JwJ News 05-06
may 2005
- Community Standards to be Included in Eugene, OR's Enterprise Zone
- Vermont Universal Health Care Supporters Celebrate House Legislation, Prepare to Broaden Movement
- Philly SLAP Helps Moore College Life Models Win Union
- Cuffs Come Out During Noisy Visit to Congress Hotel
- Washington State JwJ Rallies for Peace
- Indianapolis WRB Holds Hearing on Janitors
- Register Online Now for the Jobs with Justice National Annual Meeting
Community Standards to be Included in Eugene, OR's Enterprise Zone
Thanks to the hard work of Eugene-Springfiled Solidarity Network/JwJ members and the Lane County Labor Council, their Community Standards Campaign has cleared an important hurdle. In their April 20th work session, the Eugene City Council passed a resolution to apply for a state enterprise zone. Included is a provision that 25% of the tax-break a business could receive would be contingent upon the employer meeting specific standards for wages, benefits and job security. These standards are to be crafted with community input, with ESSN/JwJ identified as one of the community members to be part of creating the standards.
In public testimony given at their April 11 meeting, ESSN/JwJ Organizer Claire Syrett told the City Council,"The idea of community standards for economic development is simple: If you make an investment, you should expect a return. If public money is to be used to subsidize private business it should result in a measurable public benefit. The creation of low-wage jobs with no benefits ends up costing taxpayers twice - first for the initial subsidy and then again when the low-wage worker needs our help to feed their children or shows up at the emergency room of the hospital for medical care."
Eugene will not find out until June whether or not they will get the enterprise zone from the state. Because of this, city staff is suggesting they wait for the outcome before forming a committee. However, ESSN hopes to start crafting standards soon, regardless of the results of the application process for an enterprise zone. Working to create the standards will provide an opportunity to raise the community's expectations about wages, benefits, and working conditions. ESSN/JwJ sees this as an important first step in generating a similar dialogue throughout Lane County.
Vermont Universal Health Care Supporters Celebrate House Legislation, Prepare to Broaden Movement
Proponents of universal health care were happily surprised by the boldness of H.524, the health care reform bill passed by Vermont's House last month. The bill would lay the groundwork for a system of comprehensive care for all Vermonters, and it would be publicly funded through broad-based taxes. The Bill identifies health care as a public good, and recognizes the current dysfunctional set-up as a threat to the state's economy. It would create a network of community advisory groups and a single state agency (consolidating work now spread through several departments) that would set annual budgets for the hospitals statewide and oversee health care generally.
The Senate has just passed its own version of H.524 with dramatically smaller ambitions. It would create primary-care coverage for the uninsured, funded by a 3% tax on employees without insurance and on employers who do not offer it. A conference committee will now try to produce a compromise between the two versions. However, the Governor is likely to veto any Bill resembling H.524. Supporters of universal health care need to use the summer and fall to build a larger movement, one that will pressure the legislature next year to make a publicly-financed system a reality or face the consequences at the polls.
The House bill has created excitement and energy. At the same time, big businesses such as IBM and other multinationals are working to prevent publicly funded health care in VT. The complexity of the issue makes mobilizing difficult. While polls consistently show a strong majority in favor of "universal health care," few people feel they understand the issue well enough to get active and vocal about it. The Vermont Workers' Center/JwJ is part of a coalition of groups promoting universal health care. The VWC's focus is on educating and mobilizing union members, especially those in health care unions. It is also working with the coalition to develop a broader strategy that includes mobilizing business owners and building local networks among existing activists to help them reach out more effectively. The VWC/JwJ will work to engage people on a visceral and personal level in order to spur them to learn more and to become advocates for fundamental health care reform.
Philly SLAP Helps Moore College Life Models Win Union
In 2002, when a majority of Moore College (and other campuses) Life Models voted to join a union, they thought that they were on the road to better working conditions and a better life. Unfortunately, the local art schools fought their efforts, saying that they were private contractors who did not have the right to form a union (a contention backed up by an NLRB decision this year). Nevertheless, the Philadelphia Student Labor Action Project took up the Life Model's struggle as one of several activities during the Student Labor Week of Action (March 30-April 4).
We are proud to report that the SLAP action helped these workers win justice! After a solidarity picket and sending SLAP infiltrators into the parent and prospective student open house to inform people about the workers' rights issues at the university, the College returned to the negotiating table, dealt with the workers as a union, and negotiated a contract!
Cuffs Come Out During Noisy Visit to Congress Hotel
A leader of a group of activists from Chicago Jobs With Justice (JwJ) was suddenly handcuffed as their noisy noontime visit rattled the managers of the Congress Plaza Hotel. The building's security guards seized Chicago JwJ Director James Thindwa as he tried to hand a letter to a manager asking for a meeting with Schlomo Nahmias, representative of the hotel's owners. The group sought to voice their concern and support for the hotel's employees, represented by UNITE-HERE Local 1, who have been on strike nearly two years. Hotel management's final contract offer to the employees proposed wage cuts and a freeze in health care contributions.
Those witnessing Thindwa's detention refused to leave until he was released. The group had entered chanting, "Schlomo, come out," and waving Jobs with Justice signs, but quieted and moved to a hallway after demanding Thindwa's release.
The security guards soon released Thindwa and he again joined picketers outside. Outside, he characterized the management's reaction to their visit as proof of the impact of the activists' efforts. Reverend Dan Dale, minister at the Wellington United Church of Christ, added that all of those present shared an interest in supporting each other against attacks on workers' rights.
Washington State JwJ Rallies for Peace
Washington State JwJ led a labor contingent in a large peace rally in Seattle on March 19th, commemorating the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. The contingnet focused on one of WSJWJ's two main priorities, "worker organizing impacted by war." Two hundred labor activists representing 22 Internationals took part in the 5,000 person rally, with support from our allies in the faith and student movements. JwJ brought attention to the attacks on the union and civil service protections for 750,000 Department of Defense civilian employees. The JwJ-initiated workers' right contingent brought banners from a dozen Unions, and helped to get the head of the King County Labor Council as one of the main speakers. The labor focus also publicized attacks on the President of an AFGE Local at the VA Hospital who is facing reprisals under the Hatch Act for her advocacy on behalf of veterans' health care. A week after the march, the charges against her were dropped.
Indianapolis WRB Holds Hearing on Janitors
Janitors employed by GSF who clean buildings in the Indianapolis area testified at a Central Indiana Workers' Rights Board hearing in on Saturday, May 21. The janitors, who are currently organizing with SEIU Local 3, described a variety of problems that they face on the job, as well as obstacles they face in their struggle to win better wages, benefits, and job security.
The WRB Panelists included: Margie Oakley, Secretary for Concerned Clergy, Hon. Joanne Sanders, City-County Councilor, Nancy Guyott, former Commissioner of Labor, Rev. Ivan Douglas Hicks, Pastor 1st Baptist North Church, Rev. Robert Walters, Ex. Director of Metro Ministries, and John Bartlett, President of Central IN CBTU. After deliberation, the panel made the following recommendations and asked that they be kept up to date on the campaign.
- Increase community awareness regarding the struggle of janitors. Incorporate into weekly Concerned Clergy radio program.
- Increase positive media coverage to change the "image" of the work of janitors.
- Increase awareness of tenants and owners to the struggle within the buildings.
- Increase interactions with government agencies to provide protection to workers on the job, including but not limited to: OSHA, Workers' Compensation, Indiana Civil Rights Commission
- Work with the coworkers to increase their awareness of their rights on the job.
- Engage the faith-based community and social service agencies to provide resources and support to workers living in their midst.
MEDIA LINKS
Transit backer, legislator get aboard MARTA to listen
Atlanta Journal Constitution (subscription), GA - May 30, 2005
... Terence Courtney (left) of Atlanta Jobs with Justice talks with Melanie Sumlin aboard a bus to the Bowen Homes neighborhood, which stands to lose one of two ...
Vocal crowd decries lack of good-wage jobs for DC residents
The Common Denominator, DC - Jun 3, 2005
... "In most cases, the jobs that are created don't go to DC residents," said Roger Newell, chairman of DC Jobs with Justice, a labor-related organization that co ...
Downtown: Urban renewal on Aisle 5
The Register-Guard, Oregon - Jun 2, 2005
... Claire Syrett, organizer for Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Network/Jobs with Justice, says her organization doesn't have an official position on Whole Foods ...
Sol Stetin, 95; longtime labor leader
NorthJersey.com, NJ - May 23, 2005
... St. Louis Chapter of Jobs With Justice and a member of the St. Louis Worker Rights Board. When the National Worker Rights Board was ...
Good for the 'Hood?
AlterNet, CA - May 17, 2005
... Ronald Wilks said at the time. While the City Council debated, a coalition formed, led by Jobs With Justice, a national workers' rights organization. ...
Governor weighs increase in Utah's minimum wage
Salt Lake Tribune, UT - May 24, 2005
... That argument doesn't faze George Neckel from Utah Jobs with Justice, who said the state should not be trying to attract or keep companies that pay "poverty ...
Union workers lead Wal-Mart protest
Cleveland Plain Dealer, OH - May 24, 2005
... Monday's gathering at City Hall was organized by Jobs With Justice, an activist group led locally by co-chairman Robert Strommen. ...
On the picket line
Workers World - May 19, 2005
... "I'm so thrilled with what these students have won!" said janitor Chyrstal Wells in an April 26 media release issued by Jobs with Justice, which fights ...
Cleaning Up The Laundry Industry
TomPaine.com, D.C. - May 16, 2005
... At a Jobs with Justice National Workers' Rights Board hearing, Yvonne Wolcott of Batavia, NY, reported that she struggles to meet the company's demands to ...
City council wades into the middle of the nation's health care ...
Village Voice, NY - May 10, 2005
... "I wish national lawmakers would solve it," says Simon Greer, co-director of New York Jobs With Justice, which is pushing the City Council bill. ...
MARTA board postpones decision on 2006 budget
Atlanta Journal Constitution (subscription), GA - May 9, 2005
... Renita Bundrage (from left), Margo Waters and Michelle Aulthouse enter MARTA headquarters Monday as Jobs With Justice coalition members protest against the ...
Community grieves for woman 'warrior'
The Register-Guard, Oregon - May 16, 2005
... Benedict also was involved with the Eugene Springfield Solidarity Network/Jobs with Justice and served on the advisory committee for Lane County Mental Health ...
MARTA Crisis is Human Rights Crisis, Say Members of US Human ...
U.S. Newswire (press release), DC - May 9, 2005
... According to Terence Courtney, organizer for Atlanta Jobs with Justice, one of the leading organizations on the MARTA crisis, "decisions that would result in ...
Mayor wanna-bes had best listen up
New York Daily News, NY - May 12, 2005
... Other community organizations such as NYC Jobs with Justice, Make the Road by Walking and Mothers on the Move have joined FUREE in this effort. ...
