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.
Religious Leaders Call for Jobs, Decent Wages on Labor Day
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With the economy in crisis, many of the nation’s religious leaders are speaking out in favor of economic policies that create jobs and spur economic growth. Decent jobs at decent wages are the best path out of poverty and restoring growth is a powerful way to reduce deficits, they say.
In a Labor Day statement, Bishop Stephen Blaire, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops committee on domestic justice and human development, says Congress cannot balance the federal budget on the backs of the poor and working people:
Join Labor in the Pulpits over Labor Day Weekend
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Labor Day 2011 is just around the corner and America’s workers are still suffering through the worst economic crisis since the Depression. Some 25 million Americans are unemployed, underemployed or have stopped looking for work, and wages are essentially flat.
In the richest country in the world, millions of full-time, year-round workers live below the poverty line, struggling to pay for necessities such as food, housing, health care, transportation and child care.
Each Labor Day weekend, Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) and the AFL-CIO sponsor the Labor in the Pulpits/on the Bimah/in the Minbar program, which highlights the shared goals of the faith community and the union movement for a new vision for justice in our communities. (If you need materials for a Labor Day service or want to add your congregation to the list of participants in Labor in the Pulpits, click here or contact Ted Smukler at 773-728-8400, ext. 39, or tsmukler@iwj.org.)
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.
Faith, Civil Rights Groups to Stand With Workers on April 4
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Faith communities across the nation will stand alongside working people, civil rights groups, students and immigrants on the days around April 4 to tell hard-working families under attack that “We Are One.”
In a telephone press conference this afternoon, prominent African American and evangelical faith leaders joined with civil rights and labor leaders to announce coordinated actions this weekend and on April 4 in support of working families.
AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Arlene Holt Baker told the reporters that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s power grab reignited a huge movement of people standing up for human dignity and human rights. Holt Baker, who also is a member of the Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) national board, said:
We’re standing together to make our country better for all working people. We honor Dr. King with our determination to stand up and build the future our children deserve. These attacks on the middle class aren’t about the economy or the state budget. It’s about politics and payback.
IWJ has produced a set of resources for the We Are One mobilization–prayers, sermons, a bulletin insert, and pieces on what congregations, students, and worker centers can do.
Wage Theft: The Crime Wave Nobody Talks About
Every day across the country, millions of workers in low-wage jobs are being robbed of billions of dollars they are owed by their employers. A new video by Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) shows how the practice of wage theft is a national epidemic no one is paying attention to.
IWJ says 60 percent of nursing home workers, 100 percent of poultry plant workers and 90 percent of restaurant workers are denied their fair pay at some time.
One such worker is Ryszard Abucewicz of Chicago, who says on the video his employer refused to pay him at all for three consecutive pay periods.
Dianne Enriquez, also in the video, is one of three San Francisco restaurant workers who did not receive overtime pay and sued their employer. They won more than $7,000 in back pay.
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.
Faith Groups Join In Jobs Campaign
In times of crisis, many American families turn to their religious faith for inspiration and hope. With millions of people unemployed, America’s faith community, which includes many union members, is mobilizing to provide tangible, hands-on aid to families as well as spiritual solace.
Under the leadership of Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ), faith groups, political leaders and progressive activists have come together in the Faith Advocates for Jobs Campaign, which was launched today at a Capitol Hill meeting. The campaign will help combat the severe unemployment crisis that is devastating so many working people and families and help rebuild the foundations of our nation’s economy.
In its mission statement, the campaign says:
As people of faith, we call for an economy that provides a job for everyone who wants and needs one. We affirm that all jobs should be good jobs, paying living wages and benefits, allowing workers dignity and a voice at the workplace, ensuring workers’ health and safety, and guaranteeing their right to organize unions.
New York State Protects Workers Against Wage Theft
Workers in New York State soon will be protected against wage theft by a new law. The State Assembly yesterday passed the Wage Theft Prevention Act, which will increase penalties significantly and improve enforcement of state laws on wage theft. The State Senate passed the bill in June and Gov. David Paterson (D) has vowed to sign it into law.
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, author of Wage Theft in Americae and executive director of Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ), which coordinated the National Day of Action Against Wage Theft last month.
