My union, the Somerville municipal employees association, has been without a contract for 650 days now. And the last time we got a raise was July 2021. We are the people who work at the public libraries, we are the people who clean and maintain the streets, we are the school nurses and the city hall clerks.
If you live in Somerville and have feelings about this, please consider contacting the mayor. The mayor is the one who ultimately decides whether we get a contract or a raise
my union (the Somerville Municipal Employees Association) is fighting for a fair contract & wage. We've been without a wage increase since Jun 2021, and without a contract since Jun 2022-- and we were paid below area wages even before then.
The situation is getting dire, and people are quitting left & right.
If you have the time, we'd love your support. You can do this by writing a letter to your electeds. suggested text here:
I always like reading people's lists of their favorite new albums of the year. Here are my favorite new and reissues from 2023. It's a mix of spiritual jazz, weird electronic music, ambient, and some punk thrown in.
since streaming services rip off musicians, I always buy physical copies or MP3s, so I can't do one of those fancy Spotify lists.
"Doritos has released Doritos Silent, a noise cancellation software for gamers who want to snack without annoying their teammates. The software filters out over 5,000 crunching sounds and allows players to eat while chatting with their squad. Nov 8, 2023"
if you're in Boston, check out the Boston Art Bookfair tomorrow. my zines (including my new one) will be available at Greer Muldowney and Caleb Cole's table!
Hey! Here's my new zine, all about Boston's Italian mutual aid societies in the early 1900s. It includes some wonderful illustrations from the epic Pat Falco....
Now an empty storefront displaying adds for things, in the 70s, it was home to the radical New England Free Press.
NEFP was a collectively-run press that printed and sold radical and feminist publications-- including the first edition of "Our bodies, ourselves." They shared decision-making, job tasks, and profits-- and kept their prices low so their publications would go as far as possible.
They also offering sliding scale prices for other movement groups.
According to former member Nick Thorkelson, their rent was low because it was one of the only units in the building with functioning heat-- and the landlord kept it super hot to heat the rest of the building.
Former member Claudette Piper's daughter Ellie Piper put together this amazing site with some of their old pub's as PDFs here: https://www.nefp.online/