Category: unemployment
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Remembering Menino: The Former Mayor’s Legacy on Social Justice
The late Mayor Tom Menino’s impact on the city of Boston was easy to see after his death on the morning of Oct. 30. Thousands visited his casket in Fanuiel Hall on Saturday, Nov. 2, and thousands more lined the route of his funeral procession the next day. As the oft-repeated statistic claims, more than…
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Computerized Unemployment Insurance System Creates Hassles for the Unemployed
BOSTON, Mass.—When the Commonwealth’s $46-million computerized unemployment insurance system launched in July 2013, officials declared it an instant success. However, emails that the Boston Globe recently obtained demonstrate systemic flaws and high levels of user frustration with the new Massachusetts Unemployment Insurance (UI) online system. In the emails, which the Globe obtained through a federal…
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Airport Workers Kick Off Campaign for Better Working Conditions
BOSTON, Mass.—It was five degrees below zero the night of March 17, and Giselle Torres was on her way to clean a plane. She worked for ReadyJet, a service company contracted by Delta Airlines, at Logan Airport. Cleaning planes is a thankless job, and ReadyJet doesn’t make things easier. She only gets one pair of…
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Gentrification in Chinatown Raises Demand for Affordable Housing
CHINATOWN, Mass.—“It has long been gentrified,” A Chinatown resident exclaimed with a heavy sigh as he walked toward his apartment in Tai Tung Village, one of the early housing projects for low-income Chinatown residents. Tai Tung Village is a gray, medium-sized high-rise surrounded by other rundown-looking apartments. A family of four only needs to pay…
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MBTA Cleaners Fight Staff Cuts
BOSTON, Mass.—On Saturday June 22, MBTA station cleaners and their supporters marched through downtown Boston and rallied in the Boston Common to protest upcoming staff cuts that would eliminate 30 percent of the cleaning workforce on September 1. The rally attracted 1,000 people, according to police reports, and was the latest event in cleaners’ campaign…
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Nowhere to Go: Youth Aging Out of Foster Care Struggle to Find Stability
Esohe Omo rolled the stroller holding her 18-month-old daughter, Sindy, through the doorstep of the Young Adult Resource Network (YARN) building in Dorchester. She visits YARN every week to meet up with some friends and fellow foster youth to eat some dinner or ask the life coaches for help finding a place to stay. “I…
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Youth Aging Out: An Interview with CFCS Executive Director Maria Mossaides
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—Every year, hundreds of young adults become ineligible to continue receiving care from the Commonwealth’s Department of Children and Families due to age restrictions. Maria Mossaides, executive director of Cambridge Family and Children’s Service and co-chair of the Massachusetts Task Force on Youth Aging Out of Foster Care, works to help many of these…
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City Council Commission Addresses Issues Facing Black Men and Boys
BOSTON, Mass.—Boston’s city council saw two bills introduced for discussion this year about issues that concern black youth, both of which passed with ease this February. Councilors Michael Flaherty and Tito Jackson led the discussion with more than 60 black residents from all over the city during a hearing at Madison Park High School in…