Check out photos from the 15th Labor Seder on Flickr!What makes it possible for people to move out of slavery and into liberation? What are the ingredients that go into a successful movement against economic injustice? What moves people to action and what gives people hope?In the Passover story there were many people working together to strategize the coming out of Egypt and walking to liberation. There were Puah and Shifra, the midwives who refused to kill the Jewish newborn sons, there was Miriam who put her brother Moses in a basket so that he wouldn’t be killed. It was Bitya the daughter of Pharoah who lifted him from the basket and took him home, it was Jethro of Midian who took Moses in when he was fleeing those who wanted to kill him, it was Moses himself who answered God’s call to liberate the Jewish slaves. And then it was the hundreds of thousands of Jewish slaves who bonded together and had the courage to leave Egypt and walk into the sea and then into the desert, not knowing what the future would bring. There were many people from different backgrounds that played a role in the story of liberation.Our 15th Annual Labor Seder was our most successful Labor Seder. More than 300 people attended—up by approximately 20 attendees the previous year. We raised almost they same amount of money as last year. Many people said that this was the best, most spirited Labor Seder ever.This year we held our Labor Seder at IBEW 103. As in past years, elected officials, union presidents, Jewish community leaders, religious leaders, workers and students attended. Barbara led the Seder beautifully and we shortened the program at the request of several attendees. Almost everybody took home their Labor Seder Haggadah. We honored Mayor of Boston, Martin J. Walsh. He spoke movingly about the struggles of working people. We recognized these three campaigns: “Fight for $15”, Faculty Forward, and the Doubletree Workers Campaign. As it happened, the DoubleTree workers had just received a neutrality agreement from management, paving the way for a vote for UNITEHERE Local 26 to be there union representative.Year after year the Labor Seder continues to be a unique and powerful event. Perhaps it is the compelling Passover story—one of liberation from oppression—which so closely parallels the current struggles of workers and affects people on a deep level. Perhaps it is the connection attendees build with people from different communities that makes this evening so magical. Perhaps it is also the joy of celebrating a diverse community’s shared commitment to economic and worker justice. It takes all of these pieces for the Labor Seder to be the successful and moving event that attendees come to expect year after year.
New England Jewish Labor Committee 15th Annual Labor Seder
Join the Greater Boston Jewish and Labor communities to celebrate our shared traditions and strengthen our work together.
To register for the 15th Annual Labor Seder click here
View our event on Facebook
Tuesday, March 24th, 20155.00-8.30 p.m.(5-6.00 schmooze time)
IBEW Local 103 256 Freeport Street Boston, MA 02122
Dinner will be served
The Jewish tradition obligates us to relive the Exodus and liberation story of Passover in every generation. The Labor Seder is a unique interfaith opportunity through which labor and Jewish community leaders and activists continue to build bridges. We hope that you will join us at the table to learn more about current worker struggles right here in Greater Boston, find ways to get involved in meaningful campaigns for social justice, and rejoice with us in the ancient and joyful holiday of Passover.
Honoring:Boston MayorMARTY WALSH
Recognizing:The Workers of Harvard-owned DoubleTree HotelUnite Here Local 26 Campaign
The Fast Food Workers'Fight for $15' Campaign
The Adjunct FacultySEIU 509 Campaign
Gold Co-Sponsor: UNITE HERE Local 26
Co-sponsors: Moishe/Kavod House, Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action, Boston JCRC, and Boston Workmen’s Circle
Suggested Ticket Donation: $54 ($18 for low-income). All are welcome regardless of donation.
To RSVP, register on this website or email Marya Axner, Regional Director at NewEnglandJLC@jewishlabor.org or call (617) 227-0888
To buy an ad email Marya Axner, Regional Director at New EnglandJLC@jewishlabor.org or call (617) 227-0888
Deadline for ads: March 9th, 2015
Send checks to: Jewish Labor Committee, 18 Tremont Street #320, Boston, MA 02108 or pay through this website.
Event is Kosher, wheelchair accessible.
November 20th! Save the Date! Rally for the Doubletree Hotel Workers!
Save the Date! November 20th
4pm Interfaith Service with Rabbis Barbara Penzner and Toba Spitzer
5pm Rally at Harvard Science Center
Activities all day long!Contact Marya for details by at NewEnglandJLC@jewishlabor.org or 617-227-0888.
On November 20th, we expect hundreds of people will march for justice as Harvard's DoubleTree workers continue to seek a fair process to decide on unionization.
The incidence rate for work-related injury and illness for workers across all job classifications at Harvard's hotel during 2013 was 75% higher than the average for hotel and other accommodation workers in Massachusetts during 2012-the most recent year for which the government has reported data. "Hotel workers already have high rates of injury," said Dr. Laura Punnett, an ergonomics expert at the UMASS Lowell Center for Women and Work who will also join the roundtable."When we see a hotel with higher injury rates and a heavy workload, it raises questions about potential danger."
Many of the immigrant women who clean Harvard’s Double Tree Suites report that their work causes them pain. In a 2013 study of workers at Harvard’s hotel, 100% of surveyed housekeepers reported that they were in pain. The hotel’s record show that housekeepers have suffered injuries in recent years as diverse as straining their backs and shoulders, twisting a knee, splashing Comet in their eyes, tripping over bedsheets, spraining an ankle, and more.Harvard’s housekeepers also report high workload. They are responsible for cleaning 14 two-room suites per day, when housekeepers at unionized properties in Boston typically clean 15 single rooms, and if they clean a suite, it counts as two.It is impossible to measure an injury rate at the hotel in years 2010-2012 since Harvard’s hotel failed to comply with this obligation. In 2013, the incidence rate for work-related injury and illness for workers at the hotel was 75% higher than the rate for all Massachusetts hotel workers and other accommodation workers for 2012.In October 2014 after meeting with housekeepers from the Harvard’s hotel, Boston City Councilors Michelle Wu and Ayanna Pressley and Cambridge City Councilor Denise Simmons called on Harvard president Drew Faust to review the safety of Harvard’s hotel housekeepers.On October 15, 2014, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) began an inspection of health and safety practices at Harvard’s Double Tree Suites in response to a complaint by the hotel’s workers.Source: “Our Pain, Harvard’s Gain”
Join us - pledge two hours to these brave housekeepers by joining them in support on November 20th.(Please, contact Marya if you are interested at NewEnglandJLC@jewishlabor.org or 617 227 0888)
Boycott the Harvard-owned Allston DoubleTree Hotel
On Thursday, March 27th a boycott was launched at the Harvard-owned DoubleTree Hotel in Allston. The New England Jewish Labor Committee is supporting this worker-intiated boycott of the DoubleTree. We are supporting hotel workers who have asked Harvard to grant them a fair process in deciding on unionization. Harvard has thus far refused to meet with hotel workers. A boycott is a serious step for the DoubleTree workers because it could mean fewer hours for them.More than 200 people came to the march and rally at the DoubleTree to show their support. There were DoubleTree workers, New England Jewish Labor Committee members, UNITE HERE members from other hotels, union leaders, Harvard students, Cambridge City Council members, and others who came to show their support for the workers.We ask all Jewish community organizations and individuals to observe this boycott and have their events and celebrations in other hotels. For a guide to hotels in Boston, click here.
Governor Patrick praises outgoing Labor Secretary Joanne Goldstein at 14th Annual Labor Seder
Governor Deval Patrick kicked off the Fourteenth Annual Labor Seder last Tuesday at Temple Israel in Boston by saying that former Secretary of Labor Joanne Goldstein “was the best Secretary of Labor the Commonwealth has ever had.” The New England Jewish Labor Committee (NE JLC) honored Goldstein with the Clara Lemlich Shavelson Award for lifetime commitment to workers in Massachusetts.
“How fitting that we are gathered here for a Seder, the quintessential Jewish expression of freedom, which includes for me economic and social justice and the human right to life, free of poverty and complete with dignity,” Goldstein observed.
The Labor Seder draws parallels between the liberation of Jews from slavery and current issues facing workers. This year, the NE JLC recognized the Massachusetts Coalition of Domestic Workers and their effort to get the proposed Domestic Workers Bill of Rights passed. The NE JLC also recognized workers of the Harvard-owned DoubleTree Hotel in Allston who are asking the hotel for a neutrality agreement on deciding on union representation. Additionally, the Pathways Pre-apprenticeship program was recognized for helping people in underserved communities get good jobs in the trades.
Rabbi Barbara Penzner of Temple Hillel B’nai Torah in West Roxbury and incoming Co-Chair of the NE JLC led the Labor Seder. “The Labor Seder celebrates its 14th anniversary this year. In Hebrew letters, 14 spells the word ‘yad’ which means hand. That's what this event is all about--giving a helping hand to lift people up with better jobs, and to join hands together as allies to bring liberation to our world, just as our ancestors were liberated from Egypt.”
Yehuda Yaakov, the new Consul General of Israel, attended the Labor Seder even though workers at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including all consuls around the world, is on strike. The NE JLC asked him to come despite the strike so that the participants could express solidarity with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs workers.
Every year, Jewish community leaders, labor leaders, elected officials, and community activists gather at the Labor Seder to celebrate the holiday of Passover. The story of Passover tells how Jewish slaves in Egypt broke the chains of oppression and fought together for liberation and freedom. The Labor Seder is a unique interfaith event where we build bridges that enable us all to pursue justice with greater strength and commitment. We hope you will join us next year!
