Yesterday was an exciting day of education and action at the U.S. Social Forum!
JwJ coalitions convened and spoke at a variety of workshops, including: Uncovering the Truth on Police & ICE Collaborations (DC JwJ), Social Networking for Social Justice (KY JwJ), Writers’ Circle (Missouri JwJ), The Impact of Financial Restructuring on Michigan Workers and the Union Response (SE Michigan JwJ), Good Jobs for All: Winning Full and Fair Employment for a New Economy (National JwJ), and The TRADE Act as a Tool for Global Justice (Southern Oregon JwJ).
Jobs with Justice members participated in the Excluded Workers Congress People’s Movement Assembly which focused on how we can expand workers’ rights to organize. We heard inspiring testimony from a variety of workers who are fighting for their rights on the job (stay tuned for more on this, including video).
In the evening, JwJ co-sponsored a march and rally with AFSCME Council 65 and the Metro Detroit AFL-CIO to demand, “Money for JOBS, not Banks!”
Jobs with Justice held an orientation session for local coalition folks early in the day and then got on buses to meet up with local labor activists for the USSF opening march.
JwJ joined the march with the other members of the Inter-Alliance dialogue more than 10,o00 people for a lively march through downtown Detroit and then convened at Cobo Hall for the USSF opening ceremonies.
Tonight JwJ held a meeting of our local coalition leaders to discuss our ongoing jobs campaign. We had a rich discussion about the depth of the jobs emergency and possible approaches for how to address it, including challenging the corporate- funded scare tactics about the deficit that are distracting us from the reality of the jobs crisis. We came away from the meeting with renewed dedication to a more coordinated strategy to challenge the right wing agenda and win good jobs for all.
May 29th marked one moment in the ongoing fight to stop SB1070. Over 100,000 merged to Phoenix to denounce legalizing racial profiling, demand that President Obama intervene, and call on people of conscious everywhere to join the fight to address the human rights crisis in Arizona as the implementation date of July 29th approaches.
From a candlelight vigil organized by JwJ of East Tennessee and others, to Diamondbacks Boycott held in San Francisco, over 70 other solidarity actions occurred leading up to and on the day. And more followed. Organizers, activist, people of faith, teachers, students, and community members took the call for solidarity back into their communities, cities and states.
Following a visit to Arizona on Mother’s Day, A group of women from a broad array of social justice movements, organized an ad-hoc hearing in Congress where women and children from Phoenix shared their stories. Catherine Figueroa, Silvia Rodriguez, Sylvia Herrera
Communities and organizations are unveiling the truth about Police/ICE collaboration and the direct link it has for creating a pathway for SB1070 type legislation and moving campaigns to
Fifteen million jobless are still waiting for our Senators to finish the job and pass unemployment insurance extension. Millions more are waiting for COBRA health subsidies and aid to states.
CALL NOW: 1-888-854-1978
Tell your Senator to vote for the American Jobs & closing Tax Loopholes Act:
extend unemployment insurance benefits through November 2010
extend State Fiscal relief (FMAP) for 6 months
fund the emergency TANF fund through 2011
vote YES on the amendment to reinstate the COBRA subsidy that the House stripped from the bill
Many Democrats seem to be falling for right-wing scare tactics about the budget deficit and some are even buying into the ridiculous argument that getting jobless benefits keeps the unemployment rate higher.
But defecits are necessary in a jobs crisis. Just imagine what forcing one million more onto the
100 Activists from Kentucky to attend national gathering in Detroit, Michigan June 22 to 26
Kentucky Jobs with Justice will be joining more than 10 other social justice organizations on two charter buses to Detroit to take part in the US Social Forum. Here is a snippet from the USSF Web site:
The US Social Forum (USSF) is a movement building process. It is not a conference but it is a space to come up with the peoples’ solutions to the economic and ecological crisis. The USSF is the next most important step in our struggle to build a powerful multi-racial, multi-sector, inter-generational, diverse, inclusive, internationalist movement that transforms this country and changes history.
The USSF provides spaces to learn from each other’s experiences and struggles, share our analysis of the problems our communities face, build relationships, and align with our international brothers and sisters to strategize how to reclaim our world.
The first US Social Forum was held in Atlanta in 2007 with KY JwJ taking over 40 delegates. KY JwJ hosted the first Kentucky Social Forum in 2009 at Berea College, which drew over 400 participants. These Forums were and are inspired by the
For over a year, JwJ has been sounding the alarm that we are in an economic crisis calling for bold action and that there is no such thing as a “jobless recovery.” But leaders in Washington DC still don’t get it.
What we really need is a major jobs creation program, but the 15 million jobless Americans need support – NOW!
Unless Congress acts, 300,000 people will run out of unemployment benefits next week. Unless Congress continues jobless benefits, like the subsidy for COBRA payments, 144,000 per month will likely lose health coverage.
Yesterday, flanked by Cleveland Jobs with Justice activists; including members of the Cleveland Teachers Union (CTU), SEIU Local 1, Workers United, Working America and ATU Local 268, along with fire and police union members, Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown announced his intent to introduce the Local Jobs for America Act during the week of June 7th. Senator Brown’s version of the House Bill would send $75 Billion to local governments and community groups over the next 2 year period. Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and Mayor Don Plusquellic of Akron both spoke about the cuts in fire and police forces that have had to endure during this economic downturn. Teacher Justin Hons, effected by the upcoming teacher layoff in Cleveland and laid off ATU Local 268 mechanic, Dennis Pohl both attended the news conference lending support to the bill being introduced by Senator Brown.
Michele Pomerantz, CTU Trustee and Director of Political Action and Cleveland Jobs with Justice member said, “today’s announcement gives me hope that better days are coming for everyone.”
The crowd of approximately 100 listened intently while a small group of teabaggers (3, in fact) tried to
Phoenix, Arizona. This weekend 100,000 people marched six miles from Steele Indian School Park to the State Capitol to denounce SB1070 and demand President Obama intervene in the growing human rights crisis in Arizona. We were joined by supporters ranging from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka to the voice of her people, Grammy Nominated Singer, Jenni Rivera, and attendees who drove from as far away as Boston to support the local people leading the effort to overturn SB 1070.
In a gathering Sunday morning, movement-building organizations from across the country share their commitments to bring the Arizona human rights crisis fight back to their communities.
Participants heard from local leadership, national allies, and from veterans of the Mississippi Freedom Summer the urgency of a national response. Organizations shared ways to connect their struggles, campaigns, and creativity in breakout sessions and committed to ongoing peaceful resistance. A global call for escalating resistance to stop SB1070 was made.
“We will make this summer a Human Rights summer everywhere, “Said Pablo Alvarado,
Wall Street has recovered. Corporate CEOs are back to their greedy ways. Meanwhile, even if trends reverse today, workers will have to wait four to six years to close this job gap. The House voted last week to extend unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed, but only through November, and they removed money to help people keep their health care coverage.
No matter what the conservative number crunchers say: there’s no such thing as a jobless recovery! Congress must act now to save and create jobs, starting with
Leroy Smith leads chants at a Chicago JwJ Unemployed Workers Council action outside the unemployment office on June 1. Jobless activists and JwJ member groups rallied and collected "applications" for the 1 million jobs that would be created by the Local Jobs for America Act.
Congress still doesn’t get it. During the Congressional recess this week, Jobs with Justice coalitions across the country are sending them a message: There is no such thing as a “Jobless Recovery”.
America is 28 months and 8 million fewer jobs into a major jobs crisis — caused by Wall Street recklessness and corporate greed. Unemployment levels are deeper and longer-lasting that any post-war recession, there are nearly six people looking for every job opening, yet Congress has yet to enact a serious job-creation program, like the “Local Jobs for America Act”. And pundits are telling us we should just wait a few more years til we can put America back to work.
The House of Representatives even stripped health care benefits for the jobless from its recent unemployment extension bill, passed on Friday. Efforts to restore the jobless benefits for long-term unemployed will be
