January 2011

Carrying On King's Work

Submitted by Allison Fletche... on January 17, 2011

At the time of his death in 1968, Dr. King was engaged in preparations for a Poor People’s Campaign that aimed to bring thousands of unemployed and working poor people to Washington, DC.  At that time, the unemployment rate was 4% and fewer than 13% of Americans were living in poverty.  Today, the unemployment rate is 9.4% and 14.3% live in poverty.

Uniting to Win Respect for Rite Aid Workers and Our Communities!

Submitted by Amy Willis on January 13, 2011

Highlights from the Dec. 15 National Day of Action…

Over the past several years, Rite Aid executives have made a number of serious missteps that have hurt the company’s business.  The nation’s third-largest retail drug store chain has not made a profit in more than three years, causing investors to suffer heavy losses. Instead of working with employees to help turn the company around, Rite Aid executives are trying to make workers pay for management’s mistakes. At Rite Aid locations across the country, the trend is same: the company is demanding concessions from hardworking employees, while increasing executive compensation.

For example, while CEO John Standley recently doubled his own compensation, Rite Aid is:

"Public" Enemy Number One

Submitted by JwJNational on January 13, 2011

In the latest round of their strategy to divide and conquer working people, the right-wing has launched an attack on workers in the public sector, aiming to pit them against workers in the private sector (at least after pitting them both against immigrant workers in all sectors).  Unable to shake the worst economic crisis since the Depression, Republicans  - and yes, some Democrats  - are hell-bent on shifting the blame away from their allies on Wall Street who continue to bring in record profits, and instead focus their malice on public employees.  Demonized as lazy, overpaid bureaucrats, teachers, firefighters, bus drivers, librarians, sanitation workers, and millions more are being put on trial for the crimes of investment bankers, hedge-fund managers and the handful of finance sector executives who have actually made money on the backs of the laid-off, foreclosed-on workers.

You do not have to be a lifetime activist to see through the muck on this one, this battle is over who controls the basic livelihoods of the overwhelming majority of the country: working people or corporations.

In order to unite and fight back, working people must fully understand the different battlefields of this attack.  Corporate fat cats, led by the Party of “No”, are waging their war on workers on four fronts, nationally and in the states.  The corporate attack on the public sector has four components:

New Year; Same Jobs Emergency

Submitted by Fran Tobin on January 12, 2011

Gee … if everybody just gives up looking, we could cut the unemployment rate to zero.

Portland 99ers RallyThe official unemployment rate dropped to 9.4% -- primarily because 260,000 workers gave up looking and are no longer counted.  Many pundits are spinning the jobs report as positive signs of recovery.  Conservatives, of course, will argue against government action to create jobs, reminding us more than a little of Herbert Hoover promising that “prosperity is just around the corner.”

Back in the real world, community, faith-based, student and labor groups continue to push for Full and Fair Employment, recognizing that there is no such thing as a “jobless recovery,” no matter how happy CEOs are about corporate reserve cash, or that bank bonuses are bigger than ever.

Wall Street vs. Workers: The Struggle Continues

Submitted by Fran Tobin on January 11, 2011

Winning the Dodd-Frank Bank Reform bill was an important victory for JwJ groups and our allies, but far from the end of the struggle between working communities and Wall Street.

The nation’s biggest banks, the ones that enriched themselves while driving our economy into ruin, have been foreclosing on homes and evicting families without even filing the proper paperwork.  In a ruling that could shake the very foundation of these bailout bandits, the Massachusetts Supreme Court recently said the banks have to show they have the legal right to foreclose before doing so.

That such a common sense question (should banks follow the law when kicking people out of homes?) went to a state supreme court is a sign of how monumentally out of whack our system has become and how much the big banks have been getting away with recklessness.

Vermonters Rally for Health Care for All

Submitted by James Haslam on January 7, 2011

Healthcare is a Human Right RallyMore than three hundred Vermonters converged at the Statehouse on January 5th to deliver more than four thousand petition signatures to lawmakers Shap Smith, John Campbell, Claire Ayer and Mark Larson.  The petition demands that Vermont lead the nation in the adoption of universal healthcare. The petition also builds on last year's passage of Act 128 the "Universal Access To Healthcare Act," which mandates that Vermont create a healthcare system which meets the human rights principles of universality, equity, accountability, transparency, participation and healthcare as a public good.  The rally also comes in anticipation of the release of the state mandated universal healthcare system options, designed by Dr. William Hsiao, expected on January 19th of this year.

SAVE THE DATE! Jobs with Justice National Conference

Submitted by Allison Fletche... on January 3, 2011

Build power.  Fight back. WIN!
Jobs with Justice National Conference
August 5-7, 2011 in Washington, DC

This year - starting now - we are expecting an array of serious attacks on workers’ rights to hit state legislatures, including Right to Work for Less laws, paycheck deception, anti-prevailing wage bills, anti-immigrant bills, and continued attacks on the public sector.  Corporations want to use the failing economy as an excuse to reverse every worker protection put in place over the last century, but we won't let that happen.

Come to the Jobs with Justice conference to learn from and strategize with labor leaders, rank & file workers, students, religious leaders, community activists, workers excluded from labor law protection, and many, many more about how to build a powerful movement of working people to defeat the corporate agenda.

Please save the date & stay tuned to learn more about the program, action, and celebrations planned at the 2011 Jobs with Justice National Conference.

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Jobs with Justice is a national network of local coalitions that bring together labor unions, faith groups, community organizations, and student activists to fight for working people. Our members are in the streets in 46 cities in 24 states across the country.

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