Massachusetts Unemployed will Continue to Receive Benefits

Tens of thousands of unemployed individuals nationwide are poised to lose their benefits. Congress failed to extend the benefits before breaking.

But because of a state law passed by the legislature last summer, the unemployed in Massachusetts will continue to receive benefits for a temporary amount of time. If congress fails to extend benefits, Mass. residents can expect to lose those benefits on May 2. Nearly 500,000 residents may be affected.

"The extensions we have advocated for are vital to assist people impacted by long-term unemployment," said Jo Anne F. Goldstein, Mass. Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development. "Our claimants needs the financial assistance to continue their job searches - whether for fuel of food or to pay bills. Extensions help people get through the trying period of seeking a new job."

Read more...

Criminal Background Checks Lagging for Volunteers for Children

Criminal background checks are required in Massachusetts for any volunteer hoping to work with students, but the since the state gutted the criminal history systems board, the backlog has made it nearly impossible to process the checks.

There are only a few people to handle the tens of thousands of requests, creating a turnaround time of almost a month for checks that should take no more than three days.

Read more...

Bank of America & Fingerprinting

Last week, the Bank of America publicly admitted to harboring thousands of fingerprints they collect from their customers in a database. They wouldn't reveal the location of the database, or other information about the fingerprints, such as how long they are stored and who has access to them.

Regardless of those details, the idea that any entity has a database filled with fingerprints for an indeterminate amount of time makes privacy advocates and some lawmakers worried.

"The practice goes too far," said state Rep. Neal Kurk, of Weare, cosponsor of a bill to outlaw the practice in New Hampshire. "Even if the FBI is not involved . . . the government could get that information. Not to mention, anyone could hack into that system and access that information."

The "Thumbprint Signature Program" has been in use by Bank of America and several other banks around the country for over 10 years now. It was originally developed to fight check fraud.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts said, "While Bank of America says this measure is an effort to reduce and discourage check fraud, we believe the bank has taken a step that could endanger individual liberties," the statement reads."Fingerprinting of customers is part of a recent trend in the taking and storing of biometric information. While technology is evolving at the speed of light, privacy laws that protect us from abuse have not kept up."

Article

Read more...

Massachusetts Bill To Limit Access to Criminal Records

Massachusetts Governor, Deval Patrick is supporting a bill to limit the expansion of criminal records. Records used to be limited to law enforcement, but then access was expanded to include employers and landlords.

The bill would tighten the level of access employers have to criminal records, essentially loosening the ropes that prevent criminals from Massachusetts from finding employment.


Business groups and other supporters of the existing system oppose the changes, saying they limit the ability of employers to screen job applicants.

A hearing is scheduled for Monday at the Statehouse.

Read more...

Felons Behind the Scenes

Teamsters have long been involved with organized crime. The truck drivers for major Hollywood films have been working toward cleaning up their tarnished image, but they don't seem to be making much headway.

Teamsters Local 25 in Boston was found to allow career felons in their ranks, including murderers, bank robbers, drunken drivers, an armoured car thief, and an accused rapist to work on the set of a recent Bruce Willis movie filmed in Boston. Local 25 president, Sean O'Brian said there have been "no incidents" since he became president in 2006.

He goes on to say that to remove a felon from the movie set would be considered an unfair labor practice. The local does not run background checks.

The Massachusetts Film Office executive director, Nick Paleologos said that he has received "no complaints" and that he doesn't know what O'Brian is doing over there, "but whatever he's doing, it's working."

Not exactly the most stringent safety procedure. Companies run criminal background checks to protect themselves and their clients from future fall out. Many criminals are repeat offenders. To so blatantly allow criminals to work indicates a disregard for safety, however, it is known that Connecticut believes in allowing criminals to pay their debt to society and provide them with the right to work. Perhaps Boston will be following in their footsteps.

Read more...