Our country is facing the worst economic crisis of 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. People are struggling and workers are angry and frustrated. Too many people cannot find good jobs and too many jobs don’t pay enough to support a family. Workers and communities are being divided as immigrant workers and public employees are scapegoated and blamed for the economic crisis caused by unregulated corporate greed.

At Jobs with Justice, we know that good jobs are the cornerstone of strong, healthy, happy communities. A good job is one where workers have collective bargaining rights, employment security, and wages and benefits that allow their families to enjoy a decent standard of living and earn a fair share of the wealth produced by their labor.

Last year, one in five American adults worked in jobs that paid poverty-level wages. Right now, not only are there are not enough jobs to go around, there are not enough of the good jobs we need to get our economy going again.

Continue reading The Fight for Good Jobs

On February 7th, chants were ringing out in front of John Wilson Building. “WalMart better come correct! DC residents deserve respect!” and “1 2 3 4, DC residents deserve more, 5 6 7 8, WalMart must negotiate!” were crowd favorites, even pulling in passer-bys.

Respect DC, a coalition of community, faith, environmental, student and labor organizations, was at the John Wilson building after meeting with DC Council Members and their staffs.  Their message was simple: DC demands fair wages, fair treatment and community benefits from the world’s largest employer as it plans to open four locations in the District.

Speeches were delivered from local business owners, community members and faith leaders. All aimed at one thing: WalMart must respect DC. WalMart is making big promises to bring jobs and tax revenue, but has a history of pulling communities apart with low paying jobs and setting a low standard for all other retailers.

We want our elected leaders to consider the long-term impact of WalMart and what it really means to have 4 new stores open in DC. WalMart has a proven track record, and

Continue reading DC Residents to WalMart, “Respect is not Negotiable”

In neighborhoods around the country, the buzz is at full blast as Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer (and one of the largest employers) aims to expand into urban communities.  This is not happening in isolation, but during one of the biggest economic crises in recent history.  Walmart’s new attempts at expansion center around one question: Who determines the future of work in America?  Corporate CEOs like Walmart’s Mike Duke, or working people.

In partnership with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union, Jobs with Justice coalitions in DC, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, and elsewhere have launched a new campaign to challenge Walmart’s expansion and demand high quality jobs, the rights of Walmart Associates to organize a union without intimidation or interference from the company, and the sustainable economic recovery of our communities.

Having saturated all of its other markets, Walmart has no where else to go but to the cities—giving urban communities new leverage over the multi-national corporation based in Arkansas.  Since Walmart is the largest private employer in the U.S., and the largest retailer in the

Continue reading JwJ Renews Fight to Hold Walmart Accountable to Our Communities

On the eve of Obama’s “Jobs Summit”, the picture of employment in this country is bleak.  Unemployment is at crisis levels:  10.2% unemployment, six job-seekers for every opening, 27 million Americans that need full-time work.

This comes as no big surprise.  Jobs with Justice coalitions have been mobilizing for an economic recovery and working with partners to develop a national jobs plan. 

“It’s past time to get millions of people back to work with a national jobs program that puts people to work,” said Sarita Gupta, Executive Director of Jobs with Justice, “but to solve the economic crisis we must create not just jobs, but good jobs that allow workers and their families to lead healthy, stable lives.”

For decades, the economic policies of the United States government have led to a hemorrhaging of the good-paying jobs that built our middle-class.  More and more people are working at lower-paying jobs with fewer benefits.  Today, we find ourselves living in a country where one in 10 homes is in foreclosure.  One in eight people - 40% of whom are in working families - must rely on food stamps.  One in six

Continue reading The Jobs Crisis is About More than Unemployment