ORGANIZING NOTES
April 15, 2025
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Mass-Care’s Lobby Day A Success!
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It was great to feel and see Mass-Care’s presence on Beacon Hill for Lobby Day. Even though it was April 1st, our Lobby Day activists were not fooling. Over 100 of them showed up. They were full of energy and determination and were led by so many activists that had never lobbied before! Our efforts were led by people who have lost their hospitals, their jobs and their health care access. They teamed up with our long-time Medicare for All activists and they all helped spread the message that the expensive, failing, profit-driven, “market place” health care can’t be tweaked into functionality. We need a complete reset of the way health care is delivered in Massachusetts. Our current, profit-driven system is financially draining Massachusetts, closing hospitals, and continuing to present a barrier between people and healthcare providers. It’s time for Massachusetts to, once again, lead the country with an affordable, fair, and compassionate way for people to not just get “access” to healthcare but true comprehensive healthcare, including vision, dental, hearing, and long-term care.
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Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa speaking to the Lobby Day attendees
There were over 100 activists making office visits last April 1st and we need the help of ORMA’s members to keep the pressure on! If you didn’t have the chance to go, please call your legislator and tell them why we must have Medicare for All! Our Bill numbers: Senate S.860 and House H.1405, Medicare for All fact sheet is here.
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Mass-Care Medicare for All training as we get ready to Lobby at the State House
We are planning a new virtual training which you will hear about soon but in the meantime, tell your family and friends That you support Medicare for all and why!
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Almost half-way to 3.5% of our people in the Street
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Though poorly reported by the legacy news media and buried several pages in, knowledgeable commentators have estimated the number of national April 5th protestors as high as 5 million. Erica Chenoweth, professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School, who studies the overthrow of autocracies, says that one of the preconditions for success in deposing an autocrat is sustaining protests by at least 3.5% of the population. By these numbers we are almost half-way there.
While initial counts by police in Boston were lower, as drone photographs were analyzed, almost 100,000 protesters were counted pouring through the streets to crowd into an already full City Hall Plaza which has a capacity of 50,000. Speakers, including Ayanna Pressely and Senator Markey rallied the crowd to fight for our democratic institutions and social programs. Fifty other demonstrations took place across the state.
The mood at most of the protests was reported as jubilant and relieved to join others in speaking out against the lies of the current administration.
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What to do if the Insurrection Act is Invoked
With the Insurrection Act looming, now is the time to learn how it might unfold and the strategic ways to respond — including the power of ridicule. Read Here
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Happening Now: Run for Delegate to the Massachusetts Democratic Convention
Caucus elections are underway across Massachusetts. This is your chance to run for delegate and help build a Democratic Party that fights for working-class power.
Find your caucus date and location HERE
And for those whose caucuses are already passed, here is the Add-On form for delegates.
The Massachusetts Democratic Convention is on September 13 in Springfield. Delegates elected now will vote on major priorities at the convention. The AFL-CIO is pushing for a platform that ends offshore tax dodging, forces billionaire corporations to pay their fair share, and supports a strong pro-labor legislative agenda.
Unions are stepping up. So are the organizations of Massachusetts Progressive Action Organizing Coalition; Our Revolution MA, Progressive Mass, and Progressive Democrats of America and others. Now it’s your turn.
Take action:
✓ Find your caucus
✓ Let us know you’re running
✓ Volunteer to organize
Show up. Run. When we fight, we win!
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Tell Fidelity: Support Seaport Hotel Workers Now
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Workers at Boston’s Seaport Hotel, owned by Fidelity’s parent company, have been asking for something simple: fair treatment. Many long-time employees were cut from full-time to part-time, losing health insurance, paid time off, and basic job security. Workers voted to form a union in early 2024. But hotel management has refused to recognize their union or negotiate a contract.
The National Labor Relations Board even ruled that the hotel violated the law by refusing to bargain. Yet still nothing has changed. Workers are now calling for a public boycott, and they need our help.
Here’s what you can do: Write to Fidelity and tell them this matters. Fidelity can pressure the hotel to do the right thing by recognizing the union and negotiating fairly. When billion-dollar companies ignore working people, public pressure makes a difference. Stand with the workers. Speak up. Demand fairness.
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From Our Friends at Indivisible Mass:
April 19: Another Nationnal Day of Action
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For the 250th anniversary of the start of the Revolutionary War on Saturday, April 19, the 50501 movement is calling for another national day of action to echo the amazing turnout for the Hands Off! protests across the country on April 5. Here in Massachusetts, where soldiers fired the first shots of the war in 1775, we say liberty is local, with Mass50501 promoting peaceful local protests in towns across the state.
Why rally again so soon? One reason is to demonstrate the growing strength and breadth of our opposition to the Trump administration. Another is to maximize our safety while doing so. With credible concerns that the president will invoke the Insurrection Act on April 20, enabling him to deploy the military against citizens, we wish to demonstrate peacefully and without government-sponsored harassment.
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Among the protests planned for next Saturday are Lexington Alarm! in Lexington and No Kings events in Concord, Hyannis and Worcester. Check the IMC Calendar for an April 19 protest near you. Two days later, on Monday, April 21, Concord will host another rally for Patriots’ Day.
Since these protests coincide with major anniversary celebrations in Lexington and Concord, it may be difficult to get to and around that area on the 19th. Use this handy guide to plan your travel.
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I-91 Overpass Day – April 25, 4:00-6:00 PM
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We will be trying to cover 6 locations in Franklin County.
Our partners to the south and north will be doing I-91 overpasses to the CT border and into Brattleboro.
ALL ON THE SAME DAY AT THE SAME TIME! How cool is that?
Check out The Visibility Brigade for ideas for signs.
To pick your overpass click here and then click on the link in the popup to access the signup form
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Working Families Party Phone Banks
Sign up to make calls to voters in Republican districts and ask them to reach out to their Members of Congress!
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The recent Wisconsin Supreme Court election and Florida’s special congressional races offer a promising glimpse of public pushback against the entrenched political climate. In Wisconsin, liberal Judge Susan Crawford’s victory stood as a resounding rejection of billionaire interference, despite Elon Musk pouring over $20 million into her opponent’s campaign. Voters chose judicial independence and democratic values over oligarchic influence and fear-based rhetoric.
In Florida, Republicans held two congressional seats, but with strikingly narrower margins than Trump’s 2024 landslide in the same districts. These unexpectedly tight races, even in GOP strongholds, serve as a quiet but firm condemnation of politics-as-usual and growing frustration with performative leadership and partisan extremes.
These results signal that voters have had enough. The message is clear: Americans are tired of being governed by spectacle and wealth. They’re demanding substance, integrity, and accountability.
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Our Favorite Sign From the Hands Off Rally!
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If you would like to work with ORMA Members on
- Climate Change
- Community-Based Alternative Emergency Response Teams
- Ranked-Choice Voting
- Housing For All
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Please send requests for action items, articles or upcoming events
for the next Organizing Notes to
beccobrien.orma@gmail.com by Thursday, April 24th
We’d love to have you send us your favorite pictures of Bernie here in MA!
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Campaigns End, Movements Endure
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