Category Archives: Employment

Women should not get paid less for the same work as men.  Fortunately in Massachusetts, they passed a law a long time ago outlawing unequal pay. In Massachusetts, under the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act, it is against the law to pay people of different genders different wages for the same work.  There is only one exception.  The only exception is that you can legally pay people of different genders different wages if the other person has more seniority.  If an employer pays two people of different genders but similar seniority different salaries for the same work, the employer automatically loses.  Read more…

According to “Raise Up Massachusetts”: Why Paid Family and Medical Leave Matters Emergencies arise for all of us at some point, but 1.2 million Massachusetts families risk losing their jobs if they take time off work to take care of a family medical emergency or after the birth of a child. Many workers who are eligible for leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act can’t afford to take unpaid time off work in an emergency. They’re often left having to choose between taking care of a child they love or the job that puts food on the table. Read more…

America is not a poor country. Nor is Massachusetts a poor state. Rather, when we are surrounded by our friends and neighbors who are barely keeping their heads above water, it creates the illusion of scarcity. It is just that, an illusion. The reality is that we actually live in one of the wealthiest, abundant countries in world history.  The belief in this reality is one of the most fundamental premises of the Bernie Sanders revolution—that the rich are becoming richer, and the middleclass is joining the ranks of the poor in a period of unprecedented superabundance. Central to this Read more…