As a catastrophe unfolds in Arizona, people across the country are preparing to defend their communities against the racist immigrant policies being implemented under the banner of “secured communities” in America.
Arizona has been in the forefront of the most deplorable immigrant enforcement tactics, with Sheriff Joe Arpio‘s shameful treatment of undocumented workers, the signing of the SB1070 bill by Governor Jan Brewer that will lead to racial profiling and distrust between the police and immigrant communities, and today the passage of a ban on ethnic studies programs.
These despicable actions in Arizona have led to organizing and involvement of all sectors of the community to show their disgust against these policies and remind elected officials, especially Arizona’s governor, that their actions will lead to massive mobilization at the polls. As one good friend said “Justice delayed, election denied”
Many people across the country are fighting to keep their communities safe from these xenophobic policies and are creating safe communities for all residents, and local Jobs with Justice Coalitions have been supporting these efforts.
Tens of thousands of people were out on the streets this week to demand: Good Jobs Now! Wall Street Must Pay!
The AFL-CIO, National People’s Action, SEIU, and other groups spearheaded actions this week in a half-dozen cities across the country to demand strong financial reform and job creation. JwJ coalitions in San Francisco, Kansas City, Denver, Chicago, New York, and Buffalo joined the actions.
“People are angry — and for good reason,” said Jobs with Justice Executive Director Sarita Gupta. “Corporate greed and recklessness have driven our economy into a crisis, and leaders in Washington, DC have yet to offer any real solutions. It’s time to hold Wall Street accountable.”
Led by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, thousands of union members and activists from National People’s Action (NPA), NAACP, Move On, JwJ activists from New York and Buffalo, and more took over Wall Street in New York City during the afternoon rush hour yesterday.
The Long Island Jobs with Justice Workers’ Rights Board, in collaboration with and the student group the Social Justice Alliance and the Research Assistants Union at Stony Brook University, organized a Hearing yesterday to investigate the negotiating strategies of the Stony Brook Research Foundation, the employer of 740 Research Assistants at Stony Brook University who are members of CWA Local 1104. Initially, the Workers’ Rights Board extended an invitation to the Research Foundation to present their case, but the RF declined, stating that they would rather not negotiate in public.
A day before the Hearing was scheduled to take place, Stony Brook Administration informed the student group that their Room Request, which was approved a month earlier, was revoked. Outraged, one of the students, along with members of the union, met with Associate Dean Dr. Susan DiMonda to demand that they have access to the space. Armed with fallacious excuses and weak rationale, Dr. DiMonda claimed that it was clear that this was a “labor event” and it had to be approved through Human Resources, not student activities.
“As a social justice student group, this Hearing is obviously a concern to us, and we have proof that we are co-sponsoring
Last night, just a few miles away from Nike’s global headquarters, two Honduran workers spoke out strongly about how Nike’s destructive labor practices have hurt them, their families and their co-workers. Gina Cano and Lowlee Urquía testified in front of members of the Portland Area Workers’ Rights Board and a crowd of more than 100 community members.
Both women had worked in Nike-contracted factories for many years in Honduras before being laid off without notice, and without legally mandated severance pay in January 2009. “We’re here in Oregon, the home of Nike, because we want to put a face to the consequences of Nike’s behavior”, said Lowlee Urquía. “We’re saying to Nike that it is responsible every step of the way.”
The two women represented over 1,700 workers who are owed $2.2 million in severance pay. The workers are also owed health care premiums, which were deducted from their wages but never paid to the health care system. This meant that workers could not access health care in the four months before the closure. At least one worker, who had been receiving cancer treatment, died because of this denial of care,
It’s hard to believe! Two years after the big banks crashed our economy and took trillions in bailouts (much more than just the TARP), they’re giving themselves record bonuses and going back to business as usual: telling Congress what to do.
Even after Goldman-Sachs was finally charged with fraud by the SEC, none of the rules for the banks has changed – and many of the “too big to fail” bailout bandits used our money to become bigger than ever.
People across the country are taking action to demand bank reform this week. Jobs with Justice activists joined allies in at the Wells Fargo shareholder meeting yesterday in San Francisco, at Bank of America in Kansas City, and today at Goldman Sachs in Chicago. Tomorrow in New York City, JwJ activists will join the AFL-CIO, NPA, and others to mobilize thousands in a march on Wall Street.
The financial reform bill currently being debated in the senate does do some positive things, but it doesn’t go far enough. The bill proposes a weak consumer protection bureau under the control of the Federal Reserve (which is under the control
A campaign to save 300+ jobs at a Hugo Boss plant in suburban Cleveland resulted in victory last week when the company reversed their decision to shutter the plant! The workers, members of Workers United Local 10, voted overwhelmingly to approve a new union contract that preserves jobs and benefits.
The campaign to save these jobs started back in January, when Hugo Boss abruptly cut off contract negotiations after workers refused a $5/hr pay cut. The company issued a WARN Act notice that they intended to close the plant on April 27 (the NLRB later found reasonable cause to believe that the company had violated the NLRA). Hugo Boss, a high-end clothing line, reportedly intended to shift operations to Turkey, where labor costs are cheaper.
The campaign got a boost from celebrities, politicians, and labor-community solidarity. Actor Danny Glover recruited fellow actors to not wear Hugo Boss on the red carpet this season, and came to Ohio to speak at a major rally with the workers on April 7th. Ohio politicians, including Senator Sherrod Brown, Governor Ted Strickand, Representative Dennis Kucinich, and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, were
The past two months have been unprecedented, filled with victories and actions that have proven to be successful in bringing real change to our communities.
The first victory for working class people was the passage of the Student Aid reform. This bill will take away subsidies given to loan companies and invest them into programs such as the Pell grant and community colleges. “Students across the country were able to see their amazing direct-action organizing payoff with comprehensive student aid reform becoming the law of the land,” said USSA President Gregory Cendana. “This is especially critical for working class students and families who have struggled the most in affording their education.”
The second victory was the agreement reached between for the Coalition of Immokalee workers, the Student Farmworker Alliance, and giant food service provider Aramark. Marc Rodriguez of the Student Farmworker Alliance said:
Aramark becomes the 8th major food corporation to agree to work with the CIW to improve wages and root out modern-day slavery in its tomato supply chain. This is a huge step forward for our campaign, because it means that the
For decades, the big Wall Street banks had Congress in their back pockets while they wrecked the economy and pushed millions out of jobs and homes. But momentum is building to break them up, rein them in and make them pay for their corporate crimes. In March and April, hundreds of protests across the country at banks, on Main Streets and at post offices on Tax Day are starting to make an impact.
After the SEC charged Goldman Sachs with civil fraud, Re. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) and others sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder to start a criminal investigation — the kind that can result in jail time, not just the fines that these banks consider a cost of doing business.
The banks are losing their grip on Congress … let’s keep it up! Some candidates have been forced to return campaign cash from Goldman Sachs and others. The big banks were toxic to our jobs and homes. We need to continue to make them politically toxic as well.
Jobs with Justice is continuing to mobilize with our partners in the coming weeks:
The debate over measures to fix America’s broken labor laws took a back seat during the long debate on health care. Now that the focus has shifted to efforts to stimulate economic growth and job creation, it’s time to put workers’ rights front and center.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce along with right-wing noise groups with shady sources of funding put out numerous talking points and videos painting unions as the problem as citing union intimidation as the biggest threat to the rights of working people to decide whether to unionize or not. They even went so far as to hire an actor from The Sopranos (union actors by the way) to create a cartoonish vision of this imagined reality.
The idea that unions are the problem flies so greatly in the face of the reality experienced by countless workers who have been involved in organizing campaigns, that a lie that big can’t be allowed to stand unchallenged. But rather than earnest position papers and counterpoints, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers thought it was time to push back with a video version of how corporations really
On April 15, 2010, tax day, Jobs with Justice activists and allies in 40 cities across the country protested at banks and post offices to highlight the need for jobs — and a way to pay for them. Activists held rallies calling on Congress to create millions of good new jobs, tax the Wall Street speculators who broke our economy, and reign in the Big Banks and protect consumers, demonstrating support for legislation like the Local Jobs for America Act (H.R. 4812), which will create 1 million jobs, and for the Let Wall Street Pay for the Restoration of Main Street Act (H.R. 4191).
Support is growing for the Local Jobs for America Act, which would ensure that communities can still operate essential services, and helping to prevent state and local tax increase. In Florida, South Florida Jobs with Justice sent a diverse delegation of workers to Rep. Kendrick Meeks’ office to thank him for co-sponsoring the Local Jobs for America Act. The delegation spoke with Meeks about the bill and invited him to join upcoming local jobs actions. Central Florida Jobs with Justice and AFSCME
As a catastrophe unfolds in Arizona, people across the country are preparing to defend their communities against the racist immigrant policies being implemented under the banner of “secured communities” in America.
