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By Genny Petschulat, on June 30th, 2011
 Outsourcing Scheme Off the Table for 2011-2012 School Year
When Superintendent McIntyre announced his proposal to outsource the Knox County School system’s custodial workers, he probably didn’t bank on much push-back from the community—but that’s what he got.
In early spring of this year, Knox County Schools’ custodians found themselves under threat of massive lay-offs due to the superintendent’s scheme to auction off public schools’ custodial services to a private cleaning company. While there was a lot of big talk about privatization being a way to “save money” for the school system, McIntyre made no mention of the cuts that would inevitably be made to custodial workers’ wages and benefits in order to make those “savings” possible.
Soon after the outsourcing plan was announced, Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee decided to begin efforts to build a campaign against it. After realizing that school custodians were not yet organized in our county, we dug up public records with contact information for over 300 workers spread out across 83 different schools and started making cold calls. We invited them to picket with us at a pre-bid conference for corporate bidders and
Continue reading JwJ East TN & Knox County Custodians Fight Outsourcing Together
By Naomi Demsas, on March 31st, 2011
Public Knoxville is a campaign of Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee to fight back against cuts to public service budgets and attacks on public service workers.
JwJ East Tennessee has launched a blog to showcase stories and interviews of public servants and those who rely on public services to emphasize the need for and value of funding for the public sector and public sector workers in Knoxville. The blog also highlights press from across the state and across the country which touches on the importance of protecting the public sector. Check out the Public Knoxville Blog!
By jwjnational, on March 15th, 2011
 In Tennessee, 1,200 workers and community leaders have already mobilized to the state capital in Nashville on March 15, far surpassing the original expectations of 500. Under the banner of rallying for jobs, living wages and public services, Tennesseans came from all ends of the state—from Memphis to Knoxville. Both East and Middle Tennessee Jobs with Justice coalitions mobilized, organizing buses to arrive by 12 noon central time.
“Working Tennesseans didn’t cause the economic crisis,” said Karly Safar of East TN Jobs with Justice who also works for the United Campus Workers. “And we shouldn’t have to pay for it.”
Although Tennessee has not gotten the national attention of Wisconsin, Indiana or Ohio, working families in the state face a right-wing trifecta in all branches of government where they are at risk of more lay-offs, cuts in services and multiple bills that would negatively impact immigrant workers. The demonstration is expected to go well into the afternoon.
By Erica Smiley, on December 21st, 2010
Since mid-August, Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee has been in solidarity with workers at ARC Automotive and CASCO PRODUCTS CORP who are in contract negotiations with Workers United.
The company’s proposals included freezing employees’ wages for 3 years, eliminating future pension benefits, drastically increasing employee contributions for health insurance while cutting benefits at the same time, using low wage “temporary” workers in place of regular employees, and eliminating basic employee rights on the job.
Most outrageous were their heavy-handed threats to move the plant elsewhere if the workers did not agree to their demands.
CASCO and their president, Ali El-Haj, are another example of corporate America’s “race to the bottom”, where jobs are moved to where workers are paid the least and have the fewest rights.
The hardworking men and women employed by ARC deserve fair pay and benefits for their labor. They have a basic right to fair, even handed treatment. They are entitled to work free from threats to their jobs for simply standing up for themselves and their families.
After rallying on Saturday, the membership rejected the Company’s proposal by a vote of 69 to 1. They were very resolved to stand up to the Company’s
Continue reading TN Workers Reject CASCO Attempt to Cut Benefits, Move Plant
By Erica Smiley, on November 5th, 2009
Tennesseans, like others around the country, have watched in horror as the effective enforcement of labor standards dramatically declined. Many employers in the state have been quick to take advantage of a climate that has privileged business interests over workers and their unions. Meanwhile, many agencies charged with upholding workplace standards have lacked the resources, or in some cases the political will, to firmly and consistently enforce the law. And it’s workers and their families that have paid the price!
This fall, Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee (based in Knoxville), Middle Tennessee Jobs with Justice (based in Nashville), and the Worker Interfaith Network of Memphis joined forces in a statewide effort to bring to light some of the worst cases of abuse, such as wage theft and violations of workplace health and safety.
Targeting primarily the Tennessee Department of Labor and the Tennessee Occupational Safety and Health Administration (TOSHA), the 3 groups are gearing up for a statewide series of workers’ rights board hearings to receive testimony from immigrant workers who have had their pay withheld for no reason, sheet-metal workers who have had to work in unsafe conditions, and a number of other worker stories.
“We
Continue reading Tennessee Hosts Traveling Workers’ Rights Board Tour on Wage Theft and Safety Violations
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