the 5:30 PM Rally for Jobs from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston to the Hyatt Regency Hotel (One Avenue de Lafayette Boston MA 02111). The March will kick off as planned from the Boston Common at 4:30 PM we will parade to Verizon (185 Franklin Street) and Bank of America then march to the Hyatt Hotel for the 5:30 PM rally. A link to a map showing the revised route of the march is below. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=1034626892792130... Bookmark/Search this post with: Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Newsvine Facebook Google Yahoo Technorati
