Workers’ Rights

Rally To Celebrate MLK Jr. — Postponed

[This event has been postponed. The new date is Saturday, May 5.] In April of 1968, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. had traveled to Memphis, Tennessee, in support of striking black city sanitation workers who were protesting unequal wages and working conditions. On April 4th, King was gunned down in the Lorraine Motel. This …

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The Pilgrims Are Organizing

What could be more American. Union, union, union! About 70 unionized workers at Plimoth Plantation, including some of the educators and historical interpreters who dress in period costume, have been involved in a yearlong labor impasse with management. They are bringing their issues to the attention of the public in time for Thanksgiving, the museum’s …

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End Tip Theft In Rhode Island

[youtube]-97eXc9OPGc[/youtube] When you leave a tip for your server or bartender you probably assume the money is going directly into their pockets. Too often, though, owners, managers and supervisors are taking a significant portion of that gratuity. Sometimes they simply demand a cut from workers, but they also steal by absorbing those automatic “service charges,” …

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Finally, The Truth About Internships

The unpaid internship has become a modern form of slave labor and is completely warping the economy. The idea that it will help you “get your foot in the door” rarely pans out, and the slot that was once called an entry level job, is now held permanently by unpaid interns who cycle in and …

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No Shopping On Thanksgiving Or Friday — NONE

Good to see the resistance on this odious Black Friday backwash now infiltrating Thanksgiving day itself. It was bad enough watching the stampeding hordes crashing through the doors at 6am on Friday, but corporate money-grubbers are now pushing that hour further and further back. Ironically it is often those very same mindless shoppers who now …

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Position Available At The Renaissance

So the whole Joey DeFrancesco “I Quit” video (scroll down) with the What Cheer? Brigade has really really blown up. Check out this fairly extensive interview from Access Hollywood of all things. Host Billy Bush reads the official Renaissance Hotel response and Joey describes the working conditions that prompted his glorious leave-taking. Watch to the …

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Rally Against JPMorgan Chase

Emily Mellor of Ocean State Action explains the role this financial monster continues to play in the destruction of our economy having already accepted $25 billion in the bailout, To this day, JPMorgan Chase continues to repackage mortgage-backed securities still on their books, all the while foreclosing on those affected by the havoc they wreaked. …

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Give Workers A Fair Deal And Bring Netroots Nation Convention To Providence

This is cross-posted at HuffPo and Dailykos: The folks at Netroots Nation and RIFuture.org have done a great job of shining the spotlight on a labor dispute we are facing locally in Providence — the outcome of which will directly decide whether the Netroots Nation conference will bring approximately $2 million in economic activity to our area …

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But I Already Knew How To Answer A Phone

Unpaid internships may have started out as a way of gaining experience and ‘getting your foot in the door’ but they have been transformed by many for-profit employers into a bottomless pool of free labor. The New York Times reports that several states and the federal Labor Department are starting to crack down and step …

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Monday: Celebrate Victory With Westin Workers

From RI Jobs With Justice: FIRED WESTIN WORKERS WIN THEIR JOBS BACK AFTER FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ACTION The employees invite press and community to join them as they enter the Westin Providence Hotel to reclaim their jobs on Monday, March 1st at 4:00pm. On November 7, 2009, the Westin Providence fired three housemen, Alfred Palumbo, Mike …

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Providence Daily Dose