Friday, July 26, 2013

8/24 >> 50th Anniversary March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Cross-posted from Labor Fightback Network

Demand Jobs and Freedom for All! March on Washington August 24!

Join the March on Washington August 24, 2013, to demand jobs and freedom for all; defend and expand Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid; respect and protect workers’ rights; and restore and expand voting rights!

Fifty years ago, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. led a great March for JOBS and FREEDOM on Washington that demanded:

“A massive federal program to train and place all unemployed workers—Negro and white—on meaningful and dignified jobs at decent wages.
“A national minimum wage act that will give all Americans a decent standard of living. (Government surveys show that anything less than $2.00 [$15.23 at May 2013 prices] an hour fails to do this.)”

Shockingly, most working people are worse off today than in the 1960s:

Employment statistics today are clearly worse. Thanks to the Great Recession, the national unemployment rate still hovers at 7.6 percent; in 1963 it was 5.7 percent. But that is only part of the picture. Part-time workers who want full-time work are on the rise. And even worse, the number of those who have completely given up hope of finding a job has increased precipitously: in 1954, 96 percent of U.S. men between 25 and 54 years old worked but today that number has dropped to 80 percent. When all these sectors of unemployed or partially employed are combined and only those men who are unemployed but want work are included, the unemployment rate jumps to 16 percent.
The 1963 March and other struggles of the 1960s by workers and unions succeeded in raising the minimum wage, along with other wages, so that in 1968, we achieved the highest minimum wage ever. Were it that high now, it would be $10.70 instead of only $7.25. The average hourly wage in the private sector reached a peak in the early 1970’s, not reached since, forty years later. Partly as a consequence of the declining strength of unions, wages have stagnated or even declined in relation to our ability to produce, with the lion’s share flowing to the very top income receivers. And most of those who have been lucky enough to find work since the Great Recession have been channeled into the low-wage sector of the job market.
MLK at the 1963 March on Washington

Black workers continue to be unemployed at a rate that is twice that for white workers; Hispanic workers have a rate nearly 40% higher than white, non-Hispanic workers, and both suffer wage disparities.
In the 1930s, during the Great Depression, the government instituted job programs and put millions to work. Today, President Obama has announced that it is not the government’s job to create the needed number of jobs. In fact, the Obama administration has advocated a totally inadequate plan that would provide less than two million new jobs.
Compounding these dire circumstances, social safety net programs, like food stamps and unemployment compensation, including for those suffering long-term joblessness, have been cut across the board on the national, state, and local levels and will likely be cut again, especially in light of the recent decision by the House to push through a farm bill without food stamps.
Whatever recovery there has been from the Great Recession has resulted in income gains concentrated at the top. This division in economic gains is not new. It extends and reinforces the trend toward Gilded Age inequality that has been going on for four decades. In 2010, 93 percent of all new income that was created went to the wealthiest 1 percent of the population.
The attacks on African Americans and people of color have continued unabated, as witnessed by the brutal murder of Trayvon Martin and the exoneration of his killer. This on top of the June 25 Supreme Court decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act.
It’s high time for all victims of austerity cuts, potential victims of further cuts in the near and long-term future — particularly low-income and poor people — along with communities of color, students, environmentalists and other sectors of the population reeling from the deteriorating conditions under which we live to come together to fight collectively for our rights and achieve a new wave of social progress.
We demand that the federal government create tens of millions of good paying jobs to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, protect the environment, and rehire laid-off teachers and other essential public workers.
These jobs will partially pay for themselves, because workers with decent jobs pay more in taxes and don’t need unemployment compensation or food stamps. But of course there will be some costs. that can be paid for by more tax revenues from corporations, banks and the rich, financial transfer taxes, and ending the 12-year Afghanistan war — which would save $10 billion a month — while saving tens of billions more by avoiding further unjust wars and occupations.
Join tens of thousands of people in Washington on August 24 to commemorate the ideals of Rev. King and the 1963 March. Renew the call for jobs, freedom, and economic justice, and work to make civil and economic rights a reality for all!

Labor Organizations Endorsing the March on Washington

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
United Steelworkers
Laborers International Union of North America
Communications Workers of America
American Federation of Government Employees
UNITE-HERE
Service Employees International Union
United Food and Commercial Workers
Farm Labor Organizing Committee
American Federation of Teachers
International Association of Machinists
1199-SEIU
District 1199C, National Union of Hospital and Health Care Employees, AFSCME, AFL-CIO
North Shore AFL-CIO Federation of Labor (Cleveland, Ohio)
New Jersey State Industrial Union Council
South Carolina AFL-CIO
San Francisco Labor Council
Coalition of Black Trade Unionists
A. Philip Randolph Institute
Pennsylvania Federation Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees–International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Utility Workers Union of America Local 601
AFSCME New Jersey Council 1
Communications Workers of America Local 1082
Communications Workers of America Local 1081
Communications Workers of America Local 1080
Service Employees International Union Local 668
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 819
Amalgamated Transit Union New Jersey State Council
Savannah Regional Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO
Rutgers University American Association of University Professors–American Federation of Teachers
Council of New Jersey State College Locals, AFT, AFL-CIO
Labor Fightback Network

If your union wishes to endorse the March on Washington, click here

To download a printable flyer for the March on Washington, click here (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)

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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.