From Florida to California, March 4th marked an exceptional moment for the student and worker movement in recent U.S. history. People took to the streets to demonstrate their frustration with the government’s failure to pass legislation that would benefit young people such as Student Aid Reform and the DREAM Act. The mainstream media seemed taken by surprise of all these coordinated actions across the country – How could students and workers come together on one specific day? Was this an organized effort? Were people demanding change from the government and legislators?
I got the opportunity to march along with students, staff, and faculty at U-Mass Amherst. Being there reminded me about the power of organizing and strategic escalation. Students at this school provided a deadline for their administrators to accept their demands around fees, budget cuts, treating staff & faculty fairly, and improving the school’s climate. We will be watching their administrations’ response and actions to come. Check out video from the great actions at the University of Central Florida and the University of California system. You can also go to www.defendeducation.org
The fight for keeping and creating jobs grew stronger in Florida this past week. Central Florida Jobs with Justice mobilized for a rally, organized by the Space Coast AFL-CIO and Florida state AFL-CIO, that brought over 2,000 people from across the state to say “Save Our Space”! Workers and their families traveled to the space coast from Miami, Pensacola, Jacksonville and all points in between to join business and community leaders to rally in support of continued federal funding of this vital economic driver for Florida’s future. The rally featured National AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and other leaders from the American labor movement who used this dire situation as a backdrop to launch a national jobs campaign that would create 10 million American jobs.
Recent budget proposals working their way through Congress all but eliminate funding for NASA’s human spaceflight operations in Florida. Space operations have long been one of Florida’s most important economic sectors, supporting tens of thousands of good jobs and providing the economic cornerstone for many communities across the state. The loss of funding would eliminate tens of thousands of jobs, decimate many communities, and send shock waves across the state this at a time when Florida is
As the U.S. Senate prepares to take up a comprehensive bill to extend the deadline for unemployment benefits through the end of the year, anti-hunger and labor advocates in Chicago want lawmakers to remember just how intensely people are struggling here in the Midwest.
After days of Republican obstruction, the U.S. Senate approved legislation late last night that will extend temporarily the deadline for unemployment benefits. While the end to the stalemate is welcome news, anti-hunger and labor advocates in Chicago aren’t entirely thrilled with the outcome. As the upper chamber prepares to take up a second bill to extend the deadline through the end of the year, these advocates want Senators to remember just how intensely people are struggling here in the Midwest.
This afternoon, Chicago Jobs With Justice (CJWJ) organized a “Senate Soup Kitchen” in Federal Plaza to dramatize the need for relief. Specifically, the group is demanding federal action to extend (and expand) eligibility for jobless benefits and fund a federal jobs program. “What’s going on in
Jobs with Justice and North Texas Workers Rights Board activists held a public hearing on the jobs crisis February 26 at Judge Luis Sepulveda’s courtroom in Dallas.
Three unemployed folks: Jorge Ortega, Eddie Ortega, and Katharein Magdalena explained different aspects of the crisis and how they had been impacted. Even though none of them was downhearted, they evoked a compassionate response from the religious and community leaders listening.
Reverend Gerald Britt, Jr, of Central Dallas Ministries talked about the differences in job opportunities in different parts of the city. Almost none of Dallas’ economic activity targets the Southern half of town. Britt pointed out that poor workers have longer days because they have to travel north, where the work is, and return home late in the evenings.
How Can We Raise the Call for 10 Million Jobs?
The AFL-CIO is calling for ten million government-created jobs immediately. It is the only possible hope for economic recovery. They want March 12-26 to be weeks for public actions. As it happens, Spring Break for students begins March 12. With youth unemployment ranging over 50%,
Whirlpool refrigerators. Hugo Boss suits. Toyota Corollas. What do they have in common?
They’ve all been made by U.S. workers who will soon lose their jobs — if the corporate CEOs get their way. All these major corporations work hard (and spend a lot) to promote a positive corporate image. But they all plan to shut down their U.S. plants and shift production overseas — devastating our communities and taking advantage of workers abroad – even though these plants are profitable. If Corporate America gets its way, good jobs with benefits and economic security will be a distant memory.
But the fight back is growing. Jobs with Justice coalitions and our partners vow to make every plant shut-down costly and to challenge every major lay-off until we win Full and Fair Employment and a New Economy that Works for Everyone.
Last week, JwJ joined the AFL-CIO and IUE-CWA in challenging corporate greed at Whirlpool in Evansville, IN. Thousands of workers and community residents delivered 70,000 petitions to Whirlpool, protesting Whirlpool’s plan to send these jobs to Mexico — after taking millions of dollars in federal economic stimulus funds.
“We’re sending a message to Whirlpool and the rest of these companies that
Over 200,000 jobless workers will lose unemployment benefits this weekas the cut-off to extend benefits lapsed yesterday without Senate action. 1.2 million people will lose access to Emergency Unemployment Compensation over the next year if Congress does not act. The average duration of unemployment is now a record high of 30.2 weeks, with a historic 41.2% of the unemployed remaining out of work for six months or longer. 11.5 million Americans are collecting some form of unemployment insurance.
1) Take action today to make sure Congress extends emergency unemployment insurance.
2) Find an action near you below.
Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask for your Senators’ office.
Suggested Talking Points for your call to your Senator:
Millions of Americans are surviving on unemployment insurance and simply can’t find jobs. It would be irresponsible for Congress to allow benefits to lapse due to inaction. Enough is enough! The Senate must extend unemployment insurance through the end of the year. Support the unemployment extension and push your leadership to act now!
Join local JwJ coalitions at actions across the country this week!
People across the country are angry – for good reason. Corporate greed and Wall Street recklessness drove our economy into a crisis. Sky high unemployment has created a state of emergency – but political leaders in Washington D.C. have not yet offered a real solution to this crisis, while Wall Street and corporate executives are trying to block a recovery for the rest of us and go back to business as usual.
In this environment, corporate flacks have been able to manipulate grassroots frustration, deflect it from the real causes of the crisis and shift the main stream discussion from the emergency of joblessness to a phony concern for the budget deficit (about which they said nothing while bailing out Wall Street or invading Iraq).
JwJ and our partners will not allow our anger to be deflected from the real causes of this crisis: corporate greed that has been putting the squeeze on workers for decades, through globalization, privatization and the free-for-all deregulation of Wall Street.
It’s become clear that we cannot wait on Congress to come up with a solution. It is up to us to create the mobilization on the ground that helps them “get it”: We are in a state of emergency, and need a bold, emergency response to save and create jobs. Washington needs a wake-up call from the grassroots.
Several local JwJ coalitions have been leading the charge for jobs, building local campaigns and developing unemployed councils. In coordination with the “Jobs for America Now” Coalition, the AFL-CIO and other partners, we aim to make March into“jobs month” — coordinated actions around the country that send a wake-up call to Congress and urge them to recognize unemployment as the emergency it is.
– March 1-7: Week of Action to save public services and stop layoffs
Endorsers include: United Steelworkers of America, AFSCME, Communications Workers of America, Amalgamated Transit Union, United States Student Association, United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Jobs for America Now. Local actions will range from student walk-outs to protest education cuts to town hall meetings to rallies against social service and transit cuts to marches against plant closings proposed by Whirlpool, Hugo Boss, Toyota and others.
– March 15-19: Protest Wall Street Greed; demand fair taxes & money for jobs Led by the AFL-CIO
As President Obama announced in Tampa that High Speed rail jobs were coming to Orlando, local community and labor activists came together to understand the uphill battle for workers accessing these jobs. Central Florida Jobs with Justice along with the Central Florida AFL-CIO hosted a townhall to discuss how this economic crisis will impact the city’s outlook for jobs.
A diverse panel of speakers responded to these reports based on their experiences throughout this economic recession. Paul Wilson, President of Amaglated Transit Union local 1596 representing Lynx, MV and Grant bus operators, spoke on how local counties use the stimulus dollars on things besides operating costs, resulting in no wages increases for bus drivers. David Fernandez, an undergraduate senior at the University of Central
Goldman Sachs’ speculation and profiteering was a major cause of the recession and now their CEO is giving out $16.7 billion in bonuses. They got a bailout, what do all of us get?
On January 21, Boston community leaders and activists marched on Goldman Sachs to demand that Executive Bonuses be used to fund the Ellison Jobs Bill. The amount of Goldman Sachs’ bonuses would cover more than half of the $30 billion jobs bill that would put unemployed people to work improving our communities.
During his election victory speech Obama said, “This victory alone is not the change we seek — it is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It cannot happen without you.”
Over the last year there have been some stepsforward in the struggle to build a more just society, and unfortunately some missteps along the way. Corporate interests are manipulating frustrations over lack of progress in fixing health care, the economy, labor law, Wall Street and the financial sector. Wall Street and the Chamber of Commerce are attempting to deflect their own responsibility for the economic crisis and use grassroots anger to block the very reforms we need for a new economy.
This last year has served as an important reminder that it takes a movement to make real change. The transformation of our country will not come from Capitol Hill, but from peoplelikeustakingaction to demand change.
We have the opportunity to create positive change for working people in this country. We know that the road to a real economic recovery
From Florida to California, March 4th marked an exceptional moment for the student and worker movement in recent U.S. history. People took to the streets to demonstrate their frustration with the government’s failure to pass legislation that would benefit young people such as Student Aid Reform and the DREAM Act. The mainstream media seemed taken by surprise of all these coordinated actions across the country – How could students and workers come together on one specific day? Was this an organized effort? Were people demanding change from the government and legislators?
