Health & Pharmaceutical Industry, Hyatt runners-up in national contest to determine who did the most harm to workers and their families this year.
Senator Mitch McConnell took 42% of the thousands of votes cast in Jobs with Justice’s eleventh annual national contest to determine the greediest, most cold-hearted person or company of the year. A small number of Senators, led by conservative Senate Minority leader Mitch “puppet of the rich” McConnell, have spent this Congressional session aggressively blocking almost all legislation from passing, especially laws that would help working people. McConnell could have shown great leadership to support people in need at a time when so many are struggling, but this Scrooge doesn’t care about governing or making this country a better place to live. McConnell’s goal is to do whatever is necessary to hoard power for himself and his party.
“We hope that by being elected national Scrooge of the Year, Senator McConnell will see the ‘Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come’ and understand the dire consequences that his actions will have for generations of Americans,” said Sarita Gupta, National Jobs with Justice Executive Director.
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.
100 Activists from Kentucky to attend national gathering in Detroit, Michigan June 22 to 26
Kentucky Jobs with Justice will be joining more than 10 other social justice organizations on two charter buses to Detroit to take part in the US Social Forum. Here is a snippet from the USSF Web site:
The US Social Forum (USSF) is a movement building process. It is not a conference but it is a space to come up with the peoples’ solutions to the economic and ecological crisis. The USSF is the next most important step in our struggle to build a powerful multi-racial, multi-sector, inter-generational, diverse, inclusive, internationalist movement that transforms this country and changes history.
The USSF provides spaces to learn from each other’s experiences and struggles, share our analysis of the problems our communities face, build relationships, and align with our international brothers and sisters to strategize how to reclaim our world.
The first US Social Forum was held in Atlanta in 2007 with KY JwJ taking over 40 delegates. KY JwJ hosted the first Kentucky Social Forum in 2009 at Berea College, which drew over 400 participants. These Forums were and are inspired by the World Social Forum,
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
Senator Mitch McConnell took 42% of the thousands of votes cast in Jobs with Justice’s eleventh annual national contest to determine the greediest, most cold-hearted person or company of the year. A small number of Senators, led by conservative Senate Minority leader Mitch “puppet of the rich” McConnell, have spent this Congressional session aggressively blocking almost all legislation from passing, especially laws that would help working people. McConnell could have shown great leadership to support people in need at a time when so many are struggling, but this Scrooge doesn’t care about governing or making this country a better place to live. McConnell’s goal is to do whatever is necessary to hoard power for himself and his party.
