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By Allison Fletcher Acosta, on August 31st, 2011
 The struggle continues!
CWA and IBEW are set to meet today to reconvene bargaining with Verizon. This “reset” of the company’s bargaining position was made possible by the tremendous strike and mobilization efforts of union members and allies like you across the country.
Jobs with Justice coalitions, union members, and allies continue to leaflet at Verizon stores across the country to let Verizon know that we won’t let them get away with gutting good jobs — especially on the heels of news that Verizon pays their CEO more than they pay in U.S. taxes!
But this fight is far from over. Verizon workers need OUR SUPPORT to keep the pressure on!
How you can help:
LEAFLET: There is a new leaflet available for download & distribution at your local Verizon Wireless store. Download a new flyer and organize a group to leaflet. We are particularly focusing our efforts on Wireless Wednesdays from 12-2pm and 5-7pm and Saturdays.
ADOPT A STORE: Can you commit to coordinating activities at a store near you? Can you commit, at a minimum, to activities on Wireless
Continue reading Justice @ Verizon — Your Support Needed
In a step towards reining in the Wall Street gamblers who caused the financial meltdown, Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR) introduced a financial speculation tax on oil markets. H.R. 2003, the Taxing Speculators Out of the Oil Market Act, would target the Wall Street speculation that is responsible for unnecessarily inflating the price of gas up to 80 cents a gallon. DeFazio’s bill would immediately penalize speculative market manipulation and would simultaneously lower the cost of gas.
“This Memorial Day weekend, families all across America are digging deep to pay $60 for a fill up at the gas station. And $12 of that $60 will go to speculators on Wall Street,” DeFazio said. “Today I introduced legislation that would bring immediate relief to Americans struggling to fill up their tanks.”
H.R. 2003 will deter speculation by raising the cost to bet on oil markets. Just by charging a tiny 0.01% tax on each transaction, excessive speculation would become too expensive and risky for Wall Street.
By Allison Fletcher Acosta, on April 20th, 2011
After four years of organizing, officers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art employed by AlliedBarton Security Services have a union contract! The agreement, ratified by a majority of guards on April 18th, will increase wages by 14.5% over the life of the 3-year contract and will institute a grievance procedure and a seniority system.
“We are proud that our 4 year struggle has resulted in a better quality of life for our coworkers and families,” says Donald Lindsey, President of the union.
 The union mounted a public pressure campaign which engaged supportive city council members, the Philadelphia labor movement, student activists, Jobs with Justice, and dozens of local faith leaders to win their victory against the nation’s second-largest security company.
Security guards are prevented from joining most labor unions due to the Section 9 (B) 3 of the National Labor Relations Act. This clause of the National Labor Relations Act states that security guards must join “security guard only unions,” of which there are few.
On October 10, 2009, the Continue reading Independent Philadelphia Security Officers Union Wins First Union Contract at the Museum of Art
By Allison Fletcher Acosta, on March 31st, 2011
 Jobs with Justice is in the running to win a free booth in the exhibit hall at the annual Netroots Nation convention this summer. The top three vote-getters in this online contest will automatically get a booth in the Hall AND two registrations to the conference.
Voting is easy — please help us out!
- Go to to http://netrootsnation.org/HallContestVotingPage
- Scroll down to Jobs with Justice and click the “like” button (you must be logged into Facebook to vote)
Netroots Nation’s goal is to amplify progressive voices by providing an online and in-person campus for exchanging ideas and learning how to be more effective in using technology to influence the public debate. The annual Netroots Nation convention inspires action and serves as an incubator for ideas that challenge the status quo and ultimately affect change in the public sphere.
By participating in Netroots Nation, Jobs with Justice hopes to build awareness of our organization among progressive activists and bloggers, build relationships with participants, and take advantage of the many trainings and workshops available to convention participants.
Jobs with Justice has been active
Continue reading Please vote for Jobs with Justice!
By Allison Fletcher Acosta, on March 30th, 2011
Imagine an election where all non-voters are counted as “NO” voters. It’s undemocratic, and it would make it extremely difficult to get enough “YES” votes to pass anything.
That’s exactly what House Transportation Chairman John Mica has in mind for airline and railway workers who are voting in union elections. Mica, who has taken more than $620,000 in campaign contributions from the airline industry, has put a provision into the FAA reauthorization bill that would make it much more difficult for railway and airline employees to form unions.
Under this rule, even if more people voted “yes” than voted “no”, the “yeses” could still lose. Can you think of ANY election that works this way? We would never tolerate this kind of voting in our political elections; why would we allow it in union elections?
Congress is expected to vote on the provision TOMORROW. Please send an email TODAY to let Congress know we will not tolerate this undemocratic process. The only votes that should count are the votes that are actually cast!
By Allison Fletcher Acosta, on March 18th, 2011
This morning, Dane County judge Maryann Sumi issued a temporary restraining order blocking Wisconsin’s new law that limits collective bargaining rights for public employees.
The Dane County District Attorney brought a lawsuit to block the bill on the grounds that a vote to pass the law was invalid. Fourteen Wisconsin Democrats stayed away from the state capitol for weeks in order to prevent a vote on the law as part of a state budget bill. On March 9, Walker switched tactics, bringing the law instead for a vote before a legislative committee in the middle of the night.
It appears that this scheme violated the 24 hour notice required by the state’s Open Meetings Law.
The State is expected to appeal the ruling, and the order does not prevent the legislature from taking another vote on the law, with 24-hours notice. But for now, the bill cannot be published nor take effect.
Stay tuned for more developments in Wisconsin and in states across the country.
By Allison Fletcher Acosta, on March 9th, 2011
Tonight, Wisconsin State Senators passed a bill stripping public workers of their collective bargaining rights. They did this through procedural motions that make a mockery of our democracy. Walker and the Republicans acted in violation of state open meetings laws, and tonight’s events have demonstrated they will do or say anything to pass their extreme agenda that attacks Wisconsin’s working families. Furthermore, it shows that they have been lying throughout this entire process and that NONE of the provisions that attacked workers’ rights had ANYTHING to do with the budget.
But we aren’t done yet – and we aren’t giving up. Right now the capitol remains occupied as students and workers wait for the assembly to begin tomorrow. We know that other states are watching what is happening in Wisconsin to see what they can get away with. We have to fight back. Right now, we need your help more than ever. Here are three things you can do:
 1) Please donate to Jobs with Justice so we can keep this fight going. Even a small donation will make a difference in
Continue reading Wisconsin Senators Mock Our Democracy – 3 Things You Can Do
By Allison Fletcher Acosta, on February 22nd, 2011
 The stories of worker solidarity across the country are breaking on a daily minute-by-minute basis! Here’s a quick update:
INDIANA
Central Indiana JwJ organized a sit-in at the Statehouse today to protest the Right to Work bill that passed out of committee yesterday. The sit-in was suspended when word came that Democrats had left the Statehouse in order to block the bill was moving forward.
Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Star reports that Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels “signaled this afternoon that Republicans should drop the right-to-work bill that has brought the Indiana House to a standstill for two days and imperiled other measures.” Mitch isn’t the only Governor who’s worried about the people power on display from workers and community across the midwest – Republican Governors Rick Scott of Florida and Rick Snyder of Michigan also went on the record to say their states should continue to support collective bargaining rights for public workers.
OHIO
An estimated 10,000-15,000 people are rallying right now against SB5, the bill that would ban collective bargaining for public workers, after
Continue reading Sit-In in Indiana, Huge Protest in Ohio, and more!
By Allison Fletcher Acosta, on February 18th, 2011
 In this still-struggling economy, our country needs one thing: more good jobs. But instead of focusing on finding ways to create good jobs, politicians have turned their attention to political payback to the corporate CEOs who spent more than $1 billion on the November elections.
In states across the country, workers are fighting back against corporate-backed lawmakers who are trying to use state budget problems as an excuse to gut workers’ rights and benefits, when in fact it was Wall Street’s gambles and broken promises that have hurt taxpayers and the middle class—not workers. CEOs are trying to shift the blame for high unemployment and rising poverty levels away from themselves and onto workers and our unions.
But we won’t let that happen. Workers across the country — from Wisconsin to Indiana, from Ohio to Florida — are fighting back.
In Wisconsin, workers, students, community, and faith have joined together to stage massive protests this week against Governor Walker’s budget proposal which would gut collective bargaining rights for 200,000 public workers. Tens of thousands of people are putting their everyday
Continue reading Worker Solidarity Growing: Wisconsin to IN, OH and Beyond
By Allison Fletcher Acosta, on January 17th, 2011
 At the time of his death in 1968, Dr. King was engaged in preparations for a Poor People’s Campaign that aimed to bring thousands of unemployed and working poor people to Washington, DC. At that time, the unemployment rate was 4% and fewer than 13% of Americans were living in poverty. Today, the unemployment rate is 9.4% and 14.3% live in poverty.
On the day he was assassinated, Dr. King was in Memphis supporting a strike of 1,300 black sanitation workers who walked off the job protesting years of discrimination, low or no pay, and dangerous working conditions. The workers sought union representation with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), but the mayor’s office did not want to recognize the existence of public unions. The sanitation workers won their struggle for respect and dignity on the job shortly after King’s death. Today, Memphis sanitation workers face layoffs and cuts to their overtime and pensions.
Across the country, conservatives are pushing a corporate agenda that seeks to shift the blame for high unemployment and rising poverty levels away from their allies on Wall
Continue reading Carrying On King’s Work
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