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By Kerri Provost, January 19, 2012 11:44 am

Eight office cleaners at the Hartford Courant lost their jobs in December.

There is no hope for recourse for many who suffer job loss. This has not been the case in Hartford, where the community has rallied around the janitors whose pay was deemed too costly at the same company that provided $42 million in bonuses for others at the Tribune.

On January 9, 2012, residents spoke out before a City Council meeting, urging officials to take some kind of action on this matter. Last Saturday, the Hartford Organizing Group held a “comfort food feast” to raise funds for the janitors. They raised nearly $1400, which will be presented to the cleaners today at the “Project the Truth” march and rally slated for 4:30 this afternoon. The protest will begin in front of the Old State House and conclude at the corner of State Street and Columbus Boulevard.

At the next meeting of the City Council, there will be discussion of the following resolution:

During the last meeting, there was talk of the City possibly advertising its job openings in local media sources that are not owned by the Tribune.

UPDATE: edited (20 Jan 2012) to show expanded version of the resolution

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By Kerri Provost, December 15, 2011 3:49 pm

Two years ago, a handful of vocal residents and stakeholders more or less evicted the homeless population from Downtown. Center Church had offered part of its property for use as a no-freeze shelter, as demand for housing exceeded spaces available in existing year-round shelters. A compromise was reached when a location on Lafayette Street, outside of Downtown, was determined as another possibility.

The message was very clear: this population was not welcomed by all in the business community, and certainly not by all Downtown dwellers. It was also clear whose voices mattered, and whose did not.

In the thick of that controversy, and since then, people living with homelessness and their supporters have begun to speak up.

In January 2011, the newspaper Beat of the Street, hit the streets. Though a few of those directly involved expected it to fizzle out after a few issues, it still appears to be going strong a year later. The newspaper includes poetry, narratives, resource lists, and articles about issues related to homelessness, written by those who are experiencing or have experienced it, as well as by advocates for those in need of shelter.

On December 21st, in the sanctuary of the Charter Oak Cultural Center, there will be a memorial service beginning around 12:45 for those in the homeless community who have passed away in the last year. Rabbi Donna Berman will be saying a few words; a poem for the occasion will be read by Justin Sweetwater. There will be musical performances by Margaux Hayes and Richard McGhee.

Today, in the middle of December, homeless individuals could be seen sleeping in Bushnell Park. This does not take into account those who select more hidden locations, like under the bridges, to rest. For many, homelessness is something they can avoid confronting.

To make this issue visible, on December 21st, after the indoor service, there will be a procession from Charter Oak Cultural Center to the Ancient Burying Ground, which is located next to Center Church Continue reading 'Taking Action on Homelessness'»

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By Kerri Provost, December 8, 2011 4:59 pm

“We been there all this time and they kicked us right out the door,” said Eddie Williams, a 20-year employee of Capitol Cleaners who has spent eighteen of those years working inside of the Hartford Courant building.

Williams is one of the janitors whose last day of work will be this Friday, due to the lost contract.

Razmik Hovannis and Anna Hit — also cleaning staff at the Courant and members of SEIU 32BJ — looked grim about their futures. Hovannis has worked ten years in the building and has been employed with Capitol Cleaners for 20 years; Hit has been with them for nine.

Although not ideal, the next move has been to try to secure their jobs at the building by applying for work with Pressroom Cleaners, the new cleaning contractor. Wojciech Pirog, a union delegate and representative for members employed by Capitol Cleaners, says the janitors have applied for work with with the new company, but have so far heard nothing. Continue reading 'Mourning Job Loss'»

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By Kerri Provost, December 7, 2011 11:12 am

December 21st is National Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day. This will be marked here in Hartford with a service held at the Charter Oak Cultural Center.

Typically, the names of homeless people who have passed on in the past year are read to “bring attention to the tragedy of homelessness and to remember our homeless friends who have paid the ultimate price for our nation’s failure to end homelessness,” explains the National Coalition for the Homeless. Continue reading 'Save the Date: Memorial for the Homeless'»

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By Kerri Provost, December 6, 2011 10:38 am

The tents are still up at Turning Point Park, but Occupy Hartford has shown few signs of life in recent weeks. After a strong showing at their kickoff march in early October, active participation has waned. There has been high turnover of activists, both those living in the tents, and those dropping by or showing support from afar.

The declaration of its impending death comes from those who have worked closely with the group, saying that those still involved in the encampment “don’t even know they are on a sinking ship.” In recent weeks, there have been hints that Occupy Hartford was on the verge of imploding.

The inexcusable mishandling of the sexual assault on site may have been the final straw for many who had previously offered their support for the local incarnation of the Occupy movement.

The move away from Occupy Hartford appears to be taking two forms Continue reading 'Occupy Hartford: Post Mortem'»

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By Kerri Provost, December 1, 2011 10:30 am

The Hartford Organizing Group (they designed the poster/mock newspaper above) is planning this action for December 8th. Unionized cleaning staff at the Courant are expected to lose their jobs on December 12th.

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By Kerri Provost,

One critique of the Occupy Hartford movement has been that a number of uninformed activists — new to the area or to activism in general — attempted to reinvent the wheel; instead of immediately reaching out to other organizations in the spirit of solidarity, or simply to learn the ins and outs of local community organizing, it took weeks of nagging by residents and several changes in the make up of the core group before Occupy Hartford began to reach beyond the muddy patch at the corner of Broad and Farmington.

Meanwhile, the movement has lit a fire beneath long-term area activists, many of whom have been involved in Occupy Hartford to some capacity, including some who left it in disgust.

Tonight at 6pm there will be a “meeting of Hartford grassroots groups or groups that are doing work in Hartford.” Organizers describe it as an “opportunity to listen and learn from each other and to see how we can all work together. ”

This will be happening in the Hartford Areas Rally Together (HART) office at 385 Washington Street.

But the anti-union sentiment that has popped up in the few months of Occupy Hartford — some are concerned that “the unions and Democrats” have tried to “co-opt” the OWS movement — raises questions about with which types of groups the Occupiers would be willing to build alliances. Continue reading 'Beyond Occupy: What is and what could be'»

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By Kerri Provost, November 29, 2011 8:32 pm

“We’ve become complacent” about AIDS, a community member said during Tuesday’s World AIDS Day forum in the Hartford Public Library.

In the 1980’s and 1990’s, she said, society talked about AIDS. Now, not so much. She called for the need to have conversations in places like barbershops. grocery stores, and in Spanish; then, she passed her microphone to another audience member, who delivered comments in Spanish.

This sentiment was echoed by panelists. One of them, Yvette Highsmith-Francis, the Director of Community Health Center, Inc., said we should be having these dialogues at Thanksgiving dinner and when having pedicures.

Even in 2011, misinformation about the transmission of HIV exists. Highsmith-Francis told the audience about an encounter with a woman in her forties who believed she could “catch AIDS” from hugging someone. Continue reading '“Getting to Zero” Community Forum on HIV/AIDS'»

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By Kerri Provost, November 17, 2011 11:39 pm

If the police issue several traffic advisories letting the public know that they will likely be unable to use a street during part of the day, and then they barricade that street so that no vehicular traffic can use it, can activists who — after the road has been made impassable already — are physically blocking an entrance ramp on that block be arrested for impeding traffic?

Yes.

A dozen people, including some with SEIU, CCAG, and the machinists’ union, were peacefully arrested after blocking the Broad Street on-ramp to I-84 East. Peter Goselin, with the National Lawyers Guild, said that the arrests were carried out smoothly.

Continue reading 'Ramping Up Demonstrations'»

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By Kerri Provost, November 16, 2011 10:13 am

Occupy Hartford, like many other Connecticut residents right now, is directing its ire at CL&P. Besides a rally they have planned for this coming Saturday, the group has released a play on Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses.

In its entirety:

Disputation on the (Lack of) Power and (Absence of) Efficacy of (Executive) Indulgences Commonly Known as The 99 Theses.

By Occupy Hartford CT.

Out of love and concern for the truth, and with the object of eliciting it, we present the following reasons that CL&P must be held responsible for providing the services they promise and for which we pay them. We request that whoever cannot be present personally to debate the matter orally will do so in absence in writing.

1. Our Governor, Dannel Malloy stood at the podium and called for CL&P to “Repent,” which roughly translates to, “Do the job consumers pay you for”

2. The word “Repent” cannot properly be understood as referring to penance by the consumer in terms of increased rates.

3. Repentance means not only in the Executive’s heart; for such repentance is null unless it produces outward signs in various mortifications of the flesh. We mean increased staffing.

4. As long as hatred of the profit loss abides, the penalty of sin abides, viz., until we enter the kingdom of heaven, or refuse to pay our bills.

5. Jeffrey Butler and Co. have neither the will nor the power to demand any rate increases beyond those imposed by law.

6. Mr. Butler himself cannot remit guilt, but only declare and confirm that it has been remitted by CL&P. Clear case, the guilt remains untouched. Continue reading 'Occupy Hartford: 99 Theses'»