Honoring Dr. King’s Legacy in New York

By , on April 6th, 2011

Albany Budget Cuts ProtestOn April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, TN. He was in Memphis to support sanitation workers, represented by AFSCME Local 1733, who had been on strike since March 12 for higher wages and better treatment on the job. He famously said, “It is a crime to live in this rich nation and receive starvation wages.”

Dr. King’s legacy teaches us that workers’ rights, civil rights and human rights are inexorably linked. On the anniversary of his death over thirty years ago, we are also reminded just how far we are in fulfilling his dream of equality and dignity for all people.

Right now, we’re witnessing an unprecedented attack on public sector workers around the country. Here in New York State, our legislature and new Governor passed a budget of tax breaks for the wealthy and austerity for the rest of us. The budget features across-the-board cuts to vital public services, major concessions from public sector workers, and leaves unanswered many more questions about future concessions and layoffs. At the same time, our elected leaders

Continue reading Honoring Dr. King’s Legacy in New York

April 6th, 2011 | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Category: Campaigns, Economy, Public Money, Unions | Comments are closed

New Report Catches Job Creation Programs Asleep on the Job

By , on August 23rd, 2010

Our country is long past desperate for jobs, and the tools we’ve got for creating them aren’t working.  With nearly one in ten Americans out of work and Congress floundering to pass a jobs bill, it has fallen to cash-strapped states to pick up the slack.  Unfortunately, many states’ job creation programs are nothing more than a shadowy network of corporate ATMs that hand out hundreds of millions in subsidies each year without bothering to ensure that the money goes toward creating jobs, let alone quality jobs.

A new report from New York Jobs with Justice, Urban Agenda and the Coalition for Economic Justice demonstrates how New York’s main job creation entities, Industrial Development Agencies (IDAs) have taken advantage of a lack of public scrutiny to spend more and more money while creating fewer and fewer jobs.  According to the report, entitled No Return on Our Investment: The Failure of New York’s Industrial Development Agencies, IDAs waste $135 million a year on subsidies to businesses that cut jobs or fail to create them, and over 80% of IDA spending results in net revenue loss to local government.

At

Continue reading New Report Catches Job Creation Programs Asleep on the Job

August 23rd, 2010 | Tags: , , , , | Category: Campaigns, Economy, Public Money | Comments are closed

Fighting for Accountable Development in NYC & Beyond

By , on September 8th, 2009

The fact that our government often subsidizes the profits of big corporations instead of investing in our communities isn’t new, but it’s time that we say enough is enough.  How are we going to tackle the tough problems facing our country when our state and local governments—often the places where we can make the greatest impact—are unaccountable and unable to implement the change we need?

New York City’s government frequently greenlights massive redevelopment projects that rely on millions of taxpayer dollars.  In one of the most expensive cities in the world, projects that reshape entire neighborhoods get approved without considering if they will meet community needs, or deliver good jobs and affordable housing. 

New York Jobs with Justice was part of a coalition that fought back during the rezoning of Coney Island to win significant community benefits, including 35% affordable housing units, money  to renovate the local hospital’s emergency room, land for a new school, and much more.

Right now, the Kingsbridge Armory project in the Bronx will saddle a community desperate for good jobs with a shopping complex that will create 1,200 permanent, primarily poverty-wage, part-time, no-benefit retail jobs unless NYC residents take action. The New York

Continue reading Fighting for Accountable Development in NYC & Beyond

September 8th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | Category: Campaigns, Public Money | Comments are closed