On Wednesday, PSC-CUNY members demonstrated in response to 6 years without a contract at CUNY Central Administrative offices, where about 50 people were arrested. Prof. Stephanie Luce, one of many Murphy Institute community members who participated in the action, and one of four who were arrested, talks about her experience below:
Q. Why did you participate in the CD action?
A. I decided to participate in the civil disobedience action because I want to defend the idea of CUNY: a great public institution that is supported by the city and state. CUNY was created to provide a top-quality education to the people of New York City, and it is also a large employer providing good jobs to tens of thousands of people.Continue reading Stephanie Luce Talks Civil Disobedience, Arrest at PSC Action→
In Italy, a proposed change in labor laws has demonstrators taking the streets. Known as the Jobs Act, this as-yet unwritten law is seen as a “rolling back” of labor protections, that many protestors see as an erosion of rights for those living in increasingly precarious situations.
…in a country where the first article of the Constitution declares it a republic “founded on work,” rolling back labor protections is not to be taken lightly. It is particularly telling that many of those opposing Mr. Renzi’s plans are young people.
They are deeply skeptical that the proposed change would in fact open jobs to them — so many other overhaul efforts before it have failed to do so. Instead, they are demanding the same guarantees that their parents have had, something it is not at all clear Italy can still afford.
“All he’s doing is destroying the rights of full-time workers without giving rights to people in precarious job situations,” said Francesco Raparelli, 36, one of the coordinators of a nationwide strike last Friday by thousands of workers who hold temporary contracts.
A conversation about workers, communities and social justice
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Continue reading Stephanie Luce Talks Civil Disobedience, Arrest at PSC Action 
