North Texas Jobs with Justice initiated a news conference on July 2, 2010, and a broad group of progressive leaders responded — progressive people and organizations are coming together for this fight.
This crisis is immoral
Among them were a faith leader, a community organizer, and several unionists. The Reverend Ed Middleton of First Community Church read scripture and interpreted Bible verses to show that people must become involved in the most just cause of today — survival!
Stop the layoffs!
Christopher Head of the Steelworkers union talked about the cuts hanging over the heads of Dallas City employees. He told the assembled reporters, including three television crews, that Keynesian economics should be used to rescue workers from the ravages of unemployment, just as it was used in the last great jobs crisis.
Mickey Morris, Texas President of the National Association of Letter Carriers said that there is no reason for the post office to go through with plans to end Saturday mail service. It would cause more tens of thousands of layoffs and would diminish our ability to communicate through the mails.
Join together
Perry Forshee, who organized the previous week’s “Rally for
Jobs with Justice and North Texas Workers Rights Board activists held a public hearing on the jobs crisis February 26 at Judge Luis Sepulveda’s courtroom in Dallas.
Three unemployed folks: Jorge Ortega, Eddie Ortega, and Katharein Magdalena explained different aspects of the crisis and how they had been impacted. Even though none of them was downhearted, they evoked a compassionate response from the religious and community leaders listening.
Reverend Gerald Britt, Jr, of Central Dallas Ministries talked about the differences in job opportunities in different parts of the city. Almost none of Dallas’ economic activity targets the Southern half of town. Britt pointed out that poor workers have longer days because they have to travel north, where the work is, and return home late in the evenings.
How Can We Raise the Call for 10 Million Jobs?
The AFL-CIO is calling for ten million government-created jobs immediately. It is the only possible hope for economic recovery. They want March 12-26 to be weeks for public actions. As it happens, Spring Break for students begins March 12. With youth unemployment ranging over 50%,
North Texas Jobs with Justice and our affiliate, the Workers Rights Board, are throwing ourselves into the battle against the jobs crisis, along with national Jobs with Justice, the NAACP, and the AFL-CIO. The 17 million American families suffering unemployment and underemployment may feel like they were hit by a tornado, but it was no natural disaster. The economic crisis we’re in was man-made! Human beings made this mess, and human beings have the power to fix it.
Texas, of course, is the worst place in the union to be unemployed. It’s harder to get Unemployment Insurance, food stamps, and just about any kind of help. Food banks and other charities are straining to keep up. The people on the street aren’t the same ones; some of them had good jobs and homes just a few months ago!
A lot can be done. For openers, we can demand that Congress act on the jobs bill that’s pending. If they don’t extend unemployment benefits and the subsidy for COBRA, a million more families will be left without health care and income in January! The AFL-CIO has put forward a five-point
An estimated three thousand people rallied for health care reform in Austin, TX on November 14.
The Texas AFL-CIO formed a very progressive coalition for health care reform under the slogan, “Health Care Can’t Wait!” A great many organizations, including North Texas Jobs with Justice, joined in. JwJ’s role was to organize transportation to the rally at the Capitol. We were extremely fortunate to be able to partner with the Texas Progressive Center, Organizing for America, and especially with Jacqueline Ban of MoveOn. By combining our efforts we transported 39 people in a chartered bus, and helped fill the buses from the Tarrant County AFL-CIO and another bus from the Dallas AFL-CIO and UAW. Dr. David Brockman did the research on other forms of transportation, which added to the crowd in Austin.
Our publicity efforts resulted in pre-action ink in the Ft Worth and Houston newspapers. Univision covered our bus launch from Oak Cliff. Our statewide publicity may have helped get major coverage in the state’s news agencies.
The featured speaker at the rally was Congressman Lloyd Doggett of Austin. He reviewed the fight
A diverse crowd of 65 attended a Town Hall Meeting for Economic Justice on September 25 at UAW 848 Hall in Grand Prairie, Texas. No more than six of them were from any individual union local or organization, and most organizations were represented by two or three activists. Bringing sincere activists together has been the main mission of North Texas Jobs with Justice since it was founded in that same union hall in 1990.
Several of the participants were recognized for the contributions they are making in present-day worker struggles.
The agenda consisted of rousing talks by Texas AFL-CIO President Becky Moeller and internationally renowned theologian Rev. Dr. Joerg Rieger. Audience participation then provided more insights and inspiration.
Some of the points President Moeller made:
“The root ill for this economy is health care!”
“The Dallas newspaper reported that about half of the jobs lost in this recession will be permanent job losses.”
“The truth is that the downturn will not be over for a lot of us.”
North Texas Jobs with Justice initiated a news conference on July 2, 2010, and a broad group of progressive leaders responded — progressive people and organizations are coming together for this fight.
