Put America to Work Campaign: January 2014

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Join National Sign-On Campaign in support of HR 1000!

Jobs for All Campaign

Sign-on Letter in Support of Rep. John Conyers’ Jobs Legislation - HR 1000 The “Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment & Training Act”Preliminary list of endorsers - list in formation

Rodney S. Sadler, Jr., Ph.D, Associate Professor of Bible

Union Presbyterian Seminary

Moral Monday / Charlotte NAACP

State Representative Barbara Cooper

Tennessee District 86

Dayton-Miami Valley AFL-CIO Central Labor Council

Charles Morton, Executive Director

Gray Panthers, San Francisco Chapter

Rev. Jerome McCorry

THE ADAM PROJECT

Dayton Ohio

A Peace of Mind

Carmen Gray

Cleveland Ohio

United Clevelanders Against Poverty

Diana King Chair

Cleveland, Ohio

Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) - New York City Chapter

Eduardo Rosario

New York, NY

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom –

San Francisco Branch (WILPF-SF)

Public Citizen, Congress Watch

Micah Hauptman, Financial Policy Counsel

Rick D’Loss, National Chair

Social Democrats USA

Dr. P. E. Henderson Jr.

Corinthian Baptist Church

Dayton, OH

Helen Lachs Ginsburg

Co-Chair, Columbia University Seminar on

Full Employment, Social Welfare and Equity

Professor Emerita of Economics

Brooklyn College--City University of New York 

Gray Panthers (National)

Washington, DC

Clinton Smith,

Texas Gray Panthers

Austin, TX

 Gray Panthers, San Francisco Chapter

San Francisco, CA

Rev. Les Stansbery

Columbus, Ohio

Philip Harvey, Associate Professor of Law & Economics

Rutgers School of Law

Camden, NJ

Eldon R. Clingan,

State Organizer, Massachusetts Social Democrats

Dedham, MA

Coalition of Labor Union Women, South Florida Chapter

Tanaka Charles, President (AFSCME)

Opa Locka, FL

Memphis Workers' Center

Workers Interfaith Network

Alfredo Pena, Executive Director

Memphis, TN

Greater Charleston AFL-CIO Central Labor Council

Erin McKee, President, and President South Carolina AFL-CIO

Mt. Pleasant, SC

Dee R. Wernette, Ph.D., Activist Researcher

Chicago, IL

Georgia Citizens' Coalition on Hunger

Carolyn Pittman, Executive Director

Atlanta, GA

College Hill Community Church

Presbyterian Church (USA)

Pastor Robert E. Jones

Dayton, OH

Community Organizing Center

Mark D. Stansbery

Columbus, OH

Arkansas Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice

Arkansas Interfaith Alliance.

Rev. Steve Copley

North Little Rock, AR

South Eastern Michigan Jobs With Justice,  Kae Halonen, Jobs Committee

Restaurant Opportunities Centers United

Miami, FL; Washington, DC; Los Angeles, CA

Detroit, MI; Albuquerque, NM; Oakland, CA;

New Orleans, LA; Chicago, IL; Houston, TX; &

Philadelphia, PA

Britton Loftin, National Policy Coordinator

Washington, DC

Demos

Benjamin P. Peck, Senior Legislative and Policy Associate Washington, DC

Chris Tilly, Professor Department of Urban Planning, UCLA

Los Angeles, CA

New York City Council Progressive Caucus

Greater New York Labor-Religion Coalition

Rabbi Michael Feinberg, Executive Director

New York, NY

National Jobs for All Coalition

Trudy Goldberg, Chair

Chicago Political Economy Group

Bill Barclay

Oak Park IL 60302

U.S. Labor Against the War (USLAW)

Michael Eisenscher, National Coordinator

Frank Stricker, Emeritus Professor of History and Labor

Studies, California State University, Dominguez Hills, CA

Organize! Ohio

Larry Bresler Cleveland, OH

Green For All

Kimberly Freeman Brown, DC Office Chief

Washington, DC

James C Clark, CEO Rimson Development Corp (Detroit) Detroit, MI

Association of UW Professionals (AFT Local 3535)

Bryan Kennedy, Ph.D. President, AFT-Wisconsin

Boston Democratic Socialists of America

Mike Pattberg, Boston DSA Exec Board

Boston, MA

People's Empowerment Coalition of Ohio

Lynn Williams, Contact Center

Cincinnati, OH

Coalition for Economic and Social Justice (CESJ)

Jesse Arms  San Francisco, CA & Belleville, IL

Advocacy and Education Committee (Community Action Partnership) Carole L. Grimes, Chairwoman

Dayton, OH

Miami Valley Full Employment Council

Tiki Kai-Krismano, Exec Board

Dayton, OH

George Friday

North Carolina Activist

Dayton-Miami Valley AFL-CIO Central Labor Council

Charles Morton Executive Director

The Adam Project

Rev. Jerome McCorry

Dayton Ohio

Virginia People's Assembly

Faber, VA

(To endorse the letter shown below, contact Logan Martinez -- loganmartinez2u [at] yahoo.com)

Jobs for All Campaign

Quality Jobs with a Living Wage and a Voice in the Workplace

Dear Friends,

US Representative John Conyers has reintroduced jobs legislation HR 1000. It is the most significant jobs creation bill in recent times. The “Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment & Training Act” is a comprehensive and innovative federal and local government job creation and training bill that would create millions of new jobs for the nation’s unemployed. It targets the long-term unemployed and poor communities that are being left behind. The bill will be funded by a financial transactions tax on stocks and bonds.

We are very exited by the legislation and its potential role in mobilizing a larger movement for jobs. Below is the sign-on letter in support of HR 1000, We are seeking organizational and individual endorsements. Our goal is to have as many local, state and national organizations as possible endorse the bill over the next several months. This effort is key in making job creation by the federal government a national priority. Please forward this e-mail to key contacts with a note of your support. Let us know of any endorsements you are able to secure. Thanks.

For Jobs & Peace,

Logan Martinez
Outreach Coordinator
The National Jobs for All Coalition / Jobs for All Campaign

Email: loganmartinez2u [at] yahoo.com

Please click here H.R.1000 for the complete text, summary and cosponsors for the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment and Training Act. 

www.njfac.org / http://www.jobscampaign.org / www.PutAmericaToWork.net

Jobs for All Campaign

Sign-on Letter in Support of Rep. John Conyers’ Jobs Legislation - HR 1000 The “Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment & Training Act”

Dear Member of Congress,

We are writing on behalf of the members of our organizations urging you to cosponsor and pass into law Representative John Conyers’ bill, H.R. 1000, the Humphrey Hawkins 21^st Century Full Employment and Training Act. This legislation would create a national public jobs program to complement job creation by the private sector. Ultimately, it would ensure full employment, so that every American seeking work would have a job.

We're facing a severe jobs crisis. The economy is consistently failing to create sufficient new jobs to sustain the struggling recovery. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported the Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate was 7.5% in April. While 12 million Americans are "officially" unemployed, millions of others have given up looking for work entirely. More than 17 million Americans are currently unemployed, and millions more remain underemployed. 4.6 million Americans have been unemployed for more than six months, and more than 3 million have been out of work for at least a year.

Economists, as well as religious, civil society, political, and other leaders from across the political spectrum agree: Creating jobs is preferable to providing government assistance. Persistent joblessness devastates families, communities, and our economy, drives up our deficit, and weakens our nation. The Humphrey Hawkins Act would solve this crisis.

Philip Harvey, Professor of Law and Economics at the Rutgers School of Law, estimates The Humphrey Hawkins Act would provide resources to businesses, states and localities to directly create 3.1 to 6.2 million jobs, and 1 to 2 million additional jobs indirectly within two years. The National Full Employment and Training Trust Fund—supported by a modest levy on financial transactions—would finance creation of these new jobs.

New jobs would provide opportunity and security to millions of Americans who would also benefit from improved infrastructure including newer, safer, and better roads, dams, bridges, community facilities, schools, libraries, parks, and more. New hires would quickly begin work improving and repairing our dangerously distressed infrastructure, providing child and elder care, offering job training and other education. Communities could hire more police, first responders, teachers, and similar public servants.

We the undersigned strongly urge you to cosponsor H.R. 1000 and to work with your colleagues in Congress to pass this jobs-creating legislation into law as a top priority.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Endorsers [list in formation - see above]

(To endorse this letter, contact Logan Martinez -- loganmartinez2u [at] yahoo.com)

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Conyers forms Full Employment Caucus

Cross-posted from Detroit News

January 29, 2014 at 4:51 pm

Conyers forms Full Employment Caucus

Marisa Schultz
Detroit News Washington Bureau
24 Comments

Lawmakers Introduce Voting Rights Amendment Act of

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Rep. John Conyers (Drew Angerer / Getty Images)

Washington — Rep. John Conyers launched a new congressional caucus Wednesday aimed at cultivating ideas to put all Americans back to work.

The Full Employment Caucus was formed by the longtime Democratic leader with the idea jobs will solve the country’s poverty and crime problems, particularly in his hometown of Detroit.

“In African-American and Hispanic communities, unemployment is 30 percent or more,” Conyers said Wednesday, flanked by fellow members of the Congressional Black Caucus who have joined Conyers in his effort. “... In our communities, we experience profound unemployment and, without a job, poverty is the only alternative.”

There are nearly 300 official caucuses in Congress that bring together lawmakers with similar interests or backgrounds. They range from political (Tea Party Caucus) to ethnic (Hispanic Caucus) and everything in between (Congressional Songwriter Caucus and the Bourbon Caucus).

Conyers, the dean of the Congressional Black Caucus and a leading liberal voice in Congress, said this caucus will meet regularly with economic experts and organize events in members’ districts to find the best solutions.

Fellow caucus member Sheila Jackson-Lee, D-Texas, noted President Barack Obama’s State of the Union speech Tuesday in which he pledged to move on economic initiatives even if Congress drags its feet. She argues the work of the caucus could formulate executive orders the president could sign without congressional approval.

“We will be answering the call of all of America because people need work and we’re not doing right by them by creating work,” Jackson-Lee said. “I believe this caucus will put us on the right path and we’ll give President Obama a number of executive orders that he can sign with pride and strength.”

Conyers, the top Democrat on House Judiciary Committee, has long championed legislation to fund jobs and employment programs, known as the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment and Training Act.

His legislation would create two separate federal trust funds. The first would grant money to communities and states for job-creating activities and the other for training people without skills.

mschultz@detroitnews.com
(202) 662-8736

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140129/POLITICS03/301290102#ixzz2rwCqjaf9

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.