Indianapolis

In the last two weeks, Central Indiana Jobs with Justice has gotten significant local media coverage.  Why?  Because the community is taking more and more action to demand justice from local government, and in particular questioning why the billionaire Simon family should benefit from millions in taxpayer dollars while the city cuts vital public services.

Dozens packed the small hearing room and drew media coverage to the Municipal Corporations Committee meeting on September 27th to protest Mayor Ballard’s $1.5 million gift to the Simons.  The Simon family got a new scoreboard for their Pacers team, while library workers will see pink slips.

For the first time in Indianapolis’s recent history, 43 participants staged a mass civil disobedience in front of the Hyatt Regency downtown.  Hospitality workers and community supporters of the hotel workers were there to stand up for the Hyatt workers who have been asking management to stay neutral since November of 2008.  Among the 43 were two JwJ staff members, seven steering committee members and many other JwJ pledge signers.

Yesterday, hundreds of community, faith, student leaders came to Washington to tell their elected officials why they support the Employee Free Choice Act.  Jobs with Justice activists from Pennsylvania, Missouri, Maine and Indiana joined others in a jam-packed 36 hours of training and lobbying. 

A sampling of what Jobs with Justice coalitions worked on from August 22-September 7.

Security Guards at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, after repeated requests for a meeting, welcomed new director Timothy Rub with a rally on the steps of the museum.  On September 3rd, the guards filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to allow them  to unionize as members of the Philadelphia Security Officers Union, an independent union.

In August of 2008, the Central Indiana Jobs with Justice chapter had a critical decision to make:  whether or not to seemingly abandon our long time health care reform partners and H.R. 676 and join the national Health Care for America Now Campaign (HCAN), and position ourselves to become part of the largest coalition ever to take on health care reform.   But a secondary question lingered too:  Could Central Indiana JwJ position itself to become the largest social justice coalition in Indiana?

This decision came about at an interesting time, before the election that turned Indiana "blue" for the first time since 1964.  With a limited number of progressive groups in the state, and a history scattered with part-time staff support, the organization decided to join HCAN and launched a state-wide campaign for health care reform.

A sampling of what Jobs with Justice coalitions are working on this week.

JwJ coalitions across the country continued to engage in the health care debate.  Central Indiana Jobs with Justice is forming a local grassroots group of activists to respond to the attacks on health insurance reform.  Stay tuned next week for a more detailed account of the work they are doing.

As we previously reported, Missouri JwJ joined Danny Glover to support St. Louis Casino workers.

Members of the Tompkins County Workers' Center/JwJ in Ithaca, NY urged members of the state's Industrial Development Agency to include a requirement that a local hotel receiving tax abatements must pay a living wage.