JwJ News May 2008

From May 2-4, nearly 1,000 Jobs with Justice activists came together in Providence, RI, to celebrate our accomplishments, learn and strategize together, and recommit ourselves to the battles ahead. Those in attendance included rank-and-file union members, students, international delegates, and members of community and faith-based organizations, as well as workers’ centers. In total, the Conference hosted representatives from 32 local JwJ coalitions and organizing committees, 34 states and the District of Columbia, 44 organizations, and several countries: Brazil, Columbia, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, and South Korea.

While the National Student Labor week of Action may have come to a close, our work and those of the thousands that participated throughout the week continues. We want to thank all of the organizations, allies, and friends that worked so hard on making the week of action such a huge success! There were over 200 actions in more than 30 states and 130 cities across the country!

Missouri Jobs with Justice, working as part of the broader WE CAN coalition, won a tremendous victory when the deceptively named Missouri "Civil Rights" Initiative failed to turn in signatures which would have placed a constitutional ban on affirmative action on the November ballot.

Missouri Jobs with Justice coordinated a three-month volunteer crew of voter educators including Cathy Goldstein and Palmer Alexander pictured here. Hundreds of voter educators combed the streets of their communities, day in and day out, to find petitioners. Once they found petitioners, educators stood alongside them and made sure voters knew exactly what the deceptively-named "Missouri Civil Rights Initiative" would do to Missouri.

Volunteers logged well over a thousand hours educating voters, and JwJ leaders spent hundreds more desiging the campaign to protect Missouri's constitution and affirmative action policies. Often, petitioners gave up signature gathering on a site when they encountered our volunteers. When they learned the real intention behind the petition, Missouri voters throughout the state declined to sign, saying no to these paid political operatives and their designs on Missouri's constitution.

Jobs with Justice worked in coalition with Missouri ACORN whose voter educators also worked throughout the state to complement the volunteer crews. Other WE CAN Coalition partners helped in the streets and spearheaded community education efforts such as public forums, a speakers bureau and press conferences throughout the campaign.

Facing millions of dollars in outside money and hundreds of paid political operatives, Jobs with Justice leaders took action, made a significant time commitment and preserved Missouri's constitution and our democracy. Congratulations on this incredible victory!

After a 3 1/2 year campaign, the Burlington school food service and custodial workers of AFSCME Local 1343 won an agreement that will bring all of its members up to a livable wage by the end of the contract. This is the second livable wage victory in Burlington schools in less than a year; last fall para-educators won livable wages.

“It is incredibly exciting that after such a long struggle all the food service and custodial workers will receive a livable wage. Many of us struggle to make ends meet and work second jobs to get by,” says food service worker Sandy McAuliffe. “This a good step towards ensuring our families can meet their basic needs.”

The campaign for livable wages for Burlington food service and custodial workers has not been without struggle. It took three years of educating school board and community members, as well as organizing faith leaders, elected officials, other union members and hundreds of Burlington residents to show their support.

From the beginning of the campaign, it was clear that in addition to being an issue of fighting poverty, it was also about gender wage inequity. This livable wage victory for food service workers finally helps to close the gender wage gap between municipal workers, who are guaranteed a livable wage by ordinance and are mostly men, and food service workers, who are predominately women and make less than a livable wage. “The fact that the food service workers are predominately women and were not guaranteed a livable wage was a clear example of gender wage inequity that is still all too pervasive in our society,” says Colin Robinson, Director of the Peace and Justice Center’s, Vermont Livable Wage Campaign. “It is wonderful that this inequity if finally being corrected within the Burlington school district.”

"The City of Burlington has been nationally recognized for being one of the most 'Livable Cities In the Country', yet there are still thousands of families living in poverty and thousands of workers still being paid poverty wages. The Burlington School workers victory is a victory for the entire community. You cannot have a livable city without livable wages," says James Haslam, Director of the Vermont Workers' Center who helps coordinate the Burlington Livable City Coalition.

Miami Workers Win Lawsuit against Employer for Non-Compliance with City Living Wage Ordinance

Despite City indifference and delays, the nearly 200 workers who provide janitorial and maintenance services at city owned facilities such as the Orange Bowl Stadium won a lawsuit against their employer, SFM Services, Inc for non-compliance of the City of Miami Living Wage Ordinance.

In the fall of 2007, Mayor Manny Diaz received an award from the Community Coalition for a Living Wage. During the awards ceremony Mayor Diaz was confronted by a group of SFM workers who by that point had waited a full year for their back pay. He pledged to personally resolve the issue but never kept his word.

SFM workers and supporters converged on City Hall March 13 to “thank” Mayor Manny Diaz for nothing and to hand SFM owner Jose Infante the 2008 Infamy Award.

This victory sends a strong message to area businesses and City administrators: the Living Wage campaign is a fundamental part of securing public good from public money in Miami.

Localizing International Work: Historic Garment Workers’ Organization & Asia Floor Wage

Delhi Trade Union Panchayat, with support from Jobs with Justice, founded the first garment workers’ organization in Gurgaon, the second largest global garment manufacturing hub in India. On February 17, 2008 in the industrial congestion of Gurgaon, the historic founding of Mazdoor Ekta Manch (Workers’ Unity Platform) took place.

Approximately 250 workers attended the union's founding meeting and a leadership committee of 20 workers was formed. The workers were addressed by Ashim Roy, General Secretary of New Trade Union Initiative, Rajiv Agarwal, General Secretary of Delhi Trade Union Panchayat and JwJ’s local partner in Delhi, and Anannya Bhattacharjee, International Organizer of Jobs with Justice based in Delhi. Jobs with Justice sent a letter of support from the US, as did the Clean Clothes Campaign from Europe.

The road to this organizing began two years ago when two significant initiatives began taking shape through Jobs with Justice’s work in India. One was the Asia Floor Wage Campaign, an international initiative that brings together partners from Asia, North America, and Europe to demand a floor wage for massively exploited Asian garment workers. The other was JwJ's partnership with United Students Against Sweatshops that sent a wonderful student to produce the first-ever corporate research report on top export companies in Delhi.

Anchoring this local-to-global work is JwJ's continuing commitment to strengthening local organizing, supporting local initiatives, and building larger platforms and campaigns based on mutual respect – locally, nationally and internationally.

In 2007, Michelle Lopez was fired from the Hilton Garden Inn in Ithaca, NY after talking to her co-workers about organizing a union. The Tompkins County Workers’ Center/JwJ helped Michelle file charges with the NLRB about her unjust termination. In April, the investigation by federal authorities uncovered attempts by the Hilton Garden Inn to strip workers of their right under federal law to talk among themselves and take concerted action to improve workplace conditions.

Hotel workers in Ithaca, particularly housekeepers, typically start at $7.15/hour, do grueling work, and often are at the whim of untrained, unfair, and harsh supervisors. Most workers at these hotels, moreover, feel powerless to change things and often are too fearful to do more than grouse among themselves or just to family and friends. A lousy job is still a job, and workers know too well how quickly they can lose that job.

The TCWC/JwJ is organizing hotel workers and creating a low-wage workers organizing committee to continue campaigns to fight for hotel workers’ and other workers’ rights.

Carl Feuer and Mary Loehr from the TCWC/JwJ contributed to this report. For more information, see Carl’s column here and Mary’s here.

A peaceful protest took place on the evening of May 09, 2008 in response to a recent ICE raid conducted at the newly constructed Federal Courthouse building on the corner of 7th and West Broad Streets in downtown Richmond. As a result of the raid, 33 workers were arrested. The event, which was sponsored by the Virginia Immigrant People's Coalition (VIPC), included over 50 protestors. Family members and faith leaders of those arrested in the raid participated in the protest. Some of the organizations attending the rally were the Virginia Anti-War Network, the People United, Richmond Food Not Bombs, and members from the Richmond Jobs with Justice Coalition. Speakers at the event included Donald Minor from the Justice at Smithfield Campaign, Ana Edwards from the Defenders for Freedom, Justice, and Equality and DefendersLive! on WRIR, Jeff Winder from VIPC and The People United, as well as others.

After four years of struggling to organize and negotiate with their companies, the 1,500 security officers who are members of SEIU Local 32BJ in Washington, DC won their first union contract on April 10th! The contract will cover officers working for Admiral Security, AlliedBarton, Guardsmark and Securitas at commerical office buildings in DC. Together these companies employ about three-quarters of the District's office building security workforce.

The contract establishes a minimum starting salary of $12.40 an hour, with 50 cent raises for officers who were already making above that level. The companies will also pay for health insurance for all full-time workers. Part-time officers will receive some employer-paid benefits, such as prescription drugs, dental care, vision care and life insurance.The contract also provides 8 paid holidays and 7 days personal days, as well as addressing important job quality and security issues.

The officers were supported in their long struggle by DC Jobs with Justice members and activists, with the union extending special thanks to the DC Workers' Rights Board. Members of the WRB participated in delegations to employers, visited workplaces, collected letters, and brought officers to speak at their congregations.

The security officers and SEIU 6 have been negotiating a contract for over a year. Family medical coverage has been a big issue for the security officers. Without universal health care, workers have to fight for health care coverage one contract at a time. With rising health care costs and health insurance companies valuing profit over insuring people, retirees and working people have to continually fight for health care coverage in their contracts. Recently the Security contractors offered the worst health care package to date.

In response to the less than favorable health care offer from the security contractors Washington State Jobs with Justice, SEIU 6 and the security officers and janitors organized a take over of the streets on February 25th. Several JwJ activists, students, security officers and community members blocked the intersection of Columbia and 5th to send a message to the security contractors that there is a whole community fighting for the security officers to get family health care and a fair contract. JwJ helped out with media coverage and the action was covered by KIRO, KING and Q13 TV as well as Real Change and the Seattle P-I.

Negotiations were scheduled the next day and the contractors offered, after many hours of bargaining, an attractive health care package. Once again when community and workers unite, we win!

The fight at Verizon is heating up! Verizon workers – both unionized members of CWA and IBEW and workers at Verizon Business who are seeking to join the union – confronted Verizon’s CEO about his anti-union, anti-worker practices at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on May 1.

David Rogol, a Verizon Business technician, traveled from Charlton, Mass., to speak with CEO Ivan Seidenberg. “Verizon management has tried to isolate us from the company’s union workforce to keep us from having a voice on the job,” said Rogol. “Why don’t you take the high road, and recognize our union based on the card check process?”

Massachusetts JwJ joined with CWA and IBEW members in Boston to rally simultaneously at the company headquarters there. At the JwJ National Conference May 2-4, the Verizon campaign was featured at two main sessions and more than 30 CWA, IBEW, and JwJ activists gathered to discuss the Verizon campaign as well as other struggles in the telecom industry. JwJ coalitions around the country will support CWA and IBEW in upcoming contract negotiations with Verizon this summer. Workers will be standing up for affordable health care, retirement security, and the right to organize for workers at Verizon Wireless and Verizon Business!

Millions of Americans – especially in rural and low-income urban areas – don’t have high speed Internet access. Millions more who have what we in America call “high speed” Internet pay much more for slower speeds than people in Europe or Japan.

"Speed Matters" is a public policy and awareness campaign by the Communications Workers of America to invest in our national high speed network and close the digital divide. Last year, Speed Matters used thousands of online speed tests from regular Americans across the country to develop a state-by-state report on Internet connection speed. USA Today featured the findings on its front page, reporting, "The USA trails other industrialized nations in high-speed Internet access and may never catch up unless quick action is taken by public-policymakers, a report commissioned by the Communications Workers of America warns."

Thanks to the first report, state broadband initiatives were developed in OH, WV, TN, WA, and elsewhere. It was also used to help convince the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to change its definition of high speed Internet and to urge Congress to adopt a national broadband policy, complete with a broadband map of America.

CWA will be releasing its second annual state-by-state report this summer, and they need as many people as possible to take the speed test. Please visit http://www.speedmatters.org/jwj2008 to take the speed test now.

On April 1, nearly 20,000 grocery store workers from DC to Baltimore won raises, affordable health care, and pensions. The contract, approved overwhelmingly by Safeway and Giant employees, provides significant wage increases that will total $2.82 an hour over the life of the contract for the 70% of the workers who are at the top of the wage scale. Starting wages for new hires have also increased, with an accelerated pay scale so the new workers can earn more, faster.

Among the company proposals defeated by the union was a 10% benefits co-pay for existing employees, a 25% co-pay hike for retirees and the elimination of holiday and Sunday premium wages. Employees hired on or after March 30th 2008, however, will have to pay $5 per week towards their benefits. In addition, Safeway and Giant stores will now be able to offer a monetary buyout to their most senior employees under the condition that the offer is purely voluntary and without any threat of layoff if the employee rejects it.

“If it had not been for all the hard work you and the JwJ [Jobs with Justice] membership put in, I know that it would not have happened,” said Mikki Harris, Civil Rights and Community Affairs coordinator for UFCW Local 400. “The actions, the support cards, letter writing campaigns, the support at the ministers press conference, the interviews on the radio and news, I can go on and on and on. I just cannot find enough words to let you know how much I appreciate you. I'll start with these to simple words. Thank You. Peace and Blessings. And Remember, Solidarity Forever. ”

Washington State Jobs with Justice has been working with the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) for the past year on a campaign with the Grassy Narrows First Nation in Canada to support sustainable economies and to stop clear-cutting in the Whiskey Jack forest. Indigenous people on the Grassy Narrows Nation have set up the largest road block in Canadian history and are asking for a moratorium on clear-cutting their forest. Grassy Narrows is also asking for the lumber mill who is logging their land to develop sustainable local economies that employ Grassy Narrows’ people.

Weyerhaeuser is the main buyer of clear-cut hard wood on Grassy Narrows land. They sell the hard wood to companies like Quadrant Homes. The main buyer of clear-cut soft wood is Cascade Boise who sells paper products to Office Max.

RAN started a national campaign demanding Office Max to stop buying paper products made from clear-cut forests and Jobs with Justice was there to take up the fight!

Office Max has caved from the pressure of these national actions and has asked Cascade Boise to stop buying wood from the Whiskey Jack forest. Cascade Boise has agreed and will stop buying forest products that were clear-cut on Grassy Narrows land beginning this year. Now Weyerhaeuser stands alone and JwJ will continue to fight for sustainable economies, indigenous rights and the ending of clear-cut foresting in solidarity with RAN and the Grassy Narrows First Nation.

Jobs with Justice is proud to be a partner in bringing the connection of workers rights, environmental rights and indigenous rights to fruition and demonstrating to corporations like Office Max and Cascade Boise that people and movements working together are unstoppable.

After Hurricane Katrina, billions of dollars poured into the Gulf Coast region to rebuild. Signal International used these funds to enrich themselves by using the exploitive “guest worker” visas and corrupt recruiters to hire workers.

Welders and pipe-fitters from India paid recruiters up to $20,000 for the promise of permanent visas for themselves and their families. Upon arrival to the U.S. these workers were placed in cramped, unsanitary housing, charged exorbitant rent, and forced to work for Signal International. Their working and living conditions in the Gulf Coast amounted to modern day human slavery.

On Wednesday, May 14, five workers launched their water-only hunger strike in Lafayette Park, in view of the White House. The workers represent the demands of a group of Indian guest workers who broke an 18-month US-Indian labor trafficking chain earlier this year. They are demanding:

Jobs with Justice helped launch the hunger strike with an emotional rally of support, with representatives from the AFL-CIO, the Metal Trades, South Asian Americans Leading Together (SAALT), Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA), the United Food and Commercial Workers, the Hip Hop Caucus, the Low Wage Worker Coalition, and many other allies.

E-mail your Representatives in Congress and ask them to hold hearings on Signal International.
Participate in nationwide solidarity actions on May 21, the one week anniversary of the strike. Possibilities for actions include one-day solidarity fasting; prayer vigils; public educational events; petitioning. There will be a major rally and press event on that day in Washington DC. If you are planning something, please let us know.
Petitions and delegations to Congressional offices. There is a sign-on letter that Congressional Representatives and Senators will send to the Department of Justice calling for the granting of continued presence for the workers in the U.S. Solidarity activists can gather signatures on the petition and then deliver it to Representatives’ offices. The petitions can be delivered on May 21, and again during the week of May 27-30, the congressional recess when Reps are in their home offices.
Raise money for the strike fund. The workers are putting in tens of thousands of dollars to make the hunger strike possible, and they need funds to pay for transportation, housing, and all the other logistical support.
Visit the workers if you are in or near Washington D.C. There is a schedule of where to find them on DC JwJ’s web site.