Related posts:

1. United States Signs U.N. Declaration for GLBT Rights ...
2. TAKE ACTION: Tell the President to ban landmines (HRW) President Obama has an opportunity to get US landmine policy...
3. VIDEO: A Measure of Our Humanity ...

Writing on Shalom Rav, a website run by his rabbi, Brant Rosen, Hamer says he immediately went to the school’s principal who set up an emergency meeting where he convinced the committee to move the prom, even though it meant giving up a $3,000 deposit. The students are making up the $3,000 through fundraisers. Hamer writes:

I proceeded to relay some facts: i.e. that Congress workers made $8.80 an hour with minimal benefits while the standard is now $13.20 with significant benefits. Also, I made it clear to the committee members that having prom at the Congress would misrepresent Northside as a place where liberal thinking and cultured morals abound.

And there was the practical matter that supporters of the workers might put up a big picket line at the hotel and that the pool of teacher chaperons would immediately diminish since the teachers, who belong to the largest union in the city, probably would not cross the picket line.

Why would a teenager, whose thoughts at this time of the year turn toward graduation and senior parties, think about a group of mostly immigrant hotel workers? Here’s Hamer’s answer:

Everything in my religious spirit, my religious being, tells me that to stand by while injustice occurs would be the wrong thing to do. Thankfully, the discussion …ended with the decision that our own financial burdens should never take precedence over the daily struggles of working class families that are less fortunate than we. When I got home I said the Shema (an affirmation of Judaism and a declaration of faith in God).

Hamer also is an alumnus of Or Tzedek , the teen social justice summer program of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs.  At Or Tzedek, he engaged with a variety of social justice issues, learned about organizing and gained tools to create social change. Since that summer, he has been taken on many endeavors through Or Tzedek, including the Congress strike.

Hamer’s commitment to justice comes naturally from his faith and training. Rabbi Rosen says the Jewish religious tradition is “rife with imperatives about protecting workers, paying a fair living wage and making sure workers’ rights are protected.” He adds:

It is foundational to who we are. And one tenant of our faith is worker and immigrant justice. We are well aware of our history in this country and the benefits of the union movement. Our job now is to realize that not long ago these were issues we dealt with as part of our common experience.

Related posts:

1. Moyers Highlights Jobs with Justice Organizer, Employee Free Choice Segment highlights James Thindwa, head of the Chicago chapter of...
2. More Religious Groups Back Employee Free Choice Christian, Muslim, and Jewish labor groups sign on to the...
3. What can the harm reduction movement teach us about reproductive justice? Drug policy has benefited from the harm reduction movement’s...

A multinational oil giant may be headed for its day of reckoning in a New York City courtroom next month.

The lawsuit, Wiwa v. Shell, centers on charges of rampant human rights abuses by Royal Dutch Shell against the Ogoni people of Nigeria, including the murder of the iconic activist Ken Saro-Wiwa. Litigated by EarthRights International and the Center for Constitutional Rights, the case is based on the Alien Tort Claims Act, a statute that allows international human rights violators to be tried in the United States.

According to the lawsuit, Shell conspired with the military dictatorship of Nigeria to carry out a campaign of violence and coercion to destroy the Ogoni resistance to Shell’s oil drilling activities, which are credited with devastating the environment and undermining the Ogoni’s traditional lifestyle.

The oil industry’s exploitation of the Niger Delta ties into the legacy of colonialism as well as post-colonial political fracturing across the African continent.

Related posts:

1. Making History Khadr has now spent a third of his life at...

The segment follows Thindwa, a Zimbabwe-born community organizer who has worked for years to help workers in his community—from the nurses of Resurrection Health Care to the sit-in strikers at Republic Windows. He helps community members get involved in rallies, contact their elected leaders and participate in campaigns to improve their lives and those of their neighbors. As Moyers says, Thindwa’s tireless efforts are:

All in a day’s work for a man who spends his days organizing people to tackle issues they face in the workplace, from low wages and meager benefits, to corporate behavior.

Now Thindwa, like JwJ organizers and working families around the country, is taking part in the campaign to pass the Employee Free Choice Act—hosting rallies, gathering signatures, getting letters to elected officials and helping young leaders speak out in favor of the critical bill. He knows the importance of giving workers the freedom to form unions and bargain, and the role that unions can play in giving workers a stake in the economy, as well as giving them the tools to improve their own lives and participate in their communities.

Thimdwa understands how important unions are to a fair economy, where worker power  balances the overwhelming corporate power. He also knows the importance of good jobs to building strong families and strong communities. Says Thindwa:

The question of good wages, decent wages for workers, isn’t just a question of economic justice, isn’t just a question of fairness for that worker….It does have broad implications for social stability.

You can watch the entire segment here. It’s an inspiring story of one man’s effort to help make the economy work for everyone.

Related posts:

1. Fight for Employee Free Choice Continues Despite Specter’s Flip AFL-CIO president highly critical of Sen. Specter's decision...
2. Grassroots Support for the Employee Free Choice Act Grows Stewart Acuff, special assistant to the president, reports on the...
3. 100 Historians Sign On to Support Employee Free Choice Act Some of the nation’s top historians have signed a petition...

Today, on what would have been Chávez’s 82nd birthday, President Obama issued a statement hailing the former Farm Workers president as “an educator, environmentalist, and as a civil rights leader who struggled for fair treatment and fair wages for America’s workers.”

Chávez’s rallying cry, “Sí Se Puede”—”Yes, We Can,” was more than a slogan, it was an expression of hope and a rejection of those who said farm workers could not organize, and could not take on the growers. Through his courage, César Chávez taught us that a single voice could change our country, and that together, we could make America a stronger, more just, and more prosperous nation.

The AFL-CIO is supporting efforts to create a national holiday to honor Chávez. Last year during the presidential campaign, Obama said we should have a holiday for Chávez.

It’s time to recognize the contributions of this American icon to the ongoing efforts to perfect our union.

Related posts:

1. ¡Feliz Cumpleaños, César Chávez! Los Angeles Unified School District, 73% of whose students are...
2. Student Week of Action Focuses on Employee Free Choice Jobs with Justice’s Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) kicks off...
3. Obama: We Should Make It Easier for Workers to Organize     Barack Obama speaks to workers last fall...

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is the second largest public school system in the United States and this year marks the first time its students will celebrate Cesar Chavez Day as an official holiday. A pretty big deal considering close to 73% of LAUSD students are Latino.

The observance didn’t come with out a struggle though, according to the LA Times “Two years ago, 500 middle school and high school students skipped classes in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles and marched to demand that Cesar Chavez’s birthday become a holiday.”

Last week, the LAUSD Board of Education passed a resolution allowing the state holiday to become an official school holiday.

Related posts:

1. Obama Honors César Chávez’s Birthday The former Farm Workers president hailed by President Obama as...
2. Pink Slips and Protests for California Teachers Debbie Winsteen was one of 11 elementary teachers from Burbank...
3. Student Week of Action Focuses on Employee Free Choice Jobs with Justice’s Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) kicks off...

As part of SLAP’s week of action, held each year to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and Farm Workers founder César Chávez, students in 28 states and the District of Columbia are getting involved in the campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act. In coordination with the student week of action, Jobs with Justice will hold a “Resistance and Recovery” week of events.

You can find out about student actions in your area here.

United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) also is getting involved with the fight for Employee Free Choice. Over the past week, USAS has held regional conferences for students concerned with workers’ rights. As part of the USAS Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, students from around Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Maryland and the District of Columbia on March 27 attended a rally at Penn State University to demand passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. This past weekend, hundreds of students attended the Southeast Regional Conference in Decatur, Ga.

The enthusiasm of thousands of students around the country is yet another critical element in passing the Employee Free Choice Act.

Related posts:

1. Grassroots Support for the Employee Free Choice Act Grows Stewart Acuff, special assistant to the president, reports on the...
2. More Religious Groups Back Employee Free Choice Christian, Muslim, and Jewish labor groups sign on to the...
3. Fight for Employee Free Choice Continues Despite Specter’s Flip AFL-CIO president highly critical of Sen. Specter's decision...

The latest to sign on in support of the Employee Free Choice Act include a wide diversity of religious beliefs. The range of faiths represented illustrates the widespread support for the bill, which is backed by 73 percent of Americans.

For example, the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA, which represents more than 100,000 local congregations and 45 million persons in the United States, has endorsed the bill.  

Sojourners/Call to Renewal, the national faith-based movement for social justice and an end to poverty, has come out in support of Employee Free Choice.

 Both the Muslim American Society Freedom (MAS Freedom) and the Muslim Public Affairs Council also have joined the fight to allow workers to decide for themselves how to choose a union.

The Jewish Labor Committee also is behind the bill, saying in its statement of support that “for workers who decide to unionize, the current law is stacked against them.”

  Other groups to recently announce support for the bill are:

• Center of Concern; 
• Irish Apostolate USA; 
• Lutheran Volunteer Corps;
• Unitarian Universalist Service Committee; and
• Nebraskans for Peace.

Click here for a complete list of who’s backing the Employee Free Choice Act.

Related posts:

1. Fight for Employee Free Choice Continues Despite Specter’s Flip AFL-CIO president highly critical of Sen. Specter's decision...
2. Student Week of Action Focuses on Employee Free Choice Jobs with Justice’s Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) kicks off...
3. Grassroots Support for the Employee Free Choice Act Grows Stewart Acuff, special assistant to the president, reports on the...

Stewart Acuff, special assistant to the president, reports on the ongoing national campaign to pass the Employee Free Choice Act.

What grassroots American movement can, in the span of one week, run 57 letters to the editor in newspapers across America, send 14,000 handwritten letters to 10 U.S. senators and simultaneously plan 35 grassroots advocacy events with workers in 10 states?

America’s labor movement, the AFL-CIO, can. Now that the Employee Free Choice Act has been introduced in the U.S. House and Senate, organized labor’s multistate grassroots campaign is running at full throttle. Religious leaders are speaking out for the Employee Free Choice Act to create fairness in the economy. Small business owners are sending letters, signing petitions and testifying about the value to their business of having a union. The newly appointed U.S. senator from Colorado, Michael Bennet, says that at every campaign stop and town hall meeting, a worker asks his position on the Employee Free Choice Act.

All over America, workers and folks who believe in workers’ rights and economic fairness are stepping up to counter corporate America’s increasingly desperate efforts to maintain their destructive stranglehold on our economy and our lives. They have lied over and over ad nauseam about the Employee Free Choice Act.

They have tried to bully U.S. senators just as they do workers who try to form unions. They are spending hundreds of millions of dollars to obfuscate, distract and confuse the public and lawmakers.

But the power of the truth and everyday hardworking American grassroots action is defeating their litany of lies.

The Wall Street Journal’s editorial page finally admitted that the Employee Free Choice Act will not destroy secret ballot election. The Economic Policy Institute just released a study by John DiNardo, professor of Economics and Public Policy at the University of Michigan, that proves unions do not harm businesses and do not destroy jobs. Even Erin Burnett of CNBC went to David Gregory’s “Meet the Press” to explain that the “populist rage” sweeping America, results from 30 years of stagnant and declining wages, CEO pay that is 400 times as much as the average worker, a recession created at least in part by a lack of demand and buying power, and an obscenely top heavy economy.

Because of all this—the massive grassroots campaign, the failures and inequities of the economy and the growing support for the Employee Free Choice Act—even sectors of corporate America have smelled the coffee and are looking for compromise legislation. Three huge American corporations—Starbucks, Costco and Whole Foods have come forward with a compromise. Though their compromise is totally inadequate, it does signal that the ranks of corporate America have broken and that passage of the Employee Free Choice Act is increasingly inevitable.

It is a rare, beautiful thing in America when we see the class solidarity of the upper classes break down. Sometimes it mistakenly seems that the class solidarity of the upper classes is the most powerful thing in our political economy. Of course, it isn’t as we learned in November 2008 and are learning again today.

As the momentum for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act grows, so does the evidence of its necessity. The Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances has released dates showing that the net worth of the average American household is less today than in 2001. They also found the wealth gap between white Americans and African Americans has grown. That stands to reason. Black union workers make about 30 percent more than black nonunion workers. Union membership is one of the most powerful tools we have to reduce wealth and income inequality. As workers—white and black—have lost the freedom to have unions and bargain collectively, inequality has grown exponentially so that we now have more inequality than at anytime since 1929.

Support and campaign work for the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act is growing all over America because more and more Americans know that this legislation is a simple, commonsensical way to restore the freedom of workers in American to form unions and bargain collectively and to create an economy that works for all of us.

This is a cross-post from the Huffington Post blog.

Related posts:

1. 100 Historians Sign On to Support Employee Free Choice Act Some of the nation’s top historians have signed a petition...
2. Proposal to Gut Employee Free Choice Act: Written by CEOs, for CEOs A group of three big corporations—Starbucks, Whole Foods and Costco—have floated...
3. Student Week of Action Focuses on Employee Free Choice Jobs with Justice’s Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) kicks off...

Specter made a statement today about the failures of America’s labor laws—failures that make the Employee Free Choice Act necessary—but he also advanced falsehoods spread by corporate front groups. The statement shows that he’s listening not to his constituents, but to the big-money interests who are hoping to prevent workers from exercising their basic freedom to form unions and bargain. 

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says that while Specter’s cave-in to corporate lobbyists is disappointing, it won’t blunt the momentum behind this critical bill to protect worker’s freedom to form unions and bargain for a better life. 

Today’s announcement by Sen. Specter—a sponsor of the original Employee Free Choice Act who voted for cloture in 2007—is frankly a disappointment and a rebuke to working people, to his own constituents in Pennsylvania and working families around the country.

The fact is the Employee Free Choice Act has more support than ever—large majorities in both houses of Congress, the president and vice president, 73 percent of the public. We will continue to work with Democrats and a number of Republicans to create common-sense solutions to the decades of corporate power. 

We do not plan to let a hardball campaign from Big Business derail the Employee Free Choice Act or the dreams of workers. 

There are deep flaws in our labor laws, as Sen. Specter acknowledged today. The freedom to join together and bargain with employers for fair wages and better benefits is critical to rebuilding our middle class—and now is exactly the time to do it, as we begin to revive our economy in a way that works for everyone.  In the coming weeks, we will be escalating our campaign and finding the best ways forward to a balanced, strong economy.

Related posts:

1. Grassroots Support for the Employee Free Choice Act Grows Stewart Acuff, special assistant to the president, reports on the...
2. Student Week of Action Focuses on Employee Free Choice Jobs with Justice’s Student Labor Action Project (SLAP) kicks off...
3. More Religious Groups Back Employee Free Choice Christian, Muslim, and Jewish labor groups sign on to the...