Gig-economy drivers and grad students at MIT draw support in fights over wages and a union
Gig-economy employers such as Uber and Instacart, and a state bill that could free them from obligations expected for companies with full-time workers, were condemned Monday by city councillors as “trying to put the screws” to working-class people, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology drew criticism for “union-busting” in the run-up to a vote.
Starry will put $15 broadband into CHA homes; The Brook opens; Residences will cross city line
The wireless Internet provider Starry will provide low-cost broadband to more than 2,630 affordable homes citywide in partnership with the Cambridge Housing Authority; a high-end apartment building called The Brook has opened near Alewife; and 29 residential units are planned for a building crossing the city line between Inman and Union squares.
Municipal broadband ‘feasibility study’ is tilted against the success of project it’s set up to assess
An assumption that anything built would be cost-neutral or revenue positive within 10 years is undermined by starting with social justice; there are no current plans for public engagement for a market survey; and the City Council’s work has been slowed to nothing by the manager’s obstruction. Cambridge is far from ready for a decision.
Four-story lab building proposed at Alewife would drive out the swordmasters and robots
Tucked away in the wilds of Cambridge – near Alewife – lies what is essentially the local ninja training center. The building is due to be torn down to become lab space, though, and neither kung fu nor sword skills can hold off the bulldozers. A development moratorium might.
Attend meetings on bike lanes, Alewife zoning, after-school buses, Heart safety plan and more
Public meetings this week look at bike lanes on Massachusetts Avenue; licensing for New Republik, a Barcelona Wine Bar and 286Broadway, a Housing Affordability petition, after-school program busing, an unarmed public safety program, Margaret Fuller House improvements and more.