The fight begins— Following a string of “right to work” or anti-working class state initiatives that pushed through in Wisconsin and Ohio (which would be later overturned in Ohio), the Verizon Wireless contract negotiations began.  Both CWA leadership and community supporters alike knew this fight wouldn’t be an easy one.  The surprise element in this campaign has been Verizon’s obvious attempt to cripple the union by rolling back on 20 years worth of benefits won by the CWA and send a message to both employees and other corporations: profits are more valuable than people.

As this was the tone set by the Verizon corporation going into negotiations, and we soon realized that the game was changed completely for the workers bargaining. At that same time, what felt like it sprouted from out of thin air, Occupy Wall Street began, igniting simultaneous occupations all over the country from Oakland to DC.  With that a new base of people that had just as much to lose from this particular contract negotiation, as it embodied – and still does – the fight of the 1% vs. the 99%.

During the 2 week strike in

Continue reading A Verigreedy campaign

(reposted from Respect DC)

WASHINGTON, DC, November 22nd — Today, DC Mayor Vincent Gray and Walmart announced a so-called “community partnership” between the District and the retail giant. Community activists called the agreement a failure of leadership by the Mayor, noting the agreement is not enforceable and included no significant concessions from Walmart.

“As a Ward 7 resident, I am very disappointed,” said Rev. Kendrick Curry of the Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church. “This has no teeth. This will allow Walmart to drain what is already in the community to nothing.”

Instead, the agreement only provides a window dressing for the reality that Walmart will drive good jobs from the District and replace them with low wage jobs without benefits. The backroom deal contains no specifics around wages, local hiring, or the limited workforce development plan. Most disturbingly, there is nothing in the partnership to ensure the creation of good jobs for DC residents.

“This includes nothing to address wages or the quality of these jobs,” said Marina Streznewski of the DC Jobs Council. “The DC living wage is $12.50 an hour. How will people working at these stores afford to live in DC?”

Critics also noted that the announcement today

Continue reading Community Coalition Slams Walmart, Gray for Sham Benefits Agreement

Seniors, workers, and others who rely on overwhelmingly effective social programs tell Congress to fight for jobs and the 99%, not for the greed of the wealthiest 1%

Today, frustrated constituents from across the country came to Washington D.C. to represent The 99%’s Everyday Superheros. They urged congress to “wake up” and protect Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security from cuts during the last remaining days of the Super Committee negotiations.

Seniors, people with disabilities and workers started the day early by waking up Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), a member of the Senate minority leadership, in “alarming” fashion at Bistro Bis, a local restaurant. Carrying gold alarm clocks and signs, angry protesters shut down a breakfast fundraiser for Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) when Senator Kyl, keynote speaker at the event, hurried out abruptly after protesters entered the restaurant and chanted, “It’s a new morning, it’s a new day; Wake up Congress and make the 1% pay.” Protesters then followed Sen. Kyl to his vehicle and demanded to know if the Senator plans to protect the 99% of people who depend on

Continue reading Seniors, Workers, Students & Others Urge Super Committee to Focus on Jobs, Not Cuts

Statistics released today by the US Department of Labor show the nation’s unemployment rate “little changed” at 9%.  Atlanta’s high unemployment rate (10.3% in September) has remained static for a year, and Georgia’s has exceeded the national rate for 50 months in a row.  A recent report back the Department of Census found that Atlanta had the greatest gap between rich and poor of any major city.  The Congressional Budget Office reports that between 1979-2007, the super-rich–those in the top 1% of wage earners–saw their after-tax incomes nearly quadruple while those in the bottom 20% saw their wages remain relatively flat during that nearly 30-year period.

“This is the real crisis our country and our city are facing,” said Charmaine Davis, organizing director and co-chair of Atlanta Jobs with Justice.  “We are indebted to the Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Atlanta movements for raising public awareness of the shocking inequality in our society, greater than at any time since 1928, and the unemployment crisis that is robbing families of their homes, livelihoods and hope for the future.”

“There’s an old Wall Street saying that

Continue reading Atlanta JwJ, Occupy Atlanta Respond to Unemployment

Central Florida Transit Authority or Lynx CEO John Lewis stated ” there’s money on the table.”   He was referring to Transit drivers and mechanics represented by ATU local 1596 who has have been dealing with 3 years of frozen wages, increasing healthcare costs, and no contract. The CEO was not clear that the money on the table was only a cheap attempt to take everything from these drivers.

As ATU 1596 members went into negotiations, they wanted community members  to see how outrageous the company was being. Lynx’s proposal included a .5% raise (only 10 cents for your top drivers), a one time lump sum of  200,00 (before taxes), removing the pension for new employees, taking away overtime after 8 hours and decrease in uniform and tool allowance which employees already pay a lot for out of pocket now. That was just some of the company’s proposals.

Community members including transit riders and people from the local Occupy Orlando Movement came to show support for union members and watch how Lynx treats their employees. The

Continue reading ATU 1596 and Occupy Orlando say – Transit will not Run-Over the backs of the Working Class!

Less than 24 hours before their contract expired, area office cleaners won a tentative agreement with wage increases on Sunday night. “This is not just a win for working families and our communities, but it ensures tenants will receive professional service and gives our economy a much-needed boost,” said Jaime Contreras, SEIU Local 32BJ Capital Area Director.

Continue reading Justice for Janitors in DC! New 4 year contract!

(Reposted from DC Union City)

DC Jobs with Justice lead organizer Mackenzie Baris (pictured below, right) has won a $1,000 prize as one of three finalists for the first-ever Berger-Marks Foundation’s $10,000 Edna Award for social justice.  The Foundation received more than 400 nominations for the award from all over the U.S., Canada, and many other countries.

The award is named for Edna Berger, first woman organizer for The Newspaper Guild and a long-time social justice activist. The competition was open to women age 35 or under – from labor unions, women’s groups, workers’ rights organizations, immigrant rights groups, and other areas of social justice – whose leadership is fueling social change.

Ana Maria Archila, Co-Director of Make the Road New York (MRNY) was the Edna Award winner, announced at a special ceremony held Tuesday evening at the National Press Club. MRNY, a nonprofit organization hailed as the most dynamic grassroots advocacy organization in New York City, works to empower and bring economic justice to low-income Latino residents and other New Yorkers. “Supporters and advocates of

Continue reading DC JwJs Mackenzie Baris Finalist for Edna Award

Starting on September 26th and continuing throughout the week, JwJ coalitions teamed up with United Food and Commercial Workers locals, the Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) and students to blitz Walmart stores across the nation. Volunteers talked with Walmart associates about their working conditions and passed out leaflets encouraging them to join OUR Walmart.

OUR Walmart is an organization founded and run by Walmart hourly associates who are dedicated to improving both working conditions and the company as a whole. Walmart is one of the most powerful companies in the world, taking in $408.2 billion in revenue last year, but it pays its sales associates meager wages, an average of $8.81 an hour. These shockingly low wages force many workers to rely on publicly subsidized health care and worry about being able to pay for essentials like housing and food.

In all other countries Walmart employees are unionized, but here in the United States workers are often afraid to speak out and hold Walmart to its own promises and policies. OUR

Continue reading JwJ Joins Blitz to Build Respect for Workers at Walmart

In a unanimous vote, the Board of Governors For Higher Education of Rhode Island extended in-state tuition rates for residents to attend public colleges and universities in Rhode Island, regardless of their legal status.  To benefit from this decision, residents must meet the following:

1)     Attended high school in Rhode Island for at least 3 years

2)     Graduated from a Rhode Island high school or received an equivalent degree

3)     Will seek legal status in the US as soon as she or he is eligible

This change in policy means that higher education will be attainable to more undocumented students; for example, attending the University of Rhode Island will annually cost $9,824 compared to $25,912 for out-of-state students.

Juliana Romero, co-founder and active member of IDEAS for New England, one of the organizations that advocated for this policy change, commented, “Nothing is impossible! We fought for our dream to go to school! At the end of the day we all stood together, got hit with some haters (specifically ignorance and racism), but we won so it was worth it! Always have faith.”

Allowing Rhode Islanders to

Continue reading Rhode Island Passes In-state Tuition for Undocumented Students

South Florida Jobs with Justice and our community coalition partners on the Wage Theft Ordinance Task Force had a huge victory on September 22nd at the Miami-Dade budget hearings. The county removed the funding in the 2011 budget for the for enforcement of the Wage Theft Ordinance. Since the passage of the Wage Theft Ordinance in 2010, $580,000 in lost wages have been collected from scofflaw employers for the workers in Miami-Dade County.

Recognizing that without enforcement there would be little or no wage recovery, South Florida Jobs with Justice and the Wage Theft Task Force went into action. We visited Commissioners and deluged the Mayor’s office with phone calls. When we were called to speak at the budget hearings, the Mayor announced that the funding for the Wage Theft enforcement position in the Department of Small Business Development had been restored.

It was quite a victory! A big thanks to SF JwJ Board member, Fran Menes, who “herded cats” as the Wage Theft Task Force Coordinator. South Florida Jobs with Justice Board member, John Ratliff who attended the hearing, commented: “Good job at the podium and before

Continue reading Wage Theft Ordinance, Victory in Miami-Dade!