Hundreds of activists, working across the state, won a resounding victory for working people in Missouri yesterday. Voters overwhelmingly approved keeping the municipal earnings taxes in Kansas City by 78% and St. Louis by 87.5%.
The elections were forced after billionaire financier Rex Sinquefield got Proposition A passed on a statewide ballot in November. Proposition A barred the creation of any new municipal earnings tax in Missouri, and would phase out the earnings taxes already on the books in St. Louis and Kansas City, but only IF they ever fail in city elections.
Working with allies, Jobs with Justice stopped those who want to starve local government of the necessary resources to maintain Missouri’s two largest cities.
JwJ activists knocked on doors, called their neighbors, rallied, and educated their fellow voters for the November statewide and April elections. Hundreds of JwJ activists were glad to stand alongside ally organizations- labor unions, neighborhood associations, congregations, elected officials, and ward organizations- in a grassroots alliance that triumphed in an anti-tax political climate.
On Friday, March 11, a crowd of almost 5,000 people packed St. Louis’ Kiener Plaza to stand up against bills in the Missouri Legislature that would hurt working families, including Right-to-Work-for-Less legislation (SB 1), Minimum Wage Repeal (HB 61 and SB 110), and the Child Labor Repeal (SB 222). Carpenters, laborers, pipefitters, boilermakers, teachers, autoworkers, teamsters, janitors, nurses, policemen, glaziers, machinists, electricians, insulators- just about every local in the St. Louis metropolitan area was represented at this rally.
“We-Are-One” chants recurred throughout the event- before, after and during almost every speaker. Speakers voiced their opposition to the attacks on the middle class, tax breaks for the wealthy, tax incentives for corporations and legislators who are overturning the will of the voters.
Chant leaders JwJ St. Louis Organizer Aaron Burnett And SEIU Local 1 Union Representative Kevin Oliver kicked off the event. Speakers at the event included: St. Louis Labor Council President Bob Soutier, Pastor Teresea Danieley, Father Richard Creason, Coalition of Black Trade
More than 500 volunteers spent countless hours educating voters about the dangers of Prop A. We canvassed, educated and worked the polls. Although we are all disappointed that Proposition A passed statewide—stripping communities throughout the state of local control over their budget revenues—a whopping 68% of St. Louis City voters voted NO! It’s a shame that Prop A proponents spent $11.7 million to find out what St. Louis Voters think about the earnings tax—we told them to butt out. JwJ members’ activism, support and volunteer efforts delivered this critical victory in St. Louis, and we will need to redouble our efforts when the earnings tax becomes a ballot issue in April, 2010.
Working people, seniors and neighborhood organizations bonded together to fight for police, fire protection, city services and local control. Your votes opposed higher sales and property taxes that would hit working people hard. We must keep this momentum!
The dust has settled on the mid-term elections. The Democrats lost the majority in the House and maintained a majority in the Senate by the hair on their chins. Many states faced similar turnovers in leadership in governor’s races and elections for state legislators.
Jobs with Justice coalitions reflect below on the impact of the elections on working people in their communities:
Chicago Jobs with Justice Director Susan Hurley and two members of their unemployed workers council were part of CNBC’s election night coverage. Said Hurley, “the people who we deal with who are unemployed are, frankly, terrified, because we know that by the end of December 2010, 3.5 million people are going to be thrown off all existing extensions to unemployment benefits. These are benefits that whenever they’ve come before the Congress, Republicans have filibustered.”
Tomorrow, Chicago Jobs with Justice Unemployed Workers Council members will call for a federal jobs program and unemployment benefits to be extended at an action aimed at “New Hire” Senator Kirk, “He’s Going to Work Immediately; Will We?”
STLtoday.com has a great piece on Missouri JwJ director Lara Granich. She’s a community organizer – and proud of it! The article looks at: * An economy “that has stripped away 130,000 jobs locally and 15 million nationwide” * The role of JwJ in Missouri in building a local movement to support worker’s rights * The opportunities amidst the crisis for working people as “they are a lot clearer that if they don’t stand up for themselves, no one else will.”
The Missouri Jobs with Justice Workers’ Rights Board released a report today on the steps of the Red Cross Blood Services headquarters in St. Louis that raises concerns about donor safety and the security of the nation’s blood supply at the country’s largest supplier of blood and blood products.
The investigative report, which also details the treatment of Red Cross employees and the impact this has on the organization’s work, underscores the need for a new round of reforms at the troubled organization.
“Few national institutions have a prouder name or a more storied history than the American Red Cross,” writes Philip Dine, an award-winning labor reporter and the author of the report. “But many frontline blood workers see the Red Cross as an employer that is increasingly determined to cut expenses and increase revenues, even to the potential detriment of donor safety, employee wellbeing and the security of the nation’s blood supply.”
Among the practices detailed in the report that jeopardize donors’ safety and the integrity of the blood supply detailed are:
Yesterday, hundreds of community, faith, student leaders came to Washington to tell their elected officials why they support the Employee Free Choice Act. Jobs with Justice activists from Pennsylvania, Missouri, Maine and Indiana joined others in a jam-packed 36 hours of training and lobbying.
Participants were welcomed Wednesday night by outgoing AFL-CIO president John Sweeney. On Thursday morning, Senator Harkin addressed the crowd with heart-felt remarks about his family’s life-long commitment to unions and workers’ issues. Harkin, who was just named Chairman of the House Education Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, brought a bittersweet message to the activists. “We will win strong labor law reform,” Harkin said, “but it may not happen this year.” Senator Harkin explained that health care would likely dominate the legislative calendar for the remainder of the year, but assured folks that the Employee Free Choice Act would immediately follow.
With the appointment of Harkin to lead the HELP Committee and President Obama’s Labor Day address reconfirming his support for the Bill, activists were energized to go out and meet with their Senators and Congressional Representatives. You
Jobs with Justice was one of 521 organizations that signed an open letter to Obama criticizing the Presidents inactivity on immigration reform. The letter demands the “immediate termination” of the 287(g) program which allows local law enforcement agencies to essentially act as proxies for federal agents who investigate, apprehend, transport, and detain people who are suspected of being undocumented.
The national debate on health care continues to be front-and-center, and JwJ coalitions remain engaged on the ground.
St. Joseph Valley Project/JwJ in South Bend, Indiana went out to show their support for health reform when the so-called “Patients First National Bus Tour” came
On Sunday, August 9 workers from the Lumiere and President Casinos had reason to stand tall as they learned the National Labor Relations board handed down a scathing ruling against their employer, Pinnacle Entertainment. The rulings call on Pinnacle to finally begin bargaining with the workers’ union, Workers United Local 74.
The workers and their union had an “all star” cast of support on hand, including actor Danny Glover (pictured here). Also on hand were members of the St. Louis Workers Rights Board, elected officials, and area union leaders from throughout the labor movement.
Hundreds of activists, working across the state, won a resounding victory for working people in Missouri yesterday. Voters overwhelmingly approved keeping the municipal earnings taxes in Kansas City by 78% and St. Louis by 87.5%.
Security Guards at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, after 
On Sunday, August 9 workers from the Lumiere and President Casinos had reason to stand tall as they learned the National Labor Relations board handed down a scathing ruling against their employer, Pinnacle Entertainment. The rulings call on Pinnacle to finally begin bargaining with the workers’ union, Workers United Local 74. 