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2005 conference | | ||
| 2005 CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS | 2005 conference agenda (.pdf) | 2005 HOST COMMITTEE 2005 national jobs with justice conference One thousand Jobs with Justice activists came together in St. Louis, MO from September 19-22! Participants represented local Jobs with Justice coalitions as well as labor, faith-based, community, and student organizations from 35 states and the District of Columbia. International guests joined us from Basque Country, Brazil, El Salvador, France, India, Kenya, Nicaragua, and Quebec.
On Thursday afternoon, 100 religious leaders from across the country came together to share strategies at our Faith in Action Gathering. Participants heard and shared testimonies from Christian, Jewish, and Muslim perspectives about how their faith relates to activism for social and economic justice, and heard case studies from religious leaders putting their faith into action for change. On Friday, the conference kicked into full swing with six concurrent pre-conferences on Protecting Public Services and Public Workers, Health Care Justice, Justice for Immigrant Workers, Global Justice, Making Economic Development Work for Communities, and Innovative Strategies for Building Worker Power.
During lunch, Jobs with Justice honored the memory of Sol Stetin, a labor legend and a Jobs with Justice leader. In the Jobs with Justice family, Sol Stetin was well-known as an active Workers’ Rights Board member in St. Louis and a founding member of the National Workers’ Rights Board. As President of the Textile Workers Union of America – now UNITE HERE, Sol was a central organizer during the infamous J.P. Stevens Co. strike on which the 1979 film "Norma Rae" was based. Also during lunch, we took up a collection for victims of hurricane Katrina, collecting more than $2,200.
At a time when the attacks against working people are so devastating and widespread and when the labor movement is in commotion, it is more important than ever for Jobs with Justice to build deeper, stronger, and larger local coalitions that engage a diverse group of allies. Jobs with Justice will continue to engage key allies like faith leaders and students, and to build an ever-larger base of Jobs with Justice activists who will pledge to be there for one another's struggles. As the Jobs with Justice Pledge Card says: If more of us are there, we'll all start winning! Available materials include: 13 minute video from the National Workers' Right Board Hearing on Wal-Mart, 15 minute Jobs with Justice Highlights video, 2006 Workers' Rights Directory, and more. Contact allison@jwj.org to order. Special thanks to our conference sponsors:
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Participants began arriving on Thursday for two pre-conferences. Almost 100 students attended the fourth Student Labor Pre-Conference, which featured workshops on winning living wages for campus workers, developing campaign strategies, building coalitions, taking over your student government, social security privatization, and many other issues facing students. The pre-conference concluded with an awards dinner sponsored by the National Education Association. Students at Washington University in St. Louis were given an award for their work to secure a living wage for workers on their campus which culminated in a victory after a 19 day sit-in last spring.
Friday afternoon we boarded buses for an action to support workers, members of AFSCME 2730, and residents of the Bellefontaine Habilitation Center, a facility that cares for mentally disabled individuals that is under the threat of closure by Missouri's Gov. Blunt. In our discussions of what kind of action would make a difference in a local campaign, we realized that the struggle to win health care for all and the struggle of public sector workers in Missouri are interconnected and clearly demonstrated in the fight to keep the Bellefontaine Center open. We heard from parents with children who live at the Bellfontaine facility and from AFSCME President Gerald McEntee about the need for this public hospital to remain open and the need for health care for all. The congregations and parents' organizations that are active in the Bellefontaine struggle, as well as the workers, left the action re-energized to continue the fight – knowing that thousands of people from across the country care about what happens in their community. The press coverage we received also served to pressure the state decision-makers and let them know that the entire country is watching. We will not allow public sector workers' rights to be gutted. We will not allow our public health facilities to close down. We will win health care for all! 
Friday evening we enjoyed a banquet and celebration of our struggle to stop corporate greed and our victories. We were honored to welcome many distinguished leaders in the fight for social and economic justice. Allie Robbins, a leader of United Students Against Sweatshops and a National JwJ Board member, emceed the celebration. Hon. Maida Coleman, Missouri State Senator and St. Louis Workers' Rights Board member, Tom Balanoff, SEIU Local 1 President and Chicago JwJ founder, Rita Voorheis, Northern Area Director for CWA District 6 and a founder of St. Louis JwJ, and National Jobs with Justice Executive Director Fred Azcarate spoke to the crowd about the need to build broad bridges of solidarity among workers, progressive elected officials, and partners around the world. The crowd also enjoyed the Jobs with Justice Highlights video and a performance of "Voices of Solidarity," a theater piece written and performed by rank-and-file workers about their personal experiences trying to organize for a voice at work. 
Saturday was filled with exciting activities including 38 skills-building workshops on workplace organizing, student organizing, organization-building skills, immigrant rights, health care justice, global justice, social and economic justice, and more! A morning plenary entitled "Workers and Communities Fight Back" highlighted examples of Jobs with Justice coalitions building bridges between workers and communities to win victories for working families. The plenary was moderated by Adrianne Shropshire of New York Jobs with Justice. We heard from Badily Jones, a member of the Atlanta Transit Riders' Union and Atlanta JwJ about their successful project to unite transit workers and bus riders to stop fare increases and service cuts. We heard from Lisa Fuller of 
Georgetown University and DC Jobs with Justice about the campaign that students are running across the country to raise awareness about the unethical practices of Verizon Wireless. Stewart Acuff, National Organizing Director of the AFL-CIO, gave an inspiring speech which laid out the political context for our work and why it is more important now than ever for Jobs with Justice to build strong coalitions. He called on us to unite for a week of action to fight for workers' right to organize and collectively bargain this December 10th. 
On Saturday afternoon, participants gathered for a National Workers' Rights Board Hearing on Wal-Mart. Eleven National Workers' Rights Board members heard testimony from workers and community members negatively impacted by Wal-Mart. In the first panel of testimony, we heard first-hand accounts from current and former Wal-Mart workers and suppliers about the company's attacks on workers' right to organize, gender discrimination, and unfair delay of workers' compensation. Workers from the grocery, transportation, and manufacturing industries gave accounts of how Wal-Mart's low wages and relentless competition were driving down the standard of living for all workers. In the second panel, we heard from residents of rural and urban areas about the negative impact Wal-Mart is having on their communities as well as the stories of how people in communities around the country are fighting back and winning against Wal-Mart. The National Workers' Rights Board made several recommendations in a closing position and will release a Report on the Hearing in December. 
On Sunday morning, we opened the general session with a plenary "Workers' Rights in the Global Economy." Tim Waters, Director of Rapid Response for the United Steel Workers and a National JwJ Board member, moderated this multinational panel. Ashim Roy, Secretariat Member of the New Trade Union Initiative in India, Sergio Chávez, Central American Representative of the National Labor Committee, and Marielena Hincapié, Director of Programs for the National Immigration Law Center described the devastating impact that "free trade" policies have had on workers throughout the world, the links between immigrant rights struggles in the US and the forces of corporate-led globalization, and the strategies and partnerships that have developed among social movements throughout the world to fight back. 
We closed the conference on Sunday with a Call to Action Luncheon. National Jobs with Justice Board members Margaret Butler, Director of Portland Jobs and Rev. Calvin Morris, Co-chair of Chicago JwJ and Executive Director Community Renewal Society called on the crowd to continue to build the movement for social and economic justice. They called on us to continue the fight for workers' rights, health care for all, immigrant rights, global justice, and fair economic development. They called on us to continue to fight corporate greed at Wal-Mart and to stand up for workers' rights on December 10th, International Human Rights Day. Clearly these are not separate fights, but part of the same struggle to win justice for all! Immediately following the close of the conference, many participants joined up with the St. Louis Instead of War Coalition for a march and rally in solidarity with the massive anti-war march taking place in Washington, DC.
In addition to being an opportunity to trade ideas, listen, and learn from all of the inspiring activists, the conference was also a time for celebration and reflection. Many of the general sessions began with invocations, and we must thank Rev. Tommie Pierson of the Greater St. Mark Family Church, Rabbi Andrea Goldstein of Congregation Shaare Emeth, Sister Aisha Al Adiwiya of Women in Islam, Rev. Mylion Waite of Antioch Baptist Church, Rabbi Susan Talve of the Central Reform Congregation, Rev. Charles Stovall of the St. Paul United Methodist Church, and Rev. James Orange of the Georgia Coalition for a People's Agenda for bringing us unity and energy throughout the conference. On Sunday morning, about 100 activists gathered for an Interfaith Service to reflect on the faith traditions that sustain us in the Struggle, and to recommit to the work of justice. The inspiring service included many participants from various faith traditions, and the stirring sermon was given by Rev. Al Smith of the St. Paul AME Church who is a former St. Louis JwJ co-chair. 
And of course it wouldn't be a Jobs with Justice conference without entertainment and a lot of fun! On display at the conference were pieces from St. Louis JwJ's Annual Bread & Roses Juried Art Competition. Friday night we screened Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein's inspiring documentary "The Take," about workers in Argentina taking over an abandoned factory. We also danced to the beat of local salsa band SL Son, the newest members of AFM Local 2-197. Sunday during the National Workers' Rights Board Hearing, activists got a sneak peak at scenes from Robert Greenwald's upcoming film, "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price." On Saturday night, Sian Lewis of Pride at Work and Fabricio Rodriguez of Philadelphia JwJ emceed an amazing open mic' where the talents of the entire JwJ community were showcased. 