Cambridge, Mass. - Months after it began, workers at Insomnia Cookies are continuing their pickets of the company popular amongst students for what they say is retaliation by management.
Malden, Mass. - Malden-based Piantedosi Baking Company was recently cited and penalized by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) for safety lapses that contributed to the death of an employee.
Yogambigai Pasupathipillai, a 61 year old Sri Lankan immigrant, died after being strangled when her apron became caught in a conveyor belt at the bakery during the afternoon of August 15.
A new report put out by the University of California at Berkeley’s Labor Center outlines the amount of welfare benefits going to low-wage fast-food workers. The study, "Fast Food, Poverty Wages: The Public Cost of Low-Wage Jobs in the Fast-Food Industry," was released Tuesday. It found that more than half of the families of front-line fast-food workers, earning a median wage of just $8.69 per hour, are using major public programs, such as food stamps or Medicaid, compared to 25 percent of the workforce as a whole.
Cambridge, Mass. - Over 30 members of the Industrial Workers of the World and allies held a picket outside the Insomnia Cookies store in Harvard Square on Thursday evening as part of their ongoing campaign against the growing dessert chain after it fired four employees in August for attempting to form a union.
Cambridge, Mass. - Labor Day in Cambridge saw a union rally and march in the streets that took aim at local employers. Organized by the Service Employees International Union, around 300 members and supporters participated in the event; it hit out at Cambridge College and Harvard university over layoffs and the use of nonunion contractors.
BOSTON/Roslindale - About 200 people demonstrated Thursday in the Roslindale neighborhood of Boston in pickets at Dunkin Donuts, Wendy’s, KFC and McDonald’s. The unprecedented protest by fast food workers and their supporters demanded an increase of the minimum wage to $15 an hour for employees, as well as the right to form a union. The demonstration was part of a nationwide campaign with protests held in about 50 other cities across the US.
BOSTON - Jennifer Himenos, 25, has been working at the Dunkin Donuts near the American Legion Highway in Roslindale for the past four months, earning $8.50 an hour. She does not have her own apartment and sleeps on her mother and aunt’s couches between her part-time shifts.
Cambridge, Mass. - The crowd was out the door of The Just Crust this Saturday during its grand opening. Cambridge residents and their friends gathered to try free pizza and celebrate the worker-owned restaurant replacing a branch of Upper Crust Pizza - a small chain plagued by corruption, wage theft and other labor violations.
BOSTON/State House - The Grand Staircase in the State House played host Thursday to a number of labor supporters there to advocate for a new minimum wage bill being considered by state lawmakers. The groups are seeking a new minimum wage in the Bay State of $11 or $12 an hour on top of other labor legislation. Speaking at the event, employee at BJ's Wholesale store spoke of the difficulty of making ends meet on minimum.
