Normal Means

This story comes to us from MAS member SN Nappalos about experiences working in healthcare. —

Fabiola closed her eyes. On the television, a preacher spoke a prayer while the patient rested quietly in the bed. That day Fabiola was fired, or terminated as management called it.

The supervisor crept in quietly, and reported finding Fabiola with her eyes closed. He found a witness and returned to see her standing at the sink, the patient still asleep. Security guards entered the room shortly, and she was escorted from the building.

Event: 1/17/13 7pm Seasol: organizing as tenants and workers

On January 17th, 2013, MAS will host a talk with a Seattle Solidarity organizer at 7PM at Sweat Records, 5505 Northeast 2nd Avenue  Miami, FL 33137

Seattle Solidarity or SeaSol for short, is a network of workers and tenants that use direct action to solve problems at work and in housing. The success of SeaSol in fighting back against assaults on working people has led to victory repeatedly and it’s a model that’s spreading throughout the US and World. This is a free event and all are welcome.

The facebook event is here.

Cake

We’re featuring a story told by Monica Kostas, a contributor to MAS, about experiences in her workplace. Enjoy!

Start the Engine! First stop: Getting the cake.

Some time ago my boss decided to stop all birthday celebrations and parties of any sort, saying it was “too distracting” for the workers. I’m just now passing my six-month mark, so I haven’t been working there long enough to have seen these parties. The only decorations in the office where I work, that save the place from looking like a hospital or asylum, are these really crowded 30” x 40” collages with close ups of all the employees that attended previous end-of-the-year parties. There’s a few of these along the walls that lead to the hall where my office is. People often stop to look at them and gossip about ex-employees, or how much weight they’ve gained since this and that picture, and so on.

Since I’m sort of new (compared to the bulk of people who’ve worked there for several years), whenever someone catches me staring at the pictures they always take the time to name our co-workers, their plus-ones, and all the extended families that went to those parties. Then they tell me how drunk they got at whichever event, and that’s always followed by some funny anecdote. They really seem to miss those gatherings; I can tell by the amount of smiles in the pictures that something changed since the present boss took over, and sure enough they talk about that all the time.