Put America to Work Campaign: Congressional Black Caucus "For the People" Jobs Initiative

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Congressional Black Caucus "For the People" Jobs Initiative

On Thursday, August 18, the Congressional Black Caucus held a "For the People" Jobs Initiative town hall meeting in Atlanta focusing on job creation efforts and improving the economy. Among the topics they addressed were public and private cooperation to create jobs, federal spending programs, recent debate on the federal debt and deficit reduction, as well as programs designed to benefit African Americans. This event was part of the Congressional Black Caucus' "For the People" jobs initiative that included nationwide jobs fairs, workshops and town hall meetings.

Watch the video of the Atlanta town hall meeting on C-SPAN

The Congressional Black Caucus Launches “For the People” Jobs Initiative H.Res.348

Job Fairs and Town Halls around the Country

MSNBC Contributor and theGrio.com Correspondent Jeff Johnson will moderate the CBC town halls in Detroit (August 16) and Los Angeles (August 30-31). All the town halls, including Atlanta (August 18) and Miami (August 22-23), will be streamed live on theGrio.com

DETROIT — August 16
REGISTER
Congressmen John Conyers &
Hansen Clarke, Host
WC3/ Wayne County Community College
(Downtown Campus)
1001 W. Fort St., Detroit, MI, 48211
Job Fair from: 9:00am – 5:30pm
Town Hall: 6:00pm -8:00pm

ATLANTA — August 18
REGISTER
Congressman John Lewis and Hank Johnson, Hosts
Atlanta Technical College
1560 Metropolitan Pkwy SW
Atlanta, GA 30310
Job Fair: 9:00am – 5:30pm
Town Hall: 6:00pm -8pm

MIAMI — August 22-23

REGISTER
Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, Host
Mt. Herman A.M.E. Church (town hall)
17800 Northwest 25th Avenue
James L. Knight Center, Downtown Miami (job fair)
400 SE 2nd Avenue # 3, Miami, FL 33131-2116
Town Hall: August 22, 6:00pm -8:00pm
Job Fair: August 23, 9:00am – 5:30pm

LOS ANGELES — August 30-31

REGISTER
Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Host
Crenshaw Christian Center
West 7901 S. Vermont Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90044
Town Hall: August 30, 6:00pm -8:00pm
Job Fair: August 31, 9:00am – 5:00pm

Washington, DC – Today, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) officially announces its “For the People” Jobs Initiative, which includes nationwide job fairs and town hall meetings. As the reported African American unemployment rate hovers around 16.2%, Members of the CBC are standing together to address the joblessness crisis. Most recently, the CBC Members unanimously introduced the Congressional Black Caucus ‘For the People’ Jobs Initiative Resolution (H. Res. 348) to encourage the House of Representatives to immediately consider and pass critical jobs legislation to address the growing jobs crisis throughout America. Additionally, CBC Members have introduced over 40 job creation bills since the beginning of the 112^th Congress. To celebrate our 40-year history, the CBC has gone well beyond their normal course of duty in legislating to go into communities all over the country to provide immediate, tangible results to address the jobs crisis by providing jobs to communities that need them most.

This August, thousands will gather for town hall meetings, job fairs, and job readiness workshops and seminars as a part of the Congressional Black Caucus’s For the People Jobs Initiative.

“As reported African American unemployment remains stagnant at 16.2%, it has become clear that it is time for immediate and real action to provide hard working Americans with real economic opportunity,” said Chairman Emanuel Cleaver.

“Too many Americans are struggling to get back on their feet and as members of the Congressional Black Caucus it is our duty to ensure their voices are heard, and needs are met,” said Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Chairwoman of the CBC Jobs Committee.

The needs of our citizens have been ignored for far too long. Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are prepared to work in a bipartisan fashion to do what is necessary to bring this nation out of economic turmoil and the For the People Jobs Initiative is the first step to making that happen. Every American has the right to be gainfully employed and CBC Members will not rest until there is equality in access to jobs.

For more information, visit the CBC web site

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Other Priority Federal Job Creation Legislation

In addition to HR 1000, there are several other very important job creation bills pending in Congress. Some of these bills may be reintroduced in the next legislative session. The Put America to Work Campaign thanks the sponsors of these bills for their vision and leadership.

HR 1617 – Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and 19 cosponsors have introduced HR 1617, which would create over 2 million jobs over two years. These jobs would include public service jobs to implement energy audit programs and retrofits, improve public parks, renovate schools and housing, and expand childcare and early education .HR 1617 would cost $227 billion over two years and is fully paid for through separate legislation that creates higher tax brackets for millionaires and billionaires, eliminates subsidies for Big Oil, and closes loopholes for corporations that ship American jobs overseas.

HR 2553 – National Infrastructure Bank Act

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) has introduced the National Infrastructure Bank Act, with 103 cosponsors. The bill would create and fund a public bank to leverage private and public capital to support infrastructure projects of national and regional significance, including transportation, environment, energy, telecommunications and water projects.The bank would have a major emphasis in fundingenvironmental infrastructure projects such as enhancing clean water; energy and electric infrastructure projects, and is supported by the Blue-Green Alliance, the United Steelworkers and Utility Workers of America.

HR 188 -- The 21st Century Civilian Conservation Corps Act

Rep. Marcy Kaptur and 2 cosponsors have introduced HR 188, which would establish a Civilian Conservation Corps to employ unemployed or underemployed U.S. citizens in the construction, maintenance, and carrying on of works of a public nature, such as forestation of U.S. and state lands, prevention of forest fires, floods, and soil erosion, and construction and repair of National Park System paths and trails. The bill would be funded at a level of $16 billion a year from fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2017.

You can help!! Support these bills and urge others to do so.Pass a resolution supporting these bills in your union, Labor Council, community organization or city council. Visit www.PutAmericaToWork.net for more information about the bills, related federal legislation, and sample resolutions.

HR 1000: The Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act

HR 1000, a revised version of HR 870 and HR 4277 introduced in previous sessions of Congress, was reintroduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) on March 6, 2013. This transformative federal legislation would create a national public service jobs program to complement job creation efforts in the private and nonprofit sectors. Most notably, the bill "aims to provide a job to any American that seeks work, and to ultimately, create a full employment society."

HR 1000 creates a national "Full Employment and Training Trust Fund," funded by a small Financial Transactions Tax on stock, bond and derivatives transactions. This would create a major new national funding source large enough to create 2.5 to 4 million jobs in the first two years of the program. The bill would also provide much additional funding to support innovative job training programs, such as one-stop career centers, YouthBuild and Job Corps, among others.

Click here for more info

Pass a Local Resolution in Support of HR 1000!

Help build momentum for a national jobs program by passing a local resolution in your city, county or state legislature!

See here for a sample resolution:

Draft New York City Resolution in Support of HR 870/HR 4277 (previous version of HR 1000 -pending)

Recently Passed Resolutions

AFSCME 2012 Convention Amended Jobs Resolution -- passed at 40th International Convention, 6/18-22/12, Los Angeles, CA

Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) Resolution -- passed at National Confereence, 7/26-28/12, Orlando, FL

National Organization For Women (NOW) Resolution -- passed at National Conference, Baltimore, MD 7/1/12

Other resources for passing local jobs resolutions:

Local Jobs Resolution Toolkit, from Cities for Progress

Put America to Work!!

The Put America to Work Campaign seeks to organize a strong national social movement to guarantee a right to a living wage job for every person who wants one.

As part of our work, we strongly support the Humphrey Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act (HR 870), which aims to create millions of jobs for unemployed workers and move the US towards a full employment society.

The bill establishes a National Full Employment Trust Fund to fund an innovative direct job creation program. The Trust Fund will pay for new jobs on Main Street by raising new revenue through a small, targeted tax on Wall Street stock, options, futures, swaps and credit default swap transactions.

This campaign is a project of the National Jobs For All Coalition, which is working to build a new movement for full employment at liveable wages. For more info, visit: www.NJFAC.org

About the Campaign

The Put America to Work Campaign is a national grassroots citizens' campaign to pass comprehensive federal job creation legislation, achieve full employment and secure the right to a living wage job for every person in the U.S. who wants one.

Our current strategic focus to build national support for HR 1000, the Humphrey Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act, introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI). To mobilize support for the bill, we will be conducting a national program of community forums and teach-ins to educate policymakers and citizens about the jobs crisis and the need for massive public investment to improve our infrastructure, human services and social safety net.

We seek to put a human face on unemployment, underemployment, financial insecurity and economic distress. Our goal is to build a powerful national social movement that harnesses the voices of ordinary Americans and community organizations to permanently improve the economic rights for people who live in this country, including the right to a job, the right to a decent education, the right to health care and the right to income and retirement security.

In taking on this challenge, we want to create a more compassionate and solidaristic economy, where the public interest and the common welfare are valued, and people from all walks of life join together to reduce and eliminate poverty and chronic unemployment. Whether we have a good job or we are unemployed, we have a huge stake in each other's well-being. The problems of unemployment, poor wages and poverty are not just the problems of the unemployed and the poor -- they are the problems of all of us. We have all seen corporations abruptly eliminate and shed jobs of highly-paid workers when it suits them to do so. The economic security of workers-at-large will be greatly improved by ensuring that everyone who wants to work has the right and opportunity to do so.

To that end, we seek to inspire a much high level of public awareness and civic engagement about solving the serious, long-standing and chronic problems of unemployment, underemployment and poverty in the U.S. Even in relatively good times, tens of millions of Americans have continued to suffer with inadequate job opportunities and low wages. The fight for full employment and economic justice must go to the top of the national agenda, and stay there until all Americans have the economic right to a decent job and livelihood.

The Put America to Work Campaign is a project of the National Jobs for All Coalition, a national organization based in New York that advocates for full employment and living wage jobs for all. Contributions to NJFAC are tax-deductible and we welcome financial and volunteer contributions in support of the campaign. To join the campaign and endorse HR 1000, or request more information, please fill out our contact form.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Congressional Black Caucus "For the People" Jobs Initiative

The Congressional Black Caucus Launches “For the People” Jobs Initiative H.Res.348

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