BOSTON/Government Center - The Boston Teachers Union held a boisterous rally outside Boston Public Schools district headquarters Wednesday night to build public support for the union's contract goals. Chanting "contract now!" and blowing horns and whistles, about 500 teachers, students and supporters from other union locals braved freezing temperatures to call for an end to a 20-month impasse in contract negotiations between the teachers' union and the Boston public school administration.

BOSTON/South Boston - An Everett man implicated in the 1989 assassination of six Jesuit priests and two civilians in El Salvador abandoned his guilty plea on two unrelated immigration charges in federal district court Monday. The presiding judge agreed to continue proceedings on January 11th after it became clear the defendant did not understand the consequences of his plea.

BOSTON - Members of the Occupy Boston group came out in force on Tuesday to march in protest to New York police clearing their sister camp at Wall Street. A banner carried by leaders of some 200 marchers read: "11/15 at 2 a.m. without notice, NYPD raided OWS!"

The march followed a course from Dewey Square up to the Commons and the Massachusetts Statehouse, over to Government Center plaza, straight through the food court of Quincy Market and back to the greenway. Along the route, tourists and bystanders took video, wait staff crowded pub doorways to see the spectacle and police patiently kept pace on the sidelines. Marchers chanted slogans like, “Hey Menino you should know: Hell no, we won’t go!” as they walked past diners who took little notice through windows of eateries like Emmets Pub. If the disruption annoyed or disgusted anyone, they only said so privately.

BOSTON - Over 1000 peace activists and #OccupyBoston protestors held "March and Rally to Stop the Endless Wars at Home and Abroad" yesterday. The marchers kicked off the action outside the Park St. MBTA station and passed the downtown Hyatt hotel, and the Bank of America and Verizon buildings on their way to the #OccupyBoston encampment at Dewey Square. The event was part of a global day of action for democracy.

BOSTON - Organized labor teamed up with #OccupyBoston activists Thursday for a 3 p.m. rally at the Dewey Square encampment followed by a march to the Verizon Wireless store in Downtown Crossing to support Verizon workers in their fight for a union contract.

The event pulled in over 250 attendees and speakers from a host of area unions, including Boston telecom workers’ International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2222, the Greater Boston Labor Council and Mass. Building Trades Council, the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, SEIU Locals 1199 and 615, the Mass. Nurses Association, and the New England Regional Council of Carpenters. Three labor-community coalitions - Community Labor United, Jobs with Justice and MassUniting - also helped organize the event.

BOSTON - Over 2000 #OccupyBoston participants and supporters - mostly students from dozens of area colleges and high schools - marched across Boston on Monday to spread word about the growing movement against corporate control of our democracy, and to demonstrate their displeasure about the crushing burden of student loans and a host of related issues. The event began at the Boston Common's Parkman Bandstand and went through the park to quickly protest outside the State House and Fox News. The march then proceeded to the #OccupyBoston encampment at Dewey Square via Downtown Crossing where it met with about 100 union members from several local unions and the labor-community coalitions Jobs with Justice and MassUniting.

BOSTON - Earlier today, sources close to the Right to the City movement - that will be leading a protest march to Bank of America's building at 100 Federal St. in Boston's Financial District tomorrow - said that they had heard a rumor that B of A planned to shut the building down for all or part of the day tomorrow in attempt to derail the protest. When asked for comment, T.J. Crawford, Bank of America senior vice president of media relations, stated "There is no truth to this whatsoever."

BOSTON and Chelsea, MA - Two events were held in the Boston area on May 1st to celebrate May Day - the traditional international workers holiday.

About 200 people held a May Day rally on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. City Counselor Charles Yancey, Jean Claud Sanon, Kwami Somburu, Sergio Reyes of the Boston May Day Committee, and Tito Meza of Proyecto Hondureno were featured speakers. There was also a performance by Bread and Puppet Theater. The attendees then proceeded to Maverick Square in East Boston, then marched down Meridian St. with allies from several unions and community organizations to Chelsea City Hall - where they met up with another group of marchers coming from Everett.

BOSTON - Union leaders rallied with some 300 supporters outside the Massachusetts Republican Party headquarters in Boston on Monday April 4th to recall the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and stand in solidarity with public sector workers. It was the 43rd anniversary of King's assassination. The rally was one of over 1,200 events nationwide coordinated by the union sponsored We Are One campaign.

BOSTON/Government Center – Proposed federal cuts to the budget of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) continues to spark criticism from city officials and housing advocates. Convening a hearing in the chambers of the Boston City Council earlier this month, Housing Committee Chair and district 5 Councilor Rob Consalvo said cuts to Community Development Block Grants and the Section 8 Voucher Program would have a “severe impact.” At-large City Councilor Ayanna Pressley said cuts to HUD's 2012 budget affecting Boston was “a sobering shot in the arm...this is more than just balancing a ledger...behind every number there is a person and a life.”