Outreach: Faith Responders to Newly Unemployed Workers

 

The Coalition's newest project is underway. Outreach to faith groups who are seeing, perhaps for the first time, the impact of this economic crisis in their congregations and neighborhoods.

When there is trouble in the community, public safety personnel are first responders. Churches are that first point of contact for many seeking help in time of distress because they are familiar and confidential. Over a period of years, churches in economically challenged neighborhoods have worked together, developing coping skills and access to necessary resources. These may include food pantries, counseling services, GED and job training, legal assistance and healthcare.

Our program for Faith Responders offers a training class and resource information to faith organizations looking for ways to assist newly unemployed workers.

NATIONWIDE FOOD DRIVE NETS A BILLION POUNDS

The National Association of Letter Carriers announced preliminary reports on this year's national "Stamp Out Hunger" Food Drive May 8 have pushed total donations to more than one billion pounds since the drive began 18 years ago.

"Our union members are proud to provide a helping hand to the millions of citizens who recognize that hunger in America is a continuing problem and want to assist their neighbors in time of need," said NALC President Fredric V. Rolando. "Collecting these donations from the mailbox and taking them to local food banks and pantries is in keeping with our motto of 'Delivering for America'."


We thank NALC Local 30 members who participated in their 16th campaign here in Indianapolis.Their efforts benefit food banks in our community, including food pantries set up by the Central Indiana Labor Council Community Services Committee. Another great example of union members stepping up for those who need help in our communities!

Hotel Workers Rising

 

In November of 2007, workers started their journey to seek a fair process to form a union at two area hotels, the Westin Indianapolis and the Sheraton at Keystone Crossing. In November of 2008, workers at the Hyatt Regency Downtown joined them on their quest.

Currently, there are no hotels with a union in Indianapolis. The hotel and convention industry in the city is booming, but workers here are among the lowest paid hotel workers of any major city in the United States. For instance, housekeepers in Indianapolis start at about $7.50 an hour, whereas housekeepers in Chicago - just three short hours away - start at $13.90.

In cities like Chicago, hotel workers have transformed their poverty-wage jobs into good jobs with decent pay and affordable healthcare. Workers from all three hotels have presented to their general managers a petition signed by a majority of workers at their respective hotels, calling for a fair process for workers to decide whether or not have a union. Thus far, the hotels have issued no formal response to their request. For more inforrmation about efforts going on around the country, visit www.hotelworkersrising.org

Employee Free Choice Act

Across the nation, 1.5 million people responded to Working America's call to support the Employee Free Choice Act so our economy works for everyone. To help show its strength publicly on the Internet, they began scrolling names of supporters at noon February 4th, and it will take more than 11 days to scroll through everyone’s name who signed the petition.

We all know the Employee Free Choice Act is critical to our economic recovery. Good union jobs helped build America’s middle class, and this legislation will rekindle the American Dream by leveling the playing field and empowering workers to form unions and bargain for a better life. That’s why greedy CEOs are fighting it with every dirty tactic in the book, including misleading ads and shady front groups—all the more powerful due to their big budgets.

We will join together and make calls to Congress, write letters and even participate in meetings at the home offices of members of Congress. If millions of people collectively declare their support for the Employee Free Choice Act, no amount of co rporate money can silence us. Sign Working America's petition today, add your name to our list and help rebuild the middle class.

Working America will keep you posted on how you can help once the bill is introduced and as the vote gets closer. Thank you once again for being part of this fight.

AFSCME's Make America Happen Campaign

In a special message about the week of celebration of the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the inauguration of Barack Obama as 44th President of the United States, AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee says:

President John F. Kennedy called Inauguration Day "a celebration of freedom - symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning - signifying renewal, as well as change." This year, that is dramatically true. President-elect Barack Obama will place his hand on the same Bible President Abraham Lincoln used to take the oath of office. When he does so, at noon on Tuesday, Americans of every party will celebrate both renewal and a long-needed change.

When Obama spoke at Ebenezer Baptist Church last year on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, he told how the walls of Jericho were too strong and too high for the Israelites to pass through. But the Israelites were inspired by God to cry out together. Through the power of unity, the walls came tumbling down.

Our 44th President told the gathering that on the eve of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Martin Luther King, Jr. inspired people not with anger, but with a "fierce urgency" to come together. Dr. King said, "Unity is the great need of this hour. Unity is how we shall overcome." As we celebrate Dr. King's birthday and the inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, Dr. King's words remind us of how this nation will overcome the multitude of problems we now face. The straightforward truth is: We must face them together. We must be bold. And we must act now.

No campaign for social or economic change has ever succeeded in our nation without unity and urgency. In 1968, the sanitation workers of AFSCME Local 1733 united and stood up to the political leaders of Memphis and demanded to be treated with respect and dignity. Their cause was righteous. Their demands were just. And when Dr. King joined their cause, he spoke for an entire movement of people committed to fairness and equality. He insisted on "the fierce urgency of now."

Today's challenges demand no less of us. Think of the extraordinary circumstances that face us today - two wars that are costing lives, damaging our reputation and draining our treasury of needed resources here at home; an economy that threatens the fundamental existence of the middle class at risk; an unsustainable health care system that wreaks havoc on families, overwhelms government budgets and makes businesses uncompetitive; and a state and local fiscal crisis that could cripple the ability of government to meet the ever-increasing demand for vital services.

As AFSCME stood with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. we are now standing with President-elect Barack Obama, calling for unity and urgency to deal with our current crisis. He will need our help to repair the damage that has been done during the past eight years. He will need our hearts, our minds and our spirit. That is why AFSCME has launched the "Make America Happen" campaign, to create jobs and jumpstart our economy, secure health care for all and protect our beleaguered middle class. In celebration of Dr. King's legacy and Barack Obama's inauguration, please join the campaign.

LABOR IN THE NEWS: Labor & Bosses Face Off Over Employee Free Choice

"Bolstered by exit polling data showing that union members played a pivotal role in President-elect Barack Obama's victory, the AFL-CIO served notice yesterday that it views the election results as ratification of organized labor's ambitious agenda," wrote Michael Fletcher in his Washington Post article Labor Seeks Election Rewards Thursday, November 6, 2008.

"In an economy that gives corporations far too much power, a union card remains the single best ticket into the middle class," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney in the Post report. "The Employee Free Choice Act, which would require employers to recognize unions once a majority of workers sign cards of support, is fiercely opposed by business groups that argue the measure would cost jobs and further weaken the nation's economy," wrote Fletcher.

In the Wall Street Journal, Kris Maher reported on how Labor Wants Obama to Take on Big Fight and in his Washington Business Journal article, Kent Hoover reported that the Chamber of Commerce is urging Obama to defer the union agenda.

Wage Theft - Dept of Labor Not Protecting Workers

Hear our director, Kim Bobo, testifying at a House hearing on wage enforcement. (This is just a five minute clip, but you can watch the entire hearing here.)

The New York Times has a strong editorial taking off from Tuesday's hearing; though it doesn't mention us specifically, it reflects our national leadership in framing the issue of wage theft and the Department of Labor's failure to deal with it.

The right-wing National Review has a piece on its Website focusing on the testimony and IWJ's likely influence on an Obama administration.

The St. Petersburg Times has an editorial contrasting the current support for businesses with the lack of support for workers, which was then picked up by the Huffington Post.

And the issue is all over the blogs such as the AFL-CIO blog and ProPublica.

STAY TUNED! We can expect a lot more of this kind of attention in the weeks and months to come - as our wage theft campaign gains momentum and when Kim's book on wage theft comes out this fall.

Unemployed Worker Website Re-Launched

The National Employment Law Project has re-launched its website. Designed to provide information to workers and their advocates "who are struggling to navigate today's tough economic times and to provide a voice for the unemployed in Washington," the website first went live 5 years ago. "With the job market continuing to take a turn for the worse, NELP has updated the materials on the website," reports NELP's Federal Advocacy Coordinator Judy Conti, "with updates on the debate over extended unemployment benefits and statistics and reports on the unemployment situation."

Post Card Campaign

CFLC helped raise minimum wage for Hoosiers. State Rep. John Day was invited to speak at our meeting and updated us through the '07 legislative session. With support of Let Justice Roll and Interfaith Worker Justice, our campaign involved a citizen postcard campaign and raising the morality of a higher wage to legislators. The hard work of many groups got this law passed. Indiana's minimum wage now raises with the federal minimum wage act, raising pay for workers covered by the state act as the federal wage increases. New minimum wage: 7/24/07 - $5.85; 7/24/08 - $6.55, and 7/24/09 - $7.25. This improves the previous $5.15 wage which had not been changed in 10 years, but it is still not a living wage!

Click for the U.S. DOL interactive minimum wage map.

Campaign to Educate

To learn how your money is being spent now, take a look at the city and county government budgets:
    View Indianapolis' budget
    View Marion County's budget

To keep updated about Council meetings, check the calendar often:
    Council Calendar

Local government meetings are broadcast live or rebroadcast on cable channel WCTY TV:
    Local government channel TV 1
    Schedule for TV 1 - Comcast 16 (including archived programs)
    Local government channel TV 2
    Schedule for TV 2 - Comcast 28 (including archived programs)