JwJ Blog

Locked-out workers hold the line at American Crystal Sugar

More than six months ago, American Crystal Sugar locked out 1,300 workers, hired replacements and security guards, and painted a line across the driveways of seven facilities in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Iowa. They told workers, many of whom had devoted decades to the company, that they would risk arrest if they crossed the line.

Since then, local, state, and federal politicians; religious leaders; community members; and the workers themselves have repeatedly called on Crystal Sugar’s president, David Berg, to end the lockout and return to the bargaining table. So far, their requests have fallen on deaf ears.

Yes, executives have said repeatedly that they are willing to meet with the union at any time. But, only as long as locked out workers are prepared to accept their final offer, an offer workers have overwhelmingly rejected twice. The company’s plan is clear: Do whatever it takes; spend whatever it costs, to deprive workers of a voice in their own workplace.

According to anContinue reading A Thousand Miles of Solidarity: Taking the Fight for Workers’ Rights on the Road

The unemployment insurance extension is set to expire on March 6, leaving hundreds of thousands without benefits. House Republicans are proposing costly and burdensome barriers that would make it even harder for jobless Americans to look for work.  Working families must reach out to the U.S. Senators and call on Congress to fully renew unemployment insurance for 2012 – with no cuts and no barriers.

Republican leadership is leading a drive to “reform” the system by reducing coverage, and imposing onerous new restrictions on the ability of jobless workers to access these benefits, including drug testing, GED requirements, and more.   Most troubling of all the proposals is one that would allow individual state waivers, permitting states to divert unemployment benefits to purposes other than benefits to jobless workers!

Fourteen million people are unemployed, many in the job search of their lives.  And according to the December 2011 Department of Labor jobs report, there are nearly 5.6 million people in the U.S. who have been jobless for six months or more—that’s more than 40 percent of all jobless Americans. he average duration of joblessness

Continue reading It’s Time For Congress to Act on Unemployment Insurance

While workers at Verizon and Verizon Wireless have been fighting for dignity and respect since last summer, workers at AT&T are facing attacks of their own.  In the last month, the company has targeted over 740 union workers, primarily in the southern region of the country, to lay-off despite reporting record profits this quarter.  In 2011, their revenues soared to $126.7 billion, and the CEO—Randall Stephenson made over $27 million in 2011.

Multinational corporations like Verizon and AT&T are undermining workers’ standards of living.  Workers at Verizon are still negotiating a new contract after waging a full fledged strike last August, and the company has so far shown no interest in even maintaining existing baseline standards for employees.

Verizon Wireless wants to force workers to pay thousands of dollars more for health care, and has slashed the level of benefits.  But workers, supported by community leaders, students and faith activists are not backing down.  On Tuesday, February 14th—Valentine’s Day, they will collectively tell Verizon Wireless how much they are breaking our hearts—leafleting store managers & consumers.

Inspired by the efforts of these workers, Atlanta Jobs with Justice joined the

Continue reading Workers, Community fight back against global communications giants!

Across the JwJ network, union and community activists continue to escalate pressure on Verizon to do the right thing and negotiate a fair contract with members of the Communications Workers of America. Last August the contract expired for 45,000 workers on the east coast. Verizon has been demanding huge concessions from workers on wages, job security, health care, and retirement.

Last week, JwJ coalitions in 9 cities did delegations to managers at local Verizon Wireless store to deliver a letter signed by 150 community leaders as part of the national Spring of Discontent kick-off to demand corporate accountability.

Then on Thursday, Feb. 9th, members of Occupy DC and other student and community activists shook things up with a creative flash mob at the Verizon Wireless store inside DC’s grand Union Station. Julia Kann, a reporter with the Metro Washington Council’s Union City newsletter, offered the following eye-witness report:  “The unexpected sounds of brass instruments echoed through Union Station last night as commuters turned to watch an unusual gathering in front of the Verizon store. Over a dozen young people donned protective medical face masks and —

Continue reading Flashmob Strikes Verizon Wireless Store in DC’s Union Station

The Disobedience School: Class of 2012 hosted this past Saturday on the 28th was a big success.

The event took place at UNITE HERE Local 26 on Harrison Ave. near the Chinatown T stop and it brought together about 40 people from different organizations including Jobs with Justice, MassUniting, and several others. The event proved to be a very informative and helpful gathering of passionate individuals who share similar goals but who possess different strengths that would be essential in attaining those goals and making dreams a reality. The program was divided into 11 different segments running from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm. It started off with the Welcome segment followed by two fellow social justice workers sharing their stories on why they have gotten involved with the social justice movement regarding worker’s rights and immigrant rights. Then Russ Davis, the director of Jobs with Justice, gave a quick speech to reinforce our goals in the fight to end corporate greed. Afterwards, everybody was separated into different workshops such as Campaign Creation, Civil Disobedience, Direct Action Planning, Media & Messaging, 1-on-1 Organizing, and Organizing Models.

The workshops I

Continue reading The Disobedience School: Class of 2012

Please take a moment today to tell the Department of Labor that home care workers should be entitled to minimum wage and overtime pay, like other American workers.

Following an announcement by President Obama and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, the Department of Labor is seeking comments on proposed regulations to expand overtime and minimum-wage protections to over a million home-care workers. The comment period is open until February 27.

These new regulations are an important step towards creating what we need, but they are not final. The Department of Labor will review all of the comments filed and consider whether it should put the regulations into effect or make changes to them. We need everyone who supports fair pay for home care workers – people who work in home care, people who receive home care, and advocates who believe that we should be nation that takes care of one another across generations – to submit comments supporting the proposed regulations.

Visit the Action Center at caringacrossgenerations.org/take-action to get talking points and tools to help you make a formal comment on the proposed rule – and

Continue reading Take Action for Millions of Home Care Workers

Could you imagine having to leave 3 hours early for work  just so you could be on time?  Lynx transit riders do. Or, having to work 8 hours straight without a bathroom break? Lynx bus drivers do.

While Lynx’s ridership is growing, the bus service in Central Florida is becoming less sustainable. A dedicated funding source is needed so services can improve with more routes, better timing and good transit jobs.  It is up to the elected officials on Lynx board to make dedicated funding a reality in their respective commissions. This is been an ongoing struggle for years and now that Sun rail is coming, we must send a clear message that bus funding cannot be left behind. 

In January, members of the JwJ Scrooge Election committee delivered the 2011 Scrooge of the year Award to Lynx Board Chairman, Carlton Henley. As chair of board, Commissioner Henley has avoided paying bus drivers better wages and advocating for more funding for public transit. He has been an advocate for privatization of services and running the bus service off the backs of working people.

Moving forward, Central Florida Jobs with Justice will be hitting the streets mobilizing

Continue reading Orlando’s Lynx Board Chairman wins 2011 Scrooge of the Year!

Monrovia, CA/Immokalee, FL — Trader Joe’s and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) announced today that they have signed an agreement that formalizes the ways in which Trader Joe’s will work with the CIW and Florida tomato growers to support the CIW’s Fair Food Program.

The Fair Food Program is a groundbreaking approach to social responsibility in the US produce industry that combines the Fair Food Code of Conduct – a set of labor standards developed in a unique collaboration among farmworkers, tomato growers, and the food industry leaders who purchase Florida tomatoes – with a small price premium to help improve harvesters’ wages. The goal of the Fair Food Program is to promote the development of a sustainable Florida tomato industry that advances both the human rights of farmworkers and the long-term interests of Florida tomato growers.

“We are truly happy today to welcome Trader Joe’s aboard the Fair Food Program,” said Gerardo Reyes of the CIW. “Trader Joe’s is cherished by its customers for a number of reasons, but high on that list is the company’s commitment to ethical purchasing practices. With this agreement, Trader Joe’s reaffirms that commitment and sends a strong — and timely — message

Continue reading Trader Joe’s and The Coalition of Immokalee Workers Sign Fair Food Agreement

The AFL-CIO and the National Immigration Forum (NIF) sent a joint letter yesterday to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano stressing the urgent need to change the Secure Communities program.

The Secure Communities program, implemented a few years ago by Homeland Security, was created to empower local law enforcement agencies to report undocumented immigrants with criminal records to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. But rather than making America’s communities safer, a recent investigation by the Justice Department confirmed the program has in many instances led to racial profiling.

The letter expresses serious concern with the Department of Justice findings of racial profiling of Latinos and other civil rights violations by the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, headed by Sheriff Joe Arpaio. It also notes that the Justice Department findings demonstrate abuse can happen when Homeland Security is actively collaborating with enforcement agencies through the Secure Communities program as well as informally with local law enforcement agencies.

The Justice Department’s findings are only the most recent evidence of the need for immediate and significant reforms to the Secure Communities program, according to the letter.

To prohibit DHS from becoming a vehicle for unlawful and discriminatory policing and to

Continue reading AFL-CIO Calls for Immediate Suspension of S-Comm Program

This week thousands of community and labor activists launched over 60 actions building towards the Shareholder Spring, delivering letters to the executives of the corporations in this country most responsible for undermining our democracy, crashing our economy, poisoning our environment and widening the gap between rich and poor.

On Wednesday, February 1st, Respect DC members returned to Marriott headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland to talk to Walmart board member and Marriott International President Arne Sorenson. Respect DC is calling on Mr. Sorenson to meet with members of Organization United for Respect at Walmart (OUR Walmart) and to ask Walmart board chair Rob Walton and CEO Mike Duke to do the same.  Having been there before in December, when Respect DC members returned, as promised, security immediately recognized the group saying, “No, we’re not doing this again.” He insisted they could not talk to Mr. Sorenson but took their letter and said he would deliver it.  So far, they still have yet to receive a response.

Actions targeting Walmart board members took place in San Francisco and New York as well.

Portland Jobs with Justice had 12 small delegations

Continue reading Shareholder Spring Launches

One of South Carolina’s largest economic engines, the Port of Charleston, is threatened by an anti-union bill (H-4652) making its way thought the state legislature. Sponsored by Rep. Bill Sandifer (R-Oconee), it would require unions to disclose every single financial transaction, publicize membership lists, and raises fines for violations of the state’s Right to Work Act from $100 to $10,000.

Sandifer, who chairs the Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee that is hearing his bill, stated at a Feb. 2 subcommittee meeting, “We do have one of the toughest right to work laws in the country; my goal is to have the toughest.”

The bill was passed out of subcommittee, and is scheduled to be heard by the full committee in the next two weeks.

Ken Riley, President of the Longshoreman’s union that works the Charleston port, questioned why punitive laws were being directed at the 5 percent of the state’s workers who belong to unions and make decent wages and benefits. “This unwarranted attack is political grandstanding intended to shift the blame for our economic problems from policy makers to workers,” Riley said.

According to the State Ports Authority, trade through South Carolina ports facilitates 280,600 jobs and provides an

Continue reading Anti-union Bill Threatens South Carolina Port

On the even of August 5, 2011, during the pinnacle banquet of the National Jobs with Justice conference, student guestworkers who had traveled from all over the world only to work in a plant in Hershey, Pennsylvania made a pitch for solidarity.  Like the Verizon workers who were about to go on strike the very next day, these workers too were planning to take courageous action.

They certainly had high expectations.  And why shouldn’t they have?  Just before they got on stage, workers with the National Guestworkers Alliance from a previous campaign against Signal had just been there claiming victory against the company and a reunion with their families.  So, the 30 that had come stood up and told a story about how they each paid $3,000-$6,000 to come to the U.S. this summer for what they thought would be a cultural exchange program through the State Department’s J-1 visa. Instead, they found themselves packing chocolates at the Hershey’s plant in deeply exploitative conditions. After automatic weekly deductions for rent in company housing and other expenses, they net between $40 and $140 per week for 40 hours of work.

One

Continue reading Victory at Hersheys!

The House of Representatives is considering a vote on HR 1173, a bill that would repeal the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act. The CLASS Act was designed to be a voluntary insurance program to help Americans pay for long term care, and it was passed in 2009 as part of the Affordable Care Act.

Congress needs to hear from all of us today because they plan to vote on the bill as soon as tomorrow. If you haven’t already, please CLICK HERE to find the phone number for your Member of the House of Representatives and tell her/him:

1. The CLASS Act should not be repealed.
2. Repealing CLASS ignores the needs of millions of Americans with disabilities and seniors who need long term services and supports to maintain their independence and dignity.
3. Repealing CLASS ignores the needs of the direct care workforce for quality jobs.

Click here to let us know that you have told your representative to oppose repeal of the CLASS Act. If you have called already — thank you — please share this email with friends and invite them to call their representative so that we can protect the

Continue reading TAKE ACTION: Don’t repeal CLASS Act!

The fight begins— Following a string of “right to work” or anti-working class state initiatives that pushed through in Wisconsin and Ohio (which would be later overturned in Ohio), the Verizon Wireless contract negotiations began.  Both CWA and IBEW leadership and community supporters alike knew this fight wouldn’t be an easy one.  The surprise element in this campaign has been Verizon’s obvious attempt to cripple the union by rolling back on 50 years worth of benefits won by the CWA and IBEW. From health care, to pensions to job security, Verizon sought a wholesale roll back of workers rights. At the same time a smaller group of Verizon Wireless workers who are members of CWA faced similar attacks.

During a two week strike in August, unions, faith leaders, students and the community at large came to the defense of 45,000 workers that were not being respected by the corporation that employed them. We at Jobs with Justice stood firmly in picket lines, participated in marches and circulated community letters to pressure Verizon into negotiate fairly.

Soon after, in what felt like it sprouted from out of thin air, Occupy Wall Street began, igniting simultaneous occupations all over the country from

Continue reading A Verigreedy campaign

Written by Ida Vishkaee Eskamani – College Democrats at University of Central Florida

In 1997, Florida’s legislature created a scholarship program called Bright Futures. It was a program that allowed high school seniors with high academic merit to earn a scholarship for any public university in the state of Florida. Based on Georgia’s successful HOPE scholarship, this program would be paid for by the Florida Lottery, and based merit on GPA as well as standardized test scores. Bright Futures was divided into three types of scholarships, designed for three different types of students. There was one created for those high school seniors’ pursuing vocational degrees, one for the “B” students, and another for the “A” students. The “B” students earned a 75% scholarship for university, 100% for community college. The “A” students were granted a 100% scholarship for any public university.

I was one of those “A” students.

Growing up, I knew the importance of a college education. Immigrants, my parents moved from Iran and met here in the United States. While working two jobs with three young kids, my father

Continue reading Bright Futures or Student Debt?

Act now to confront corporate power!

This week, in over one hundred cities and towns, thousands will launch a series of actions building towards the Shareholder Spring, delivering letters to the executives of the corporations in this country most responsible for undermining our democracy, crashing our economy, poisoning our environment and widening the gap between rich and poor.

By coming together around a joint strategy to confront corporate power, this effort could shape the 2012 electoral debates.  The negative roles unregulated corporate power has on our economy and our elections would be front and center of the national conversation.  In races nationwide candidates would have to decide which side they are on:  Corporations, the structures of the 1%, or the rest of us.

Committing to such a broad-based effort to further expand the space opened by Occupy will create new possibilities for each of our campaigns.  In isolation our campaigns on jobs and worker rights, revenue, banking, health care, immigrant justice, and the environment are not big enough.  But together, we have the potential to shift the political landscape that all of us operate in.

We are

Continue reading Joint Effort Launched to Confront Corporate Power

282 Brooklyn Workers Overcome Vigorous Anti-Union Campaign; Become First Cablevision Employees To Join a Union In Predominately Non-Union Cable TV Industry

Today, 282 Brooklyn Cablevision technicians and dispatchers in Brooklyn voted to join the Communications Workers of America (CWA), Local 1109 in a union election administered by National Labor Relations Board, overcoming a vigorous anti-union campaign led by Cablevision.  They are the first Cablevision workers to join a union.  Cable TV is an overwhelmingly non-union industry while the traditional telecommunications industry remains highly unionized.

“I’ve waited 13 years for this,” said Cablevision technician Clarence Adams.  “United, as members of Communications Workers of America, we now have the power to negotiate a fair contract that will give us the dignity and respect on the job we deserve.”

Cablevision workers are currently subject to arbitrary discipline and favoritism by managers, their health care coverage is inadequate, their workload is unreasonable and they have insufficient 401(k) retirement plans.  Cablevision workers also make at least one-third less than Verizon workers, who are represented by CWA.

“This is about my son, his future, and the future of the Cablevision 99%,” said Cablevision technician Marlon Gayle.  “We can now negotiate

Continue reading Cablevision Workers Triumph: Brooklyn Technicians Vote To Unionize