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

Continue reading Senator Mitch McConnell Elected 2010 Scrooge of the Year

For the first time in Indianapolis’s recent history, 43 participants staged a mass civil disobedience in front of the Hyatt Regency downtown.  Hospitality workers and community supporters of the hotel workers were there to stand up for the Hyatt workers who have been asking management to stay neutral since November of 2008.  Among the 43 were two JwJ staff members, seven steering committee members and many other JwJ pledge signers.

On June 16, reports surfaced that the Hyatt had plans to sell the Hyatt  Regency in Indianapolis, adding to the uncertainty that Hyatt workers in Indianapolis already face.  Over the past decade, taxpayers in Indianapolis have invested $1 billion into the development of the local hospitality industry.  The hotel and convention industry in Indianapolis is booming yet at the Hyatt Indianapolis, a non-union hotel, subcontracting of jobs is rampant, hours have been reduced in recent months,

Continue reading Central Indiana JwJ supports Hyatt workers in civil disobedience action as part of nationwide protests

Members of Jobs with Justice San Francisco turned out in force to support UNITE HERE Local 2 hotel and restaurant workers as they took to the streets to demand a fair contract on July 22.  Prior to the rally at Local 2 Plaza in downtown San Francisco, community activists, clergy, and union members packed a civil disobedience training session at Local 2 headquarters.  There they reviewed plans to close the street in front of the Grand Hyatt in Union Square.

An hour later, as tourists stared in amazement and snapped photos, fifteen hundred people marched through the streets and converged on the Grand Hyatt, cheering and chanting in several languages in support of the hotel and restaurant workers.  The boisterous crowd reflected the diversity of San Francisco as youth from POWER (People Organized to Win Employment Rights), PODER (People Organizing to demand Environmental and Economic Rights), Chinese Progressive Association and Young Workers

Continue reading JwJ San Francisco Sits Down to Support Hotel Workers Rising

Thousands of votes were cast in the Jobs with Justice annual contest to determine which greedy, cold-hearted organization or person deserves the title “Scrooge of the Year.”  Voters chose the Chamber of Commerce as their winner this year as it’s became increasingly clear that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has developed into a front group for a few narrow interests, not a membership association that represents the voice of mainstream American businesses.  The Chamber has spent millions of dollars lobbying against legislation that would benefit workers and families like the Employee Free Choice Act, health insurance reform, paid sick days, and environmental regulations.  Their extreme positions have led some companies and local chapters of the Chamber to disaffiliate from the national group.

This year’s Scrooge contest pitted the Chamber of Commerce against Bank of America, nominated for their role in the sub-prime lending crisis and failure to extend credit

Continue reading U.S. Chamber of Commerce Elected 2009 Scrooge of the Year

Each year, national Jobs with Justice gives an “award” to the greediest, most cold-hearted company or person of the year. Nominations for the 2009 Scrooge of the Year are in, and it’s time to vote!

The nominees are:

VOTE NOW!!! 

This is JwJ’s tenth annual online contest to determine the national figure who does the most harm to working families. READ BELOW about why these nominees are so deserving of the title “Scrooge of the Year”.

Bank of America had a hand in the worst of the subprime lending excesses, providing financing to the four of the top five largest subprime lenders during the years prior to the crash including Countrywide Financial, Ameriquest, New Century Financial Corp, and First Franklin.  Between them, these four firms issued over $320 billion in subprime loans from 2005-2007. As a result of these kinds of abuses, Bank of America

Continue reading VOTE NOW for Scrooge of the Year!

Last week we told you about two campaigns that Rhode Island JwJ supported during JwJ’s economic recovery week of action – an ordinance to protect against Hyatt-style subcontracting in the Providence Convention Center District, and a union contract campaign for food service workers at Brown University where health care was a key issue. 

Yesterday, Brown dining service workers voted to approve a new three-year contract that keeps health care affordable and includes 2% wage increases each year. 

Last night, the Providence City Council took a final vote to approve the Hospitality Business Protection and Worker Retention Ordinance.  The ordinance will require that hospitality businesses in the district, including the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, the Rhode Island Convention Center, Veterans Memorial Auditorium, and three hotels, retain employees for at least six months in the event of a sale or subcontract of the business and maintain the prevailing wage and health insurance standards.

These victories come as “the most dangerous woman in Rhode Island

Continue reading Update: Two Worker Victories in Providence

On October 1st, surrounded by 100+ supporters of the measure from UNITE HERE Local 217 and Jobs with Justice, Providence became the first city to act since the scandal provoked by the firing of the “Hyatt 100” in Boston.  These 100 housekeepers were left with no jobs when three Boston Hyatt Hotels replaced them in with low-wage subcontractors.

The Providence City Council, taking the first of two required votes, voted unanimously to approve an ordinance to protect against Hyatt-style subcontracting in the Providence Convention Center District.  The Hospitality Business Protection and Worker Retention Ordinance will require that hospitality businesses in the district retain employees for at least six months in the event of a sale or subcontract of the business and maintain the prevailing wage and health insurance standards.

Councilman Solomon introduced the legislation:

I am proud to be working to protect Providence workers from Hyatt-style layoffs. Our cities have invested massive public resources to build the tourism industry. In

Continue reading Providence City Council Votes to Protect Against Hyatt-style Subcontracting

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The figures are staggering.  Unemployment is at 9.1 percent and new unemployment claims continue to increase.  By one measure, real unemployment and underemployment are double the official rate.  According to the Labor Department, job seekers now outnumber openings by six to one!

That’s why more than 1,000 union members, unemployed workers, students, clergy and community leaders came together for an October 1 march and rally to highlight the growing jobs crisis.  The group protested on the Boston Common, at Verizon’s New England headquarters and at the Hyatt Regency Hotel against a corporate agenda that has left far too many workers behind. 

Eighty labor and community groups sponsored the march and rally.  Accompanying the march was the IBEW Local 103 One Hundred and Third Drum and Bagpipe Band and the Somerville Second Line Social Aid and Pleasure Society Marching Band. 

The action also focused on how big banks have misused our tax dollars.  So far, few of the hundreds of billions in taxpayer money that

Continue reading Boston Workers March for an Economy That Works for Everyone

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