News in Brief: July 14, 2014

USW local 8571, School Bus Drivers – Dorchester

One of the leaders of United Steelworkers local 8571, Stevan Kirschbaum, was issued with a summons by the Boston Police Department (BPD) to appear in court to face a number of charges, following the Boston Public Schools bus drivers’ protest on June 30. The union has called the charges – which include assault and battery using a table, trespass, breaking and entering, and destruction of property – “outrageous,” claiming that they are an attempt at union-busting. Kirschbaum is to appear in court in Dorchester on Monday. The BPD did not respond to a request for a comment before the filing of this report.

Ads Against Apartheid – State St.

The MBTA has taken down three advertisements at State St. station sponsored by the pro-Palestinian group Ads Against Apartheid (AAA). According to the group, the posters highlighting Israeli human rights abuses against Palestinians were removed from T stations under what they claim is pressure from pro-Israel groups in violation of the public company's own policies. The group also says that the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts will support AAA’s efforts to get the advertisements back up. An MBTA spokesperson told Open Media Boston that "[a]fter undergoing additional scrutiny, the ad was deemed to be in non-compliance with the MBTA's court-approved advertising guidelines ... As a result, the three posters were removed less than four days before they were scheduled to come down anyway. It was the responsibility of Titan, the T's advertising contractor, to notify the ad buyer of the early removal."