March 2011

Florida House Votes to End Pay Deductions for Public Workers' Union Dues

Submitted by Denise Diaz on March 31, 2011

On Friday, March 25th, the Florida Governor signed legislation into law that ties teacher's salaries to test scores and removes tenure. On the same day, the Florida House passed legislation to make union dues deduction of public workers illegal.

Workers and students united in Orlando to say "Enough is Enough" to these attacks on working people. Protesters demanded the Speaker of the House Dean Cannon stop the scapegoating of workers and students. Rep. Cannon is following the Governor’s agenda of prioritizing corporate interests at the expense of middle class families dealing with the effects of economic crisis. Its time to find real solutions and sensible policies and not keep it as politics as usual.

The delegation loudly marched into Rep. Cannon's office. A person dressed as the Notorious Governor Rick Scott left a huge box of money behind congratulating the Representative on blaming working people on behalf of their corporate cronies. People carried framed testimonials from a student, an unemployed worker, a professor, a parent and an immigrant advocate: we will not be framed for the state's revenue shortfall!

Protests will continue to escalate throughout the legislative session. Coordinating groups include Central Florida Jobs with Justice, Central Florida AFL-CIO, and the Student Labor Action Project @UCF.

Vermont House Passes Universal Healthcare Bill

Submitted by James Haslam on March 31, 2011

On Thursday, March 24, members of the grassroots Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign cheered on as the Vermont House of Representatives voted 92 - 49 to pass the universal healthcare bill, H.202.  The House bill passed as a result of thousands of Vermonters speaking out and demanding that healthcare be treated as a human right and provided as a public good.

“This bill puts Vermont on a path to a system in which every Vermonter can get the healthcare they need when they need it, and the financing of that system is shared equitably by all. This is a huge step forward,” says Peg Franzen, President of the Vermont Workers’ Center.

The Healthcare Is a Human Right Campaign still hopes to strengthen the bill in the Senate based on its human rights principles of universality, equity, accountability, transparency and participation.

“This bill is a road map and it gets Vermont started down that road. We are fighting hard to have human rights principles be the guidelines for this bill, because we must have a system that works for everyone,” says Franzen. “We’re asking the Senate to specify that Green Mountain Care will be financed equitably, which means that people and businesses should contribute based on their ability to pay. We’re also demanding that the new system gets rid of the middlemen - private insurance companies - which are in the business of making money on our backs and denying us access to care.”

Jobs with Justice East Tennessee Launches "Public Knoxville"

Submitted by Naomi Demsas on March 31, 2011

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!

Please vote for Jobs with Justice!

Submitted by Allison Fletche... on March 31, 2011

Jobs with Justice is in the running to win a free booth in the exhibit hall at the annual Netroots Nation convention this summer.  The top three vote-getters in this online contest will automatically get a booth in the Hall AND two registrations to the conference.

Voting is easy -- please help us out!

  1. Go to to http://netrootsnation.org/HallContestVotingPage
  2. Scroll down to Jobs with Justice and click the "like" button (you must be logged into Facebook to vote)

Netroots Nation's goal is to amplify progressive voices by providing an online and in-person campus for exchanging ideas and learning how to be more effective in using technology to influence the public debate. The annual Netroots Nation convention inspires action and serves as an incubator for ideas that challenge the status quo and ultimately affect change in the public sphere.

Celebrate César Chávez

Submitted by JwJNational on March 31, 2011

Cesar Chavez “Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore. We have seen the future, and the future is ours.” - César Chávez.

Throughout his life, César Chávez inspired millions of people to commit themselves to the fight for social, economic, and civil rights. When he was once asked by a union member how he wanted to be remembered, Chávez replied, "If you want to remember me, organize!"

César Chávez knew as you and I do there is still much to be done. The struggle for a contract with Giumarra (suppliers of most of the table grapes in America), injustice in the wrongful death of farm worker Maria Isavel Vasquez Jimenez, and the continuing legislative attacks on immigrants, unions and the poor remind us of the challenges we face this very moment.

Demand fair elections for airline & rail workers - House vote tomorrow

Submitted by Allison Fletche... on March 30, 2011

Imagine an election where all non-voters are counted as “NO” voters. It’s undemocratic, and it would make it extremely difficult to get enough “YES” votes to pass anything.

That’s exactly what House Transportation Chairman John Mica has in mind for airline and railway workers who are voting in union elections. Mica, who has taken more than $620,000 in campaign contributions from the airline industry, has put a provision into the FAA reauthorization bill that would make it much more difficult for railway and airline employees to form unions.

Under this rule, even if more people voted “yes” than voted “no”, the "yeses" could still lose.  Can you think of ANY election that works this way?  We would never tolerate this kind of voting in our political elections; why would we allow it in union elections?

Congress is expected to vote on the provision TOMORROW.  Please send an email TODAY to let Congress know we will not tolerate this undemocratic process. The only votes that should count are the votes that are actually cast!

USSA's Legislative Conference Focuses in on Labor

Submitted by Chris Hicks on March 30, 2011

By Curtis Hierro

March 19th through the 22nd, students from around the country gathered in D.C. for the United States Students Association's 42nd annual Grassroots Legislative Conference. Over 400 students were able to attend workshops, hear speakers and march on the capital for National Student Lobby Day. This conference was more important than ever as campuses across the country are being forced to confront budget cuts that threaten our educational system and the very stability of America's working class.

The Student Labor Action Project (a joint project between USSA and Jobs with Justice) gave workshops on media techniques, fundraising tactics and the importance of building ties between students and labor.

Ohio turns clock back 30 years; votes to end collective bargaining rights

Submitted by Fran Tobin on March 30, 2011

The Ohio House today voted 53-44 to pass SB5, which will undo 30 years of collective bargaining rights.  Update: The Ohio Senate passed the bill 17-16 and Governor Kasich will reportedly sign it into law on Friday. The bill, passed despite massive protests and wide-spread public opposition, is likely to be subject of a "people's veto" referendum -- under Ohio law, a bill can be repealed by popular vote if hundreds of thousands of petitions are collected to put it on the ballot.

Republican leaders in Ohio are following the corporate script of trying to blame teachers, firefighters, other public service workers and organized labor for budget shortfalls that were actually created by a combination of the Wall-Street-driven recession and tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations.

Don’t let the Big Banks get away with it

Submitted by Fran Tobin on March 29, 2011

The Big Banks – yes, the same ones that cause the economic crisis, demanded a bailout, and are back to record profits and bonuses while joblessness remains at crisis levels – are trying to undo the financial reforms we won last year and trying to get out of being held accountable for their financial fraud.

We can’t let them get away with it.  Please take three minutes to keep banks accountable.

WalMart associates in their own words, "this company doesn't respect workers"

Submitted by Austin Guest on March 29, 2011

On Thursday, February 17, New York City once more showed up in force to turn back Walmart's plans to build its first stores in the city. Close to 100 community members from all over NYC gathered in front of City Hall to voice their opposition and stayed to listen as witness after witness testified against Walmart's cut-throat labor practices.

The stars of the day were the WalMart workers who were brave enough to stand up and tell their stories of abuse at the hands of the world's richest employer.   We collected the stories of two workers, Sandra and Kenneth, in this short video:

We hope you'll check out the video, pass it along to your friends and ask them to sign the petition to keep WalMart out of New York City.  WalMart is a threat to the livelihoods of working people across the country that we can’t allow to run roughshod over our communities – in New York City or anywhere else.

Concessions won; Indiana lawmakers end boycott

Submitted by Fran Tobin on March 28, 2011

The longest sustained protest in Indiana history reached a transition point, as concessions from corporate-backed Republicans led Democratic lawmakers to end their boycott of the legislative session.  Jobs with Justice coalitions across the Hoosier state, in coalition with faith-based, student, community and labor groups, were in the thick of high energy mobilizations over a series of weeks, including sit-ins, skits, teach-ins and a rally of more than 15,000.

Democratic lawmakers say they’ve secured concessions on several key issues, including worker rights and education:

*  So-called “right-to-work” legislation will be shelved, and the attempt to permanently prevent collective bargaining for state employees, already eliminated by Gov. Mitch Daniels’s executive order, will be dropped.

Fighting for Single-Payer Health Care in Oregon

Submitted by Margaret Butler on March 28, 2011

Portland Jobs with Justice has led the building of a statewide network to strengthen the movement for a single payer health care system.  With the addition of all the Oregon Jobs with Justice chapters (Southern OR, Central OR, Eugene Springfield Solidarity Network, and Mid-Willamette Valley) adopting single payer health care as a priority campaign, Oregon JwJ activist are gearing up to fight for a just healthcare system that puts people before profits.

Single Payer Conference a Huge Success

On January 29, over 450 single payer advocates from around the state of Oregon gathered at the First Unitarian Church in Portland to network and advocate for an improved, expanded Medicare for All program to fix our broken health care system.

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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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