Prayer Vigil Calls on Congress to Extend Unemployment Insurance Now
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Holding white carnations high above their heads to symbolize the nation’s millions of jobless workers—including the 6 million facing the loss of their unemployment insurance (UI) benefits Dec. 31—more than 2,000 union, faith and community activists committed their faith and action to demand Congress act now to extend the emergency lifeline for the jobless.
At the prayer vigil—with the Capitol dome rising in the background—the Rev. Dr. Paul Sherry, director of the Washington, D.C., office of Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ), offered the opening invocation and prayer.
We are one people, united in our goal here to bring justice and mercy to all people…and, today in your presence, Lord, we do believe we will prevail and ask that you give us the commitment to stand with them every day.
The crowd included a large contingent from the Take Back the Capitol action on the National Mall who marched up Constitution Avenue to the vigil, with banners and signs that read “This is Economic Emergency,” “We Need Jobs Now,” and “We Are the 99%.”
Unions Stand with Occupy Movement in Oakland and Nationwide
The Alameda Labor Council and California Labor Federation are standing in solidarity with Occupy Oakland’s Nov. 2 Day of Action. In a message to activists, council Executive Secretary-Treasurer Josie Camacho says working families are “inspired by the spirit of the fight against Wall Street.”
This Day of Action will be a public demonstration of support for the right to peaceably assembly without interference, and against the growing wealth and income inequality created by Wall Street and the actions of the richest 1 percent.
Along with encouraging noontime worksite actions and joining the 5 p.m. PDT mobilization at Oakland City hall, the labor council and its affiliates will hold a “cookout” to feed everyone taking part.
Last week, police used tear gas to disperse Occupy Oakland protesters and arrested dozens. They have since been allowed to return. But authorities have shut down Occupy actions and arrested protesters in other cities, including Atlanta; Chicago; Richmond, Va.; Rochester, N.Y.; and other cities. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says it is a:
tremendous dishonor to America when the voices for the powerless are suppressed by the powerful—the top 1 percent.
Occupy movements continue to stay strong across the nation. In Montana, union members joined Occupy Helena protesters in a march and rally. Says Montana State AFL-CIO Executive Secretary Al Ekblad:
Unions, Occupy Wall Street Join Together in New York, Peoria, Around the Nation
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The Occupy Wall Street movement has spread from big cities to small towns, mobilizing a diverse group of people from young workers to grandmothers. Even “The New Yorker” has taken note, with a cover this week that portrays a group of “protesters” who have occupied Wall Street since its inception—and who would like to keep it that way. Take a look here.
Meanwhile unions and union members around the country are throwing their support to the movement that is demanding Wall Street be held accountable, that financial institutions invest some of the trillions in profits they are sitting on into job creation and that Congress act to create jobs.
Transport Workers (TWU) President James Little says in this video that the Occupy Wall Street protesters have been the spark that set off this growing rebellion against greed and the huge economic inequality that has enriched the top 1 percent and left the other 99 percent behind.
If these people don’t get together and try to change some of the inequity that’s out there, no one’s going to do it. It has to be done. It’s not being changed in Washington, not by legislators. They’ve got to wake up.
Louisiana Worshippers Offer Prayers for Avondale Workers
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When a member of a congregation falls on hard times, it’s not unusual for church members to offer up their prayers. But it is unusual for 120 congregations spanning denominations to send prayers for recovery to a shipyard and the 5,000 people its closure is putting out of work.
That’s what happened this past weekend across southern Louisiana during the Pray for Avondale Weekend organized by the Save Our Shipyard campaign, Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) and, before they returned to school earlier this month, the New Orleans AFL-CIO Union Summer team.
Last year, Northrop Grumman announced it was closing the shipyard and began laying off its 5,000-member skilled workforce. In March, it spun off the shipyard to its newly created company, Huntington Ingalls Industries, and now the workforce is down to 3,000 who are building the final ship on the yard’s order book.
The Rev. Jim VanderWeele, minister of Community Church Unitarian Universalist in New Orleans and the IWJ coordinator there, told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that one of the values of prayer is that it draws people together.
Verizon Joins Extreme Fringe’s Attack on Middle-Class Jobs
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More than 45,000 Verizon workers are standing strong on picket lines and at rallies and marches for middle-class jobs, as the strike enters its second week. But while the public has rallied for their fight for middle-class jobs—you can sign a petition here—Verizon has lined up with the extremist Scott Walkers, John Kasichs and other far-right elements in attacking working families.
Striking Verizon families have begun receiving letters from the $20 billion company telling them they will lose their health care coverage if the strike isn’t over by Aug. 31.
Communications Workers of America (CWA) has made a commitment to assist striking workers in paying for their health care needs out of the Robert Lilja Members Relief Fund (RLMRF) during their participation in the strike. Click here for more information.
CWA District 9 Vice President Jim Weitkamp told a cheering audience of United Steelworkers (USW) at the union’s convention in Las Vegas yesterday:
Machinists Leaders Met with Pope, Discuss Ties Between Faith and Labor
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| IAM President Tom Buffenbarger discusses revitalizing the bond between the labor movement and the Catholic Church with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in Rome. |
This is a cross-post from the Machinists (IAM). The labor movement and the faith community have long held shared goals of equality and opportunity. Each Labor Day, Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) and the AFL-CIO sponsor the Labor in the Pulpits/on the Bimah/in the Minbar program, which highlights these shared goals. Click here to find out more.
In a bid to reinvigorate the long-standing ties between labor and the faith community, a delegation of IAM leaders from the United States and Canada met recently with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in Rome.
In addition to the audience granted to the IAM delegation, the pope met privately with IAM President Tom Buffenbarger, who shared a concern of many that Catholic bishops are not as supportive of the labor movement as they once were.
Proposed NLRB Rule Change Draws Wide Support
The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB’s) modest, common-sense proposed rule to remove roadblocks for workers who want to vote on whether to form a union has drawn praise from working men and women, political leaders and activists around the country. Here’s a sample of the comments:
Electrical Workers (IBEW) President Edwin Hill:
By eliminating delays, the board is not only bringing some balance. It is also saving money for taxpayers who foot the bill because of unnecessary litigation.
Communications Workers of America (CWA) President Larry Cohen:
Workers at T-Mobile USA and nearly every other company know firsthand how U.S. corporations use delay to keep workers from making a fair choice about union representation. The changes proposed by the National Labor Relations Board are a first and modest step toward ending some of that delay.
Jobs: Gifts We Really Need
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Edith Rasell, Ph.D., is minister for economic justice in the Justice and Witness Ministries of the United Church of Christ and serves as vice president of Interfaith Worker Justice. She reminds us that what millions of Americans really want for Christmas is a job.
This is the season of gift giving and, for millions of us, the present we really need is a job.
We know that American families need jobs. But American businesses also need jobs—rather, they need customers with jobs. When millions of unemployed workers and their families have little money to spend, businesses, big and small, have few customers. Production stalls, hiring is frozen and investments are put on hold. Firms cannot thrive and the economy will not return to health until people can afford to buy the things they need.
Today: National Day of Action to Stop Wage Theft
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At a time when Congress is considering whether to give the nation’s wealthiest people a holiday gift by extending their Bush-era tax breaks, workers, religious leaders, public officials and others will come together in more than 35 cities across the country to fight for those who have been cheated and left behind.
A week before Thanksgiving, we’re taking part in a National Day of Action Against Wage Theft to highlight this ongoing crisis and ways that workers and communities are organizing to stop it.
Wage theft is a national epidemic that robs millions of workers of billions of dollars they’ve worked for but never see, says Kim Bobo, executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ), the coordinator of the National Day of Action. Speaking at a telephone press conference yesterday, Bobo, author of Wage Theft in America, put it this way:
A week before Thanksgiving, faith communities collect turkeys to give to poor families. Millions of poor families could buy their own turkeys if their wages had been paid as required by law. This Thanksgiving, as a nation we are struggling with how to boost the economy. What better way to stimulate the economy, put more money back into neighborhood businesses, than to assure that workers are paid all their wages?
IWJ Issues Red Cross Blood Drive Guide with Focus on Safety, Workers’ Rights
The Red Cross has come under fire recently for its blood safety practices and unfair labor practices. Today, Interfaith Workers Justice (IWJ) issued a Congregational Guide urging congregations to hold the American Red Cross accountable for improving its blood safety practices and respecting workers’ rights.
Every year the Red Cross holds 200,000 blood drives across the country and many are hosted by faith groups. But, says IWJ Executive Director Kim Bobo:
There’s something that many faith groups may not know. We believe that the Red Cross is not honoring another important teaching and that is to treat others as we wish to be treated and that laborers deserve their just reward. While we don’t want congregations to stop holding these important blood drives we do want to empower them to hold the Red Cross accountable for the safety of the blood supply and the treatment of their workers.
The Congregational Guide for Red Cross Blood Drives highlights 10 questions to ask the Red Cross around issues of ensuring safety at blood drives, respecting the rights of its workers and addressing its longstanding compliance problems with FDA blood safety regulations. The questions cover staffing levels, certification, blood handling procedures, donor screening, working conditions and labor relations. Click here for more.
