davis_square | why are there protesters in front of the synagogue on central?

They are not protesting against Temple B'nai Brith. The synagogue hosted overnight the striking Shaw's workers, who are on their way to a rally in downtown Boston.

I'm a member of the congregation. While I didn't participate in the decision-making process that led the synagogue to support the Shaw's workers, I fully endorse it.

Read more here:
Local faith groups lend support to Shaw's marchers (Boston.com)
http://www.ufcw791.org/
http://massjwj.net/content/shaws-workers-strike-1

Edited 2010-05-27 13:01 (UTC)

Yeah, they just marched away. I have to admit, when I saw a bunch of people with signs that said "Stop Greed" marching around in front of a synagogue, my first thought was "is this some sort of anti-semitic protest against those greedy jews?"

I was quite relieved when I saw the shaws signs.

That's really cool, and what I'd guessed was going on but could not confirm :).

Wow, well, although I'm glad you endorse the position of your synagogue, had it been my synagogue, I would have been absolutely livid and would have switched congregations immediately. Having nothing to do with the flavor of the politics, it upsets me greatly when religious institutions choose to engage in overtly political activities. Further, this is the sort of activity that could risk Temple B'nai Brith its tax-exempt status and therefore I sure hope the people involved consulted their legal counsel before making this decision.

How is this overtly political? Is it the implicit endorsement of organized labor? Is that really a hot-button political issue?

You probably wouldn't be very happy with my church either!!

I don't see how endorsing a labor action jeopardizes the tax-exempt status of Temple B'nai Brith (or the various churches that have also participated).

Oh noes! Risking tax-exempt status! Back in the day synagogues were bombed (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beth_Israel_Congregation_%28Jackson,_Mississippi%29) for voicing what you would surely describe as political views rather than matters of morality and ethics. Besides I'm not sure how this would risk tax-exempt status since it's got nothing at all to do with the government, either in terms of who's in it or what it's doing.

This was not an unusual event or style of taking a position at Temple B'nai Brith, where I think that encouraging members to engage with political issues, particularly those that involve social justice, has long been viewed as an important part of tikkun olam (healing the world). Obviously not everyone agrees on which issues are most important and in which manner the issue is about justice and for whom - but that's generally why we host educational programs and discussions that give someone a voice, or inform members about a cause they may wish to support, rather than claiming to speak for member's opinions about a particular issue.

(I speak from my own perspective, but I'm a member of Temple B'nai Brith and a member of its board of directors.)

They didn't end up staying overnight at the shul? The various e-mails I got said that they would, but I guess there was a late change in plans.

They didn't wind up staying overnight as a group anywhere along the way I believe - the protest planners weren't able to make it work for some reason I didn't hear about specifically. I assume they found individual hosts who were members of the supporting labor groups or religious groups, in the communities they'd be stopping in.

Further, this is the sort of activity that could risk Temple B'nai Brith its tax-exempt status and therefore I sure hope the people involved consulted their legal counsel before making this decision.

I sure hope you consult a legal and tax expert before giving out advice.

"Politics" != "Endorsing a political candidate"

Hmmm...actually Jews have a long history of political action. Remember the ol' civil rights movement?

Plus I could be wrong, but I thought you only lost your tax-exempt status if you advocate voting for a particular candidate. Does someone tech-savvy politico have a link on that?

Yeah, TBB hosted a breakfast this morning with the Shaw's workers to support them and give them a place to air their concerns (at one point there was discussion that in their 4 day march they would actually stay overnight at various houses of worship, but that did not wind up being the final plan.)

The Jewish Labor Committee (state-wide, not a part of Temple B'nai Brith) has been very involved in the Shaw's workers' protest.

I'm glad. A couple of weeks ago one of the picketers handed me a flier as I was walking in, and I read it, realized they were strikers, and said "okay, I will do my shopping somewhere else." And the guy looked so shocked, like he hadn't expected anyone to pay attention.

Alls I know is my folks brought me up not to cross picket lines.

Yo.

One more link: Justice at Shaw's

Thanks for posting this!

:)

One more: http://somervillenews.typepad.com/the_somerville_news/2010/05/tensions-rise-at-shaws-labor-protest-in-somerville.html

I was turning from Tufts to Washington and was stopped by the parade coming from the Sullivan Station direction. Seems like these people are making some distance.

I'd love to see these folks using their energy and passion to do something positive instead, such as starting their own non-profit grocery stores, that hire and buy local products whenever possible. Because one of the reasons that Shaws can do what they do is because there isn't much competition.

You talk big with other people's time and energy! Maybe these workers just want to pay their own rent and feed their own families.

I hate to see people waste their time and energy. Because taking care of themselves and their families is a lot easier if they don't have to rely on some big corporation to hire them.

There you go again.

And they want to doing it by extorting wages that are higher than market rate through from the company that is kind enough to pay them in exchange for work. If they want higher wages, it would be more productive for society for them to get more of an education or go into a different field. Of course the coercion method is easier.

I know its easy to think of the corporation as faceless and say "they just want to feed their families" but corporations are owned by humans and humans shop at corporations too. Unions have an adverse affect on society, though of course they have a great benefit for their members at the expense of everyone else. You don't need to agree with me, but you should try to understand the other side.

kind enough to pay them in exchange for work

Um...blink? Huh?

= to provide a job to them, to hire them

I'm not sure what the confusion is. Shaw's is a revolutionary company, in that they came up with this idea that when people work for them, they give them money. Because before Shaw's everyone was working for free, which of course wasn't working very well, since people had very limited means of generating money. So bless Shaw's for being so generous and so kind as to not only hire people and give them the honor of working for them, but to also give them money. And it's not like Shaw's is even getting anything out of it, since really they could be using their awesome space robots to do all that work instead if the humans ever decided they wanted to go back to school or work somewhere else!!!1!

though of course they have a great benefit for their members at the expense of everyone else.

You are full of crap:
http://www.sundaypaper.com/DesktopModules/DnnForge%20-%20NewsArticles/Print.aspx?tabid=98&tabmoduleid=940&articleId=4171&moduleId=922&PortalID=0

A number of the disabled cops who were helped by IBPO were not members of IBPO.

Why did they need union help? Because their employer was reneging on promised care.

Without a good research group and well written PR, the city of Atlanta would never have upheld their obligations.

Edited 2010-05-28 19:34 (UTC)

One could also argue that they should be working on getting single-payer healthcare in the US so arguments between labor and employers over who pays for healthcare stop happening. That would be equally as likely to be effective in a useful timeframe as your suggestion. By which I mean they'd be better off playing the lottery to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads than following either sets of advice; thankfully they've taken a much more positive approach than that.

Any time you are relying on someone else to do something for you, you are giving away your power to them. Be the change you want to see in the world is a more positive way to go. But I realize that most people don't feel confident enough to be creative, and tend to rely on big business and government to take care of them instead.

It's true, telling people on the internet what those other folks over there really ought to be doing because the clear actions they are taking just aren't enough/correct for your tastes is definitely the way to be the change you want to see in the world.

Indeed. Which is why I rarely tell anyone what to do. I merely suggest what's possible...

It's not terribly possible in a country where real wages have been stagnant for most working folks for 40 years, the industrial base that used to support blue collars workers in a reasonably safe, secure fashion has vanished and even the most educated white-collar workers wind up serving fries at Chez Ronald.

Nice try, but your suggestions aren't really possible for many people. Just what have you done in that regard? (Before you answer, remember that we all stand on the shoulders of those who came before us and those who uphold the infrastructure around us that we too often take for granted. Unless you built your own home by hand, grow your own food and medicines, and use no public roads/water/utilities, you're hardly going it alone. Those things, and many more, make it possible for people like you to think they're mavericks who accomplished everything on their own merits.)

I never said anything about going it alone.

I said that it's easier to take care of yourself and your family if you aren't relying on big business to take care of it all. It's not easy for many people to choose to start their own businesses/organizations, but with all this support that these folks are getting, they could do amazing things, I bet...

You sound like a cross between a marxist and John Galt.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/05/27/christians.unplugged/index.html?hpt=C1

Oh hey, it's that...guy again. Why are we doing anything but heckling him?

I don't know who you are referring to.

FYI

why are there protesters in front of the synagogue on central?

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This is what Turil has in mind...

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Turil is not a guy...