Our General Meeting is scheduled for Sunday, September 7th at 11 AM. You can join us in person or via Zoom for this hybrid meeting. Coming together as a chapter and with fellow comrades is vital for strengthening and growing our community.

Our meeting will include a resolution for chapter membership to vote on regarding the current Labor Working Group. Dues-paying members will be asked to vote on this resolution, but we need a quorum of at least 10% of the membership, which is approximately 10 members. Please join us and make your voice heard.

PLEASE RSVP HERE FOR THE ZOOM LINK OR PHYSICAL LOCATION: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdBkveVBeCkSUSxG6E71mePOStaO43QanMBKEHBvAWoRTNLQg/viewform?usp=header

 For our discussion, we will have a great presentation about a rent stabilization ballot initiative. Here is some information from our Keep Massachusetts Home liaison and SC At-Large member, Kevin:

"There is a campaign underway to get rent control on the ballot for 2026! The legislation limits yearly rent increases to the cost of living (as determined by the increase in the Consumer Price Index) with a hard cap at 5%. No more landlords hiking up your rent by 20, 50, or even 100 percent! Hopefully, this will make Massachusetts a less attractive market for private equity home buyers and corporate landlords.

I’ve joined the Keep Massachusetts Home campaign as a county lead, and right now we’re just entering the signature gathering phase, so I’m bringing on volunteers and planning a schedule. The focus is on attending events in the county where we can meet with and gather signatures from as many MA residents as possible.

If this is something you might be passionate about, please consider signing on as a volunteer here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfG0q6PCNcQeDXe4IphjnixbcwqgcgQ8IGjl08WAwO7edNttA/viewform

There’s no commitment to filling out the form. It will simply ensure you are kept up to date on what’s going on with the Berkshire County portion of the campaign. And no amount of your time is too small. If you only have a couple of hours to give, we’ll take it!
And if anyone has any questions about the proposed legislation or the campaign ( or anything else, really), please feel free to email me at [email protected]."

We will be having our Annual Convention sometime in late October or early November. The annual convention will be when a new Steering Committee is elected. We have recently had an amazing group of new comrades join the Steering Committee, and it has been a joy working with them! However, we will need more folks to commit to these leadership roles to maintain the chapter's growth!

If you are interested in running for a Steering Committee position but have questions, please reach out to the current SC members!! Nominations will be open in early October, and you can nominate yourself or a dues-paying comrade. 

Regrettably, I will not be seeking re-election as Chair. I have been honored to work alongside so many wonderful folks and learn so much from everyone. I have full faith that if the other members of the current SC do seek re-election, anyone filling the co-chairs' positions will be in great company. I do strongly urge the chapter as a body to elect TWO co-chairs, which requires at least two individuals to run for those positions. As SC has grown over this year, it is clear that burnout is real when there are not enough hands helping at this level.

Thank you for letting me hold this position and I look forward to seeing what is next for this chapter!

with rugged hope,

Heidi