This morning, New York Governor Patterson signed into law the first-ever U.S. law that upholds domestic workers’ rights. 200,000 nannies, housekeepers, and elder caregivers in New York will be covered under a law that provides guaranteed sick days, overtime pay, a day of rest, protection from discrimination, and notice before termination. This groundbreaking victory is a result of a six-year campaign led by Domestic Workers United and supported by a broad coalition of labor and community organizations, including JwJ coalitions in NY State.
“Today we correct an historic injustice by granting those who care for the elderly, raise our children and clean our homes the same essential rights to which all workers should be entitled,” Governor Paterson said. “I am grateful to the sponsors for their extraordinary efforts to enact this landmark bill, and most of all to those domestic workers who dreamed, planned, organized and then fought for many years, until they were able to see an
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
From June 22-27, more than 10,000 activists representing thousands of grassroots organizations will converge in Detroit for the 2nd US Social Forum (USSF). The purpose of the USSF is to effectively and affirmatively articulate the values and strategies of a growing and vibrant movement for justice in the United States.
Are you a local Jobs with Justice activist who is coming to the US Social Forum?
We want to invite you to our orientation session on June 22 where you can connect with other JwJ activists from across the country, find out about workshops and other program we are planning, & get an awesome t-shirt to wear as you walk with us during the USSF’s opening march.
Jobs with Justice is very excited about the program that is shaping up for this year’s USSF. Labor is playing a large role in this year’s USSF, with the AFL-CIO, AFGE, AFSCME, UAW, UFCW, USW, UE, Detroit CLC, and numerous local unions planning program and bringing participants to the USSF.
Among the program pieces Jobs with Justice is working on
This victory has come with hard work from students nationwide who have marched, rallied and lobbied in support of this legislation. Last Tuesday as part of the U.S. Student Association’s Legislative Conference, hundreds of students swarmed Capitol Hill demanding the passage of this legislation and reminding their Senators that they should prioritize students and workers over banks. This effort by USSA has proven to be successful as we see the biggest reform in the student loan industry in the past years.
This march and victory is a great opening for the National Student Labor Week of Action. This week happening from March 28th and April 4th brings together students and workers in actions across the country demanding a prioritization in education and worker’s rights.
Students at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, FL held an all day rally on campus fighting for workers rights and student representation. They started at 8:00 AM and did not finish with everything until Midnight. The goal of the event was to raise student awareness about their own power and raise the awareness about low-wage workers on Eckerd’s campus (housekeeping, groundswork, maintenance, etc.). Throughout the day, students made signs, spoke with workers, other students, and the administration about their call for a living wage. Collaboration between other clubs provided creative and interesting ways for students to actively participate in the struggle for a living wage. Everything from planting seeds with the student run community garden to making and bagging sandwiches for the homeless of St. Petersburg happened throughout the day. The day ended with a vigil for women’s rights around the world and in the Eckerd Community, as most low-wage workers at Eckerd College are women.
The rally was organized by the Coalition for Community Justice, a student run organization dedicated to creating a socially responsible campus environment. They have been working for over 6 years for a living
June 22 – June 26 in Detroit, MI
Another World is Possible!
This June, 20,000+ grassroots activists from hundreds of community-based social justice and social action organizations will gather in Detroit to come up with the peoples’ solutions to the economic and ecological crisis. The 2010 U.S. Social Forum (USSF) will gather social & economic justice organizers, environmentalists, peace & justice activists, community-based organizations, Indigenous nations, unions, and students to address the key issues of our time.
The U.S. Social Forum grew out of a worldwide movement - the World Social Forum – that was in part inspired by the 1999 demonstrations against the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Seattle. In 2007, more than 10,000 activists (including 350+ JwJ activists) gathered in Atlanta for the first U.S. Social Forum.
The USSF is more than just a conference or event. It’s a way to build opposition to the corporate agenda, and create an alternative vision and direction for our country. Through workshops, presentations, marches, information tents, music and cultural events, people can tell their stories and hear about other struggles. One of
From Florida to California, March 4th marked an exceptional moment for the student and worker movement in recent U.S. history. People took to the streets to demonstrate their frustration with the government’s failure to pass legislation that would benefit young people such as Student Aid Reform and the DREAM Act. The mainstream media seemed taken by surprise of all these coordinated actions across the country – How could students and workers come together on one specific day? Was this an organized effort? Were people demanding change from the government and legislators?
I got the opportunity to march along with students, staff, and faculty at U-Mass Amherst. Being there reminded me about the power of organizing and strategic escalation. Students at this school provided a deadline for their administrators to accept their demands around fees, budget cuts, treating staff & faculty fairly, and improving the school’s climate. We will be watching their administrations’ response and actions to come. Check out video from the great actions at the University of Central Florida and the University of California system. You can also go to www.defendeducation.org
Students and workers are tired of having the federal and state budgets balanced on their backs and are standing up to these atrocities. Today, we will stand up to demand full funding of higher education, a stop to the corporatization of education, proportionate representation on university decision -making bodies, and good union jobs in our schools. We will demonstrate that students and workers will not stand on the sidelines as education become a privilege available only to the few and while jobs are lost because of state budget cuts and the inaction in the federal government to pass student aid reform.
We are fighting these cuts now, but we also know that we need to look at the root problem and seek ways to fund the public sector through revenue reform and change
This morning, New York Governor Patterson signed into law the first-ever U.S. law that upholds domestic workers’ rights. 200,000 nannies, housekeepers, and elder caregivers in New York will be covered under a law that provides guaranteed sick days, overtime pay, a day of rest, protection from discrimination, and notice before termination. This groundbreaking victory is a result of a six-year campaign led by Domestic Workers United and supported by a broad coalition of labor and community organizations, including JwJ coalitions in NY State.
