On June 1st the Department of Labor issued an order which effectively debars Vanderbilt Landscaping from ALL guestworker programs for the next three years. There are only 5 other H-2B employers who have ever been debarred by DOL. Workers hearing the news in Mexico send their regards and thanks to all those who have supported this fight.

“Vanderbilt Landscaping retaliated against me and has sued us for lying,” said Hilario Razura, “but the evidence keeps coming out showing that what we said is the truth. This judgment is important because it will protect future workers from Vanderbilt’s abuse.”

Jobs with Justice was on the frontlines of this fight. In Nashville, Middle Tennessee Jobs with Justice mobilized community and labor allies in solidarity with workers to escape the work camps and win back their passports. Earlier this year, JwJ mobilized labor leaders to join the Alliance of Guestworkers for Dignity in a meeting with the Department of Labor to seek Vanderbilt’s debarment. And JwJ activists around the country sent letters and made calls seeking the company be removed from the guestworker program.

On May 10th

Continue reading Guestworkers Win Victory Against Vanderbilt Landscaping

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!

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.

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

Continue reading TN Workers Reject CASCO Attempt to Cut Benefits, Move Plant

Late in the night on August 10, Mexican guestworker Hilario Jimenez escaped from company housing to expose his employers. Hilario and other guestworkers were recruited from Mexico and brought to the U.S. on H-2B visas by Vanderbilt Landscaping LLC.

This morning Hilario blew the whistle on a Tennessee scandal: Vanderbilt Landscaping, LLC is receiving millions in federal stimulus money and state contracts put together. And the company is importing guestworkers – cheap, captive labor – into public jobs even as local communities are suffering from record unemployment rates.

Now we ask you to stand with Hilario Middle Tennessee Jobs with Justice and members of the Alliance of Guestworkers of Dignity to fight human trafficking, forced labor, and a company that gets millions in state and stimulus money.

TELL THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO INVESTIGATE VANDERBILT.  Call 202 353 1555 and tell Attorney General Eric Holder, “The Department of Justice should investigate and prosecute the employers for criminal conduct including but not limited to labor

Continue reading Stop Tax Dollars From Paying for Forced Labor!

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

Continue reading Tennessee Hosts Traveling Workers’ Rights Board Tour on Wage Theft and Safety Violations