(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

The holiday season is fast approaching, and around here that means one thing: it’s time for our annual “Scrooge of the Year” election!

Jobs with Justice national is now accepting nominations for the greediest, most cold-hearted company, CEO, or politician of the year for our eleventh annual “Scrooge of the Year” election.

Last year’s Scrooge of the Year was the U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for leading the Senate in aggressively blocking almost all legislation from passing, especially laws that would help working people.  Other past winners of this dubious honor include:  Walmart, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Wall Street executives who broke our economy.

We’ll pick the top nominees and start the national Scrooge of the Year election shortly after Thanksgiving.  Be on the lookout for the start of the national election and keep an eye on your inbox to see if your local Jobs with Justice coalition is planning a party to elect a local Scrooge.

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

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

As you enjoy a reflective and restful Thanksgiving weekend, we want to share the following opportunity to undermine the 1% and the Walton Family quickly from your computer.

Rob Walton

According to Forbes Magazine, 4 of the 11 wealthiest people in America are Waltons.  The Waltons control 48% of Walmart stock, and are predicted to gain a controlling share in the next 12 months.  In fact, the Walton’s combined net worth is $93 billion. Yet they still won’t address the concerns of those who work for them such as scheduling (especially over holidays like this).  And just last month, Walmart–the company that made them their billions slashed health care for hundreds of thousands of families.

As the leader in the retail and logistics industries, if Walmart was more accountable to its workers and the communities where it builds–it would change the floor for the entire economy.  At Jobs with Justice, we believe that if we Change Walmart, we Change the Economy!

Brave New Films, the group that brought us the movie

Continue reading Vote Walmart’s Rob Walton as Face of the 1%!