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By jwjnational, on February 6th, 2012
 This week thousands of community and labor activists launched over 60 actions building towards the Shareholder Spring, delivering letters to the executives of the corporations in this country most responsible for undermining our democracy, crashing our economy, poisoning our environment and widening the gap between rich and poor.
On Wednesday, February 1st, Respect DC members returned to Marriott headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland to talk to Walmart board member and Marriott International President Arne Sorenson. Respect DC is calling on Mr. Sorenson to meet with members of Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) and to ask Walmart board chair Rob Walton and CEO Mike Duke to do the same. Having been there before in December, when Respect DC members returned, as promised, security immediately recognized the group saying, “No, we’re not doing this again.” He insisted they could not talk to Mr. Sorenson but took their letter and said he would deliver it. So far, they still have yet to receive a response.
Actions targeting Walmart board members took place in San Francisco and New York as well.
Portland Jobs with Justice had 12 small delegations
Continue reading Shareholder Spring Launches
By jwjnational, on February 2nd, 2012
On the even of August 5, 2011, during the pinnacle banquet of the National Jobs with Justice conference, student guestworkers who had traveled from all over the world only to work in a plant in Hershey, Pennsylva nia made a pitch for solidarity. Like the Verizon workers who were about to go on strike the very next day, these workers too were planning to take courageous action.
They certainly had high expectations. And why shouldn’t they have? Just before they got on stage, workers with the National Guestworkers Alliance from a previous campaign against Signal had just been there claiming victory against the company and a reunion with their families. So, the 30 that had come stood up and told a story about how they each paid $3,000-$6,000 to come to the U.S. this summer for what they thought would be a cultural exchange program through the State Department’s J-1 visa. Instead, they found themselves packing chocolates at the Hershey’s plant in deeply exploitative conditions. After automatic weekly deductions for rent in company housing and other expenses, they net between $40 and $140 per week for 40 hours of work.
One
Continue reading Victory at Hersheys!
By jwjnational, on December 15th, 2011 
 Today the Department of Homeland Security announced that it is terminating Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s 287(g) agreement and “restricting” his access to the “Secure Communities” program.
This happened hours after the Department of Justice concluded its three year investigation into civil rights abuses caused by the Sheriff. The report from the DOJ does more than just describe Sheriff Arpaio’s reign of terror. It shows that DHS and ICE programs led to this crisis. Now, the White House needs to apply the lessons learned in Maricopa County and end all programs that entangle local police in the business of immigration enforcement.
Today marks a pivotal moment.
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO END S-COMM & 287(g) HERE.
We join with many others in calling for Sheriff Arpaio to resign and be indicted, but the fight we’ve waged together in Arizona has always been bigger than the Sheriff himself. Sheriff Arpaio is the symbol of the disastrous Secure Communities and 287(g) programs.
It’s time to end those as well.
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO END S-COMM & 287(g) HERE.
Countless acts of bravery and solidarity across
Continue reading Victory in Arizona! Now What?
By Treston Davis-Faulkner, on December 6th, 2011
Durban, South Africa–
As governments of the world gather in Durban, South Africa for the 17th Conference of Parties (COP 17) as part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to supposedly negotiate viable solutions to the devastating increase in climate change world-wide, so are peoples’ movements from around the world. Trade-unions, including rank and file members, shop stewards, union officials and staff from among other places South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Senegal, Ethiopia, Europe and the US organized a series of seminars, workshops and discussions in the World of Work Pavilion (WoW) as part of the civil society space around the COP 17 at the University of KwaZulu Natal in Durban (UKZN).
This program was designed to educate, agitate and foment dialogue around the key areas of economic activity related to the escalating emission of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG’s) causing climate change and its devastating impacts including: extreme energy extraction (oil, coal, tar sands) and renewable alternative forms of energy (namely solar and wind), transportation (of materials and people). WoW was organized by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), Congress of South African Trade Unions
Continue reading Trade-Unionists from Africa and the World Converge in Durban around COP 17 in Search of Solutions to the World’s Economic and Climate Crises
By jwjnational, on December 1st, 2011
 Ever since SB1070 passed in Arizona, Southern states like Alabama have been quick to pass legislation that take the racial profiling bill to the next levels of hate.
At the same time, the Obama administration has announced that Immigration Enforcement’s regional field offices now are empowered to use their discretion with who is or is not deported.
That means that ICE’s Southern Field Director in New Orleans, Scott Sutterfield has a decision to make.
Last August, his office coordinated the violent ambush of thirty workers in New Orleans who had gathered to receive their paychecks. Now, the New Orleans Workers Center for Racial Justice and community leaders across the South are demanding Mr. Sutterfield attend a town hall meeting on the state of civil rights in the era of Alabama-style hate.
Jobs with Justice has been working on this fight for a long time as a part of the Turning the Tides movement building, and we want to make sure that Sutterfield won’t stand in the way of their civil rights.
You can support their call with three quick steps
1. Watch the video about their case
2. Continue reading Tell ICE’s Southern Office: Respect the Civil Rights of Immigrant Workers!
By Treston Davis-Faulkner, on November 29th, 2011
Jobs with Justice is joining with its strategic ally, the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance (GGJ), in taking part in an important delegation of 16 people to attend the 17th Conference of Parties (COP 17) in Durban, South Africa, which GGJ is coordinating. The COP 17 is part of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations. As part of GGJ’s ongoing work for global well-being, the delegation will be participating in both inside negotiations and outside civil society activities to advance climate justice solutions that are real alternatives to the false solutions of REDDs, soil carbon, blue carbon and other carbon offset mechanisms that perpetuate the crisis of pollution.
The GGJ delegation is unique in that it is one of the only North American delegations made up of people from communities directly impacted by environmental racism and climate disruption. These delegates also represent communities at the frontlines of transformative change: they have been successfully organizing for decades to find solutions to the climate crisis — through pollution reduction, clean energy policies, food sovereignty initiatives, mass transit investment, and more.
A cartoon from the last international climate
Continue reading Jobs with Justice Joins Delegates from Affected Communities in the U.S. and Canada to be a Strong Voice for Alternatives at COP17
By jwjnational, on November 7th, 2011
Right now, big banks like Bank of America borrow money from the Federal Reserve at less than 1% interest, lend it out to payday lenders at 3%, who turn around and lend it to our communities at 400% interest or more. Instead of bolstering the middle class with small-dollar loans that would strengthen our communities,  Bank of America has decided to back legalized loan sharks who prey on the working-class.
It’s outrageous and one of the greatest wealth-stripping schemes of our time.
We know that our economy has been set up to protect the wealthy and powerful, and it’s harder than ever for working people to get ahead. Wall Street reaps record profits while our neighbors lose their jobs and homes. Corporations were allowed to sink billions of dollars into political campaigns, out-spending the labor movement by more than ever, with the sole purpose of protecting the interests of the rich—Bush tax cuts for millionaires, corporate tax breaks, and other anti-worker policies.
But their cash cannot be louder than our need for jobs and the right to organize during this economic crisis.
We
Continue reading Tell Banks to Stop Funding Pay Day Lenders!
By Huy Ong, on October 18th, 2011
Tonight, Tuesday Oct. 18th, PBS will be airing a ground breaking documentary on PBS, Lost in Detention.  Join us as we live twitter chat with the National Day Labor Organizing Network and Detention Watch Network using the hastag #altopolimigra.
Building upon the hard work we all have done together in the past year to expose the dangers of police/ICE collaborations, Lost in Detention’s debut will be a critical moment in swaying the hearts and minds against criminalization and towards human rights.
Click here for more info on Lost in Detention and to find your local listing.
And join the conversation at #altopolimigra Tuesday at 9:00pm Eastern.
Also, check out Detention Watch Network amazing new short video to call for an end to mandatory detention with their launch of their Dignity, Not Detention Campaign.
By Erica Smiley, on October 11th, 2011 
 There are still over 15 million unemployed Americans, nearly 6 job-seekers for each opening, and about 100,000 workers entering the job market each month. Public services and education are being wiped out. Corporate greed and Wall Street recklessness put the squeeze on working people and have created the worst economic crisis in a generation. Big corporations shipped jobs overseas and Wall Street speculators took more and more of our wealth, getting rich quickly at the expense of workers and families.
But this is not news.
What has developed is the upsurge of workers, youth, and the communities we all live in to Occupy Wall Street, and to be in solidarity with these actions around the country. This momentum came just in time, as workers around the country have begun to fight back in bigger and more coordinated ways—understanding that the fight is over who has control over what happens in our workplaces and our communities — working people or Wall Street corporations.
Last winter in Wisconsin and in nearly every state, we saw a breathtaking show of militant resistance to attacks on
Continue reading Building a United Movement to Make Wall Street Pay
By Treston Davis-Faulkner, on September 29th, 2011
This is the rallying cry and framework affirmed for and by the first Grassroots Global Justice Membership Congress held in Raleigh, North Carolina September 16-18, 2011. The GGJ Congress was graciously hosted by member organization Black Workers for Justice.
Jobs with Justice is a proud founding and current member of GGJ and was represented by JwJ National Field Director Treston Davis-Faulkner and a delegation from the Vermont Workers’ Center/JwJ including Kate Kanelstein, Mercedes Mack, James Haslem, and Cindy Perron among a few others.. GGJ is a national alliance of grassroots organizations building a popular movement for peace, democracy and a sustainable world. Members of the Alliance support each other’s local struggles and collaborate with international allies who share our vision and commitment to building a transformative social justice movement beyond borders.
Key Outcomes of the Congress include: Moving forward our New Initiative
Affirmation of the “No War, No Warming, Build an Economy for the People and the Planet” framework as the basis for GGJ’s analysis and areas of work for the next period. This document identifies the analysis and work
Continue reading No War, No Warming! Build an Economy for the People and the Planet.
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This week thousands of community and labor activists launched over 60 actions building towards the Shareholder Spring, delivering letters to the executives of the corporations in this country most responsible for undermining our democracy, crashing our economy, poisoning our environment and widening the gap between rich and poor.
