Central Florida JwJ is Building the Movement to Keep and Create Good Jobs

The fight for keeping and creating jobs grew stronger in Florida this past week.  Central Florida Jobs with Justice mobilized for a rally, organized by the Space Coast AFL-CIO and Florida state AFL-CIO, that brought over 2,000 people from across the state to say “Save Our Space”!  Workers and their families traveled to the space coast from Miami, Pensacola, Jacksonville and all points in between to join business and community leaders to rally in support of continued federal funding of this vital economic driver for Florida’s future.  The rally featured National AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and other leaders from the American labor movement who used this dire situation as a backdrop to launch a national jobs campaign that would create 10 million American jobs.

Recent budget proposals working their way through Congress all but eliminate funding for NASA’s human spaceflight operations in Florida. Space operations have long been one of Florida’s most important economic sectors, supporting tens of thousands of good jobs and providing the economic cornerstone for many communities across the state. The loss of funding would eliminate tens of thousands of jobs, decimate many communities, and send shock waves across the state this at a time when Florida is facing the greatest unemployment and economic crisis in recent memory.

Press clips from the rally: NASA Budget Cuts Rally; 'Worth fighting for' is the rally cry.

Capturing the momentum from Saturday’s rally, we turned our focus to a community forum held on Monday, March 2nd at a packed local Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) union hall. National and local community leaders heard testimony from the workers on the real hardships from this economic crisis.  Central Florida Jobs with Justice brought local Worker Rights Board members to take part in the forum and hear the stories reflecting many throughout the country.

The forum was a nationwide kick off to create Jobs. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka laid out a five-point plan to put the country back to work and called on working families to take action. He said “We have to move it to action and we have to take it into the streets. We can do that—and only do that—together as an entire community.”

You can read more about the forum here.