Lynn, Mass. - About 75 telecom workers and community supporters rallied in support of a local Verizon technician who was recently threatened by a supervisor while acting in his capacity as an IBEW Local 2321 steward during a "captive audience" safety meeting.

In response to the steward's statement that management often retaliates against workers who ask questions during meetings, the foreman forcefully pointed his finger in the steward's face and said, "you're dead!!" For emphasis, he said it twice.

BOSTON/Charlestown - More than 90 union members, students and community activists jammed the SEIU Local 888 union hall on Saturday for a "Troublemakers School" sponsored by Massachusetts Jobs with Justice.

IBEW Local 2222 Business Manager Myles Calvey gave a rousing welcome to kick things off. "We're not going to get labor's problems solved in Washington or on Beacon Hill unless we take a page from the civil rights and gay rights movements," said Calvey, a former New England telecom strike leader. "We've got to be a lot more aggressive so that politicians are forced to deal with our issues. We've got make our problems, their problems!"

BOSTON/Boston Common - With the message "Not one more Death, Not One Dollar More!", about 100 military family members, veterans, and peace activists marked the 1,000 death of a U.S. soldier in Operation Enduring Freedom Monday afternoon at Park Street Station in Boston.

OEF is the military's name for the Afghanistan conflict. 930 of those victims died in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan, and 70 in other parts of the world.

Veterans read aloud the names of 60 New England residents who lost their lives in the conflict, and 60 names of Afghan civilians who died were also read. The names of the 1,000 dead were inscribed on postcards calling on Congress to stop funding the war; those assembled signed the cards, which will be sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Sherborn, MA - Approximately 45 people attended the first anniversary and new member meeting of Metrowest Peace Action (MwPA) on Saturday at the Peace Abbey. Congressman Barney Frank spoke for about 20 minutes and took questions for another 25. He talked about a strategy for cutting the military budget (25% solution)and challenging the notion that we have to be #1 superpower, world's policeman etc. His current thinking is to recommend to Congress, that in deficit reduction talks, any cuts to domestic/civilian programs be met with comparable cuts in the military budget. If we don't cut within the military, the cuts to social and domestic programs will be too severe. Due to time constraints of Frank and MwPA, questions were cut off after a lively exchange on US/Gaza.

BOSTON/Dorchester - Over 1,000 people crowded into the Firefighters' Florian Hall in Dorchester last Friday to honor Jerry "Judgie" Leary who passed away after a valiant battle against cancer and give support to his bereaved family.

Leary was a telephone worker, lifelong Dorchester resident and well-known neighborhood guy. As a union activist and Vice President of IBEW Local 2222, he won the admiration of his co-workers during the legendary four month NYNEX strike and many subsequent battles with its successor companies Bell Atlantic and Verizon.

BOSTON/Dorchester - Members of Dorchester People for Peace stood out in Fields Corner Tuesday evening to protest Pres. Barrack Obama’s announcement of an impending escalation of the Afghanistan War by sending 30,000 more troops at an annual cost of tens of billions of dollars.

The protest drew dozens of peace activists from Dorchester and beyond and was featured on New England Cable News along with coverage of the President's speech.

BOSTON/Beacon Hill - In the last hours of the 2009 legislative session, the Massachusetts State Senate voted to pass “An Act Relative to Sentencing Laws.” The omnibus criminal justice bill included comprehensive CORI reforms sought by a broad statewide network organized as the Commonwealth CORI Coalition (CCC). CCC is led by the Boston Workers’ Alliance, Neighbor to Neighbor MA, Ex-prisoners Organizing for Community Advancement (EPOCA), Massachusetts Community Action Network, American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association of Social Workers.

BOSTON - After earning strong profits and awarding large bonuses to its top executives, Verizon management is laying off 196 workers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island today. Six Verizon Business technicians were also laid off last week. The layoffs are part of 8,000 job cuts that Verizon announced in late July.

CWA District One members showed strong union support for appointing a temporary interim Senator to fill Sen. Kennedy's seat at the Massachusetts legislature's Joint Committee on Election Laws hearing.

"With the passing of Sen. Ted Kennedy two weeks ago, Massachusetts has only one U.S. senator," said Don Trementozzi, President of CWA Local 1400. "This has left Massachusetts working families with only partial representation during critical fights in the Senate on health care reform and the Employee Free Choice Act." CWA Local 1400 members work at Verizon and AT&T.

BOSTON/Government Center - Angry about how a highly profitable corporation like Verizon is threatening hundreds of layoffs, telephone union leaders and some potentially laid off workers held an unprecedented briefing with the staffs of five members of Congress and both Massachusetts senators.

The meeting was convened in Senator Kennedy's office at the Boston Federal Building and was attended by leaders of all the Massachusetts IBEW telephone workers' unions.