[Street] Fwd: Press Release: Occupy the MBTA: Activists to Ride the Rails and Rally to Save the T on Monday!

Joseph Ramsey jgramsey at gmail.com
Fri Feb 10 16:44:13 EST 2012


This press Occupy Boston press release just came across the wires.

Forward widely!

And be there Monday if you can.

-Joe Ramsey

Occupy the T
Occupy Somerville
Occupy the World

Contact: OccupyBostonMedia at gmail.com
Twitter: @occupyBOSmedia
617-340-9905

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

*Occupy the MBTA: Activists to Ride the Rails and Rally to Save the T on
Monday!*

Boston, MA [2/10/2012] On February 13, 2012, activists from Occupy Boston
and other local Occupations will ride their respective train lines and
converge converge on Copley Square for a mass rally at 4:30 PM to Save the
T.  At the rally, Occupiers and advocates for Boston’s working-class,
seniors, students and  environmental justice will demand “No Service Cuts!”
and “No Fare Hikes!” After the rally, demonstrators will attend a public
hearing sponsored by the MBTA and voice their concerns directly to agency
representatives.

The public transit system that the 99% relies on has been underfunded by
the Massachusetts Legislature for years, and is now threatened with
staggering debt – much of it transferred to the MBTA from Big Dig projects.
Currently, every penny of our fares is spent paying off this debt – not on
the maintenance we need to keep an aging system in working order.
 Meanwhile, the big bailed-out banks have exploited the MBTA’s financial
situation, raking in untold millions of dollars by underwriting the MTBA’s
bonds and profiting off of interest rate swaps with the agency.  Despite
the dire situation, the MBTA’s two proposals would do nothing to shore up
the long-term sustainability of the T while devastating local communities
by raising fares and slashing services.

"The proposed MBTA service cuts and fare hikes are the perfect way to
appease elected officials and their corporate partners by draining the
remaining resources of the 99%,” said Brett West, an organizer for Occupy
Boston. “For us, affordable and accessible public transit is a necessity,
not a luxury.  We say ‘none of the above’ to the MBTA’s so-called solutions
and demand a permanent funding solution that does not attack the resources
of Boston's elderly, students or working-class people."

Monday’s Day of Action will offer activists a number of ways to have their
voices heard.  Several local Occupations and community groups will ride
their respective trains and buses to the rally and engage other riders
about the cuts and hikes through live streaming, flyering, mic-checking,
singing, and conversation.  Confirmed meeting times are as follows:

·        Occupy Boston will meet at Downtown Crossing at 3:00 PM (contact
brett at occupyboston.org for more info.)

·        Occupy Somerville will ride the rails in from Davis Square at both
4:00 PM and 5:00 PM. (occupysomerville at yahoo.com).

·        Occupy Quincy/Wayland (brykoulouris at gmail.com), Occupy JP, and
Occupemos El Barrio are planning similar actions; contact your local Occupy
for meeting times and locations.

·        Students Against the T Cuts will meet at the Boylston T Stop at
4:00 PM (media at studentsagainsttcuts.org)

At Copley, the Occupiers will join the T Riders Union and a coalition of
dozens of community, student, senior and environmental groups for a rally
to say "No!" to the MBTA’s draconian proposals of service cuts and fare
increases and demand that the Legislature fund a transit system that
benefits everyone.  At 6:00 PM, the rally moves indoors for the MBTA’s
public hearing.

Whether you can make one or all of the above actions, we need you on
Monday. The T is a lifeline for our communities and vital for building a
strong, sustainable economy. A strong public transit system is a linchpin
of a society that prioritizes the needs of all before the profits of a few.
Join us!



 ###

Occupy Boston has been directly inspired by our brothers and sisters at
Occupy Wall St. in New York, and we stand in solidarity with them. The
Occupy Boston encampment was started on September 30, 2011 in Dewey Square
until December 10, 2011. Occupy Boston invites the 99% to speak out for
economic and political systems that work for all people, not just a few.
Occupy Boston is just one of more than 125 separate US Occupy movement
sites and Occupy Together is the unofficial hub. While these different
occupations share many goals and attitudes, they each operate
independently, and there is no national organization that can speak for all
occupations.  For more information about Occupy Boston visit
http://www.occupyboston.org/.
Gunner
Occupy Boston Media Working Group
http://www.occupyboston.org





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