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 – March 27-April 4: National Student Labor Week of Action: Students and Workers Unite for Education and Jobs

You can get involved! 1) Find your local JwJ coalition and ask how you can join the action 2) Organize your own event during the weeks of action 3) Circulate the “I’ll Be There” in the fight for jobs with justice pledge to your lists

Continue reading Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! March 1-7: National Week of Action to save and create jobs