NATIONAL JOBS WITH JUSTICE UPDAT

Smithfield CEO Joseph Luter III Elected 2008 National Jobs with Justice "Grinch of the Year"

With 28% of nearly 10,000 votes cast, Smithfield Chairman Joseph Luter III narrowly beat out American Airlines CEO Gerard Arpey to win the seventh annual online "Grinch of the Year" election sponsored by National Jobs with Justice. Nominated by the Justice @ Smithfield Campaign, the company is criticized for maintaining an environment of fear and intimidation for workers. For over ten years now, workers at the Tar Heel plant have fought relentlessly for a voice on the job.

American Airlines President and CEO Gerard Arpey came in a very close second with 27% of the vote. In 2003, workers gave concessions to keep the airline out of bankruptcy. Now that the company is back in the black, upper-level management is reaping the benefits with millions of dollars in bonuses, but workers get nothing. Fifteen percent of the votes went to Verizon Business’ Bob Toohey for his efforts to suppress worker organizing. Another 13% of the vote went to write-in candidate United Airlines’ CEO Glenn Tilton, and the remaining votes were split among Burger King CEO John W. Chidsey, American Motion Picture and Television Producers President J. Nicholas Counter III, and a number of write-in candidates.

The 'Grinch of the Year' awards began locally with Jobs with Justice Coalitions around the country highlighting the greedy grinch in their hometowns. That tradition has remained in many areas. Paul Levy of Beth Isreal Deaconess Hospital was elected Massachusetts Grinch of the Year. Paul Dockendorff, CEO of Northwest Security Services, Inc. was elected Grinch of Martin Luter King County, WA, and Tomlinson Linen was elected Grinch of Pierce County, WA.

South Florida JwJ named Jose Infante, owner of South Florida Maintenance Inc., as their Scrooge of the Year. His company, owes employees over $90,000 in backwages. His company violated the City and County living wage ordinances, so workers were forced to take him to court. SFM and the City of Miami agree the money is due--but like Scrooge not a penny has gone out.

In St. Louis, a record 14,268 votes were cast and Illinois Distributing Company was named Grinch of the Year. Despite profits so high they have built a new $15 million buiding and bought out a competitor distributorship, Illinois Distributing Company has imposed a contract on its drivers that slashes pay and health care benefits.

Jobs with Justice is a national campaign for workers' rights. Around the country, local Jobs with Justice Coalitions unite labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations to build power for working people.

Jobs with Justice Demands an End to Social Security "No-Match" Letters

The Social Security "no match" letters are notices that the Social Security Administration (SSA) sends once per year to employers who report a certain number of discrepancies between their employment records and SSA's database. According to the government's own records, 70 percent of the discrepancies belong to U.S. citizens.

The Bush Administration adopted a rule in September which would require that the SSA include a notice from the Department of Homeland Security along with the "No Match" letters instructing employers on the steps they need to take in response to the letter, including firing workers. Groups including the AFL-CIO and the ACLU have filed a lawsuit to stop the SSA from sending these letters. In October, the courts imposed a temporary injunction against the letters and as of December, the Department of Homeland Security has temporarily withdrawn the original rule change that would have required the SSA to send the letters and will propose a new rule early next year.

In October, Jobs with Justice coalitions in Denver, Boston, Dallas, Providence, Chicago, and Portland gathered at local Social Security Administration offices to celebrate the temporary injunction against the no-match letters and to demand a permanent rescinding of the DHS order to send the letters to employers. JwJ coalitions gathered signatures from community leaders and presented the SSA offices with letters demanding an end to the No-Match Letters.

On Wednesday, December 5^th in Washington, DC, Jobs with Justice and the Low-Wage Immigrant Worker Coalition convened a National Workers' Rights Board (WRB) Hearing about Social Security No-Match Letters. National WRB members hearing testimony at the hearing included US Representative Xavier Becerra (CA), RI State Representative David Segal, Reverend Nelson Johnson, Marcel Reid of ACORN, Thomas Shellabarger of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Aurora Vasquez of the Advancement Project.

WRB members heard testimony from impacted workers, from policy experts, and from members of impacted communities about the effects of these letters. They heard how "No match" letters have been used by employers to defeat worker organizing. Employers have tried to use the letters as a pretext to fire or intimidate workers when they try to organize a union, file a wage claim, or otherwise exercise their workers' rights. Fernando Tinoco, a U.S. Citizen for 18 years, was fired from his job at a Tyson Foods plant due to an error at the Social Security Administration. Witold Skwiercznski of the American Federation of Government Employees testified about the negative impact that these letters are having on the workers who administer the Social Security program.

At the conclusion of the hearing, the National WRB pledged to create a report on the detrimental impact on workers of using the No-Match letters as a supposed means of immigration enforcement and to reach out to the SSA , to members of Congress, and to the media with their findings. The WRB also pledged to support the work of the Low-Wage Immigrant Worker Coalition and to work with them to continue to expose the harms of the No-Match letters.

Smithfield Sues Jobs with Justice! JwJ Keeps Pressure On Smithfield & Paula Deen

Smithfield Foods has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Jobs with Justice, UFCW Local 400, the Change To Win (CTW) labor federation, and the union organizing its employees in Tar Heel, NC, the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union. The suit is being filed under the RICO statute designed to fight organized crime. The baseless suit is in response to the growing national campaign to support workers’ rights at Smithfield (www.smithfieldjustice.com).

The company’s RICO suit is ironic given the well documented violations of state and federal law that the company has been found in violation of. It seeks to stop all such campaigns in the future and is a clear violation of the constitutional rights of all supporters of workers’ rights.

Jobs with Justice is proud to stand with the workers of Tar Heel, their union the UFCW, Change To Win and the many other religious, community and labor organizations supporting this important fight. We pledge to redouble our efforts to achieve justice at Smithfield. We call on all people of good will to join us in demanding that Smithfield drop this suit and begin negotiations with the union to ensure that the voices of their employees are heard and that their right to form a union is respected.

This holiday season, JwJ coalitions across the country have continued to put pressure on Smithfield spokesperson and celebrity chef Paula Deen. Last summer on the Larry King show, Deen promised to meet with Smithfield workers, but she has yet to do so.

In Washington, DC, JwJ activists got two chances to confront Deen in November. Wearing chef hats and carrying giant hearts, dozens of supporters protested outside the Metropolitan Area Cooking and Entertaining Show at the Washington Convention Center November 3rd. Supporters handed out 1,500 flyers outside, while inside the venue, others were able to speak directly to her fans about the brutal working conditions at Smithfield’s Tar Heel Plant. Paula’s return visit to Washington, DC on November 28 turned into the biggest public conversation to date about her relationship with Smithfield. A mid-morning interview with Diane Rehm, NPR’s nationally syndicated talk show, ended in a 15 minute discussion of worker abuses at the Tar Heel Plant after the show received dozens of phone calls and e-mails from concerned listeners. That evening, at a book signing in Dupont Circle, three dozen supporters leafleted outside. Inside, supporters stood in line to have their books signed and to speak to Deen in person. Each had the opportunity to ask her to keep the promise she made on the Larry King show last summer to meet with Smithfield Workers live on his show.

Middle Tennessee JwJ and the Nashville Homeless Power Project sent a delegation of 8 to HG Hills Supermarket to raise the conciousness of managment about Smithfield products. In Portland, 20 JwJ activists did an informational leaflet and several actually got into Paula Deen's speaking engagement. Although she no longer has an open question and answer section of her talks (after being confronted now with questions about her relationship with Smithfield at several events), JwJ activists asked Paula questions directly and unrolled signs and were quickly ushered out by several security guards.

The workers in Tar Heel are organizing and growing stronger. Jobs with Justice and all of our allies will continue to support those workers until they have a voice at work and justice on the job.

Jobs with Justice Supports the Writers' Guild of America Strike

JwJ coalitions in Boston and Chicago rallied with WGA members in December to support their strike against the American Motion Picture and Television Producers (and national Grinch of the year candidate). The WGA is on strike over their right to get paid for their work when it generates profits on the internet.

South Florida JwJ Mobile Home Council Wins a Victory for Affordable Housing

Mobile home residents claimed a victory back in October when the Miami Dade County Commission overwhelmingly passed a moratorium on the redevelopment of mobile home parks. Through next Spring, Dade County will not issue any building permits or zoning variances for inhabited parks. Vecinos Unidos [Neighbors United] members from across the County spoke to the need for affordable housing for the 59,000-110,000 current residents of mobile home neighborhoods who face imminent displacement.

Resident testimonies were powerful messages of truth: A single mom who invested her life's savings of $15,000 in a home only to face eviction; Elderly homeowners dependent upon disability checks; An Iraqi veteran attending college and trying to make a way for his family; A retired machinist who exlaimed: "I found other alternative housing. When they close my park, I'm going to move to my van. That's the only affordable housing I can find here."

On November 14, JwJ and residents from eight mobile home parks met with officials from Miami-Dade Department of Planning and Zoning for a focus group session. Officials heard directly from residents who stated their demands and made sure they are involved in the process of drafting a report with recomendations for the County Commission. Stay tuned as Mobile Home Council members fight to stay home!

Tompkins County (NY) Workers’ Center/JwJ Takes Aim at Local Hotel Industry’s Abusive Practices

The Tompkins County (NY) Workers’ Center/JwJ (TCWC/JwJ) mobilized more than 100 supporters for a rally to protest abusive worker policies at Ithaca’s Hilton Garden Inn Hotel including the unfair and illegal termination of one employee for her efforts to speak up about unfair treatment on November 9 th.

The rally is part of a larger Workers' Center/JwJ Justice for Hotel Workers campaign that is keenly focused on organizing with the workers that are most directly affected by low wages; lack of health care; lack of the ability to organize for ourselves in the workplace; a lack of worker's rights; and a lack of simple free speech.

During the past few months, numerous hotel workers have come to TCWC/JwJ with complaints from various hotels throughout Tompkins County. Michelle Lopez, who has been a leader amongst workers at the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel (and would have clearly been the union steward if there were a union), was recently terminated for expressing the need for a union and for taking ‘concerted action’ with other employees in the face of management abuses. At the rally, TCWC/JwJ announced an Unfair Labor Practice charge filed with the National Labor Relations Board on behalf of Michelle Lopez.

The hotel industry in Tompkins County is totally without union representation except for the Statler Hotel on the Cornell University campus which is part of the 1,100 member UAW Local that represents those workers.

On December 10, 1948, more than 80% of United Nations member states adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which includes the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and the right to join and form trade unions. Today, those rights are under attack. On December 10, JwJ coalitions across the country took action to demand workers’ rights.

In Petersburg, VA, the newly forming Richmond JwJ Organizing Committee participated in a press conference with Public Service Workers Union UE 160 calling attention to the UE’s filing with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights requesting an investigation of Virginia, North Carolina, and West Virginia because of their anti-worker laws that prohibit public employees from the right to bargain collectively as part of a union. Earlier this year the United Nations called for the abolishment of North Carolina’s bargaining laws since they go against international labor guidelines. The press conference was part of simultaneous actions that also took place in North Carolina and West Virginia.

In Chicago, Nearly 100 community, faith and labor activists packed a community forum on local and global worker rights abuses. Organized by Chicago JwJ and Rogers Park Community Action Network, the forum included worker testimony from St. Francis Hospital, Food 4 Less, Smithfield, Bank of America, and Comcast, as well as community activists speaking about local campaigns for living wage jobs and worker rights on Chicago's North Side. The forum closed with a rally at Dominick’s Foods, a major grocery chain, calling for an end to the stocking of Smithfield products from their Tar Heel, NC plant. The forum participants all signed a letter, which the store manager agreed to pass on to higher ups.

In Central Indiana, after Gov. Mitch Daniels won yet another "Grinch of the year" award on Dec. 7, JwJ distributed thousands of leaflets to state workers on December 10, both informing workers of what rights they still have, and calling for action to restore the bargaining rights that Gov. Daniels stripped away two years ago.

In Detroit, SE Michigan JwJ mobilized faith, community and labor leaders to rally in support of Detroit Medical Center nurses that are struggling for quality care for all patients, and an end to the hospital using public funds to fight nurses right to organize. Following the rally, an educational forum highlighted how religious leaders can connect with labor, through JWJ coalitions, for economic justice for all.

In Columbus, JwJ activists from across Ohio helped deliver over 200,000 petition signatures to the OH Secretary of State, thereby putting before the state legislature a proposed law that would require all Ohio employers to provide at least seven paid sick days to all full-time workers. Currently, 2.2 million Ohio workers lack any paid sick leave.

Middle Tennessee JwJ celebrated December 10 with a Forum to Celebrate International Human Rights Day. Speakers included Clemmie Greenlee of the National Homeless Power Project, Delegen Ambaw of the Metro Nashville Taxi Drivers Alliance, CWA Representative Thelma Dunlap, and Jerry Maynard, Nashville Metro Council Member At Large.

On September 27^th and 28^th Buffalo was host to an exciting conference, ‘The High Road Runs Through the City.” The Coalition for Economic Justice/JwJ co-sponsored the event, along with the Cornell ILR school, the Baldy Center for Law and Social Policy, and the University of Buffalo Law school.

The conference drew a crowd of approximately 200, including JwJ folks from Rochester, Albany, New York City, Nashville, WA State, Central Florida, Kentucky, and Chicago. Allison Duwe from Buffalo CEJ/JwJ, James Thindwa from Chicago JwJ, Adrianne Shropshire and Sadaf Khatri from NYC JwJ all spoke about their local efforts around living wage and economic development campaigns. Other local and national experts discussed and debated such issues as living wage enforcement, new directions in the living wage movement, development subsidies and subsidy reform, green city initiatives, and the role of non-elected authorities.

Shortly after midnight on Tuesday, November 27^th, the Jefferson County Board of Education voted by a 4-3 margin to add sexual orientation, but not gender identity, to its non-discrimination and harassment policies. This was a definite victory over homophobia, and for school equality, as anti-Fairness forces had mobilized in full force against this measure. It was not, however, a victory for full equality, as JCPS employees are still at risk for harassment and discrimination based on gender identity...for now.

Like many organizations, Kentucky Jobs With Justice spoke up with the Fairness Campaign in its time of need! KY JwJ's Coordinator spoke at the November 12^th Board meeting and sent a GetActive alert to all of our Louisville members asking them to call their Board Member or to send them an e mail.

Steve Imhoff, Larry Hujo, Debbie Wesslund, and Joe Hardesty all voted to expand protection, and should be applauded for their courage and commitment to justice. Sadly, Ann Elmore, Carol Ann Haddad, and Linda Duncan all failed to understand just how important this issue is and voted against protecting our community’s educators and the basic human rights of working people.

The Campaign for School Equality continues! KY JwJ will continue to stand by the Fairness Campaign to win protection for all JCPS workers from discrimination and harassment based on gender identity and to amend the Student Code of Conduct to guarantee the same protections for all students in the JCPS school system.

Philadelphia Officers and Workers Rising (POWR) Rally Shuts Down Temple Board of Trustees Meeting

The Temple University Student Labor Action Project organized a rally and prayer vigil to culminate months of work trying to pressure Temple University into meeting their demands of giving 300 AlliedBarton Security Guards 5 days of paid-sick leave. So far, Temple University has met the demands with several meetings, but no progress toward a new sick leave policy has resulted. After months of meeting with Temple University Executive staff including William Bergman, VP of Operations, Daniel Pollet, Chair Board of Trustees and not getting results SLAP decided to bring this issue straight to the Board of Trustees.

The Jobs with Justice Interfaith Committee helped set the tone for the day by staging a prayer vigil that the Board of Trustees had to walk through on their way to the meeting. Once all of the Board of Trustees were in the meeting, the SLAP delegation that had been scheduled to speak was informed that the Board of Trustees had been removed from the agenda.

Reverend Dwayne Royster, Pastor, Living Water UCC, then addressed the sixty participants at the vigil. Pastor Royster reminded us that Jesus Christ intentionally disrupted every where he went, that God disrupted Mary's life and Joseph's life. Pastor Royster reminded us that when fighting for justice we must not be afraid to disrupt, to be uncomfortable and make others uncomfortable. He called for a season of "Holy Disruption."

The ministers lead the crowd in hymns as they entered Sullivan Hall where the Board of Trustees meeting was taking place. The singing shut down the Board of Trustees meeting and carried on until the police showed up with two paddy wagons and a box full of handcuffs. The POWR campaign went back outside of the building and asked for supporters to join the "prayer mobilizing" team. Eight prayer mobilization teams formed and nearly 1,000 supportive prayers are expected to mobilize this weekend.

Temple University has stated that they will give an answer about the sick days in within the next two weeks.

Early in the morning of "Black Friday", Western Pennsylvania Jobs with Justice took their first action! JwJ distributed more than 1,000 lead testing kits to shoppers at five locations, educating consumers about the importance of recalls and the dangers of goods produced in sweatshops. In addition to the lead testing kits, JwJ passed out a leaflet outlining the dangers of toxic toys and a flyer about Jobs with Justice. W PA JwJ looks forward to more events that will help unite the community and find solutions to the issues the community faces.

Cleveland Jobs with Justice is fighting for two living wage resolutions in Cuyahoga County. On October 4th, about 100 people from labor, faith, and community organizations showed their solidarity for a living wage in Cuyahoga County by attending a rally at the County Administration Building. After the rally, 70 went inside to the County Commissioner's special hearing to listen to testimony in favor of the Living Wage resolutions from Zach Schiller, Policy Matters; Len Calabrese, Cleveland Catholic Charities; Tom Corrigan, Assistant Law Director, Lakewood; Marquita Thomas; Rev. Marvin Mc Mickle, Antioch Baptist Church; Earl Pike, AIDS Task Force of Greater Cleveland; Kenneth Kowalski, Clinical Professor of Law, Marshall School of Law; and Harriet Applegate, Executive Secretary, North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor. All in attendance were united at the end of Harriet's testimony in asking the Commissioners "WHEN?" they would pass the Living Wage.