Welcome WBAI "City Watch" Listeners!

If you're looking to get involved in organizing to end the jobs crisis, you've come to the right place!

Please endorse HR 870 here (either as an individual or an organization!) so we build momentum and keep in touch with you.  See our fact sheet on HR 870.   Please contact members of the House of Representatives that represent you and urge them to cosponsor the bill.

For information on Rep. Jan Schakowsky's Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act, click here.  As of right now, there is no bill number for Rep. Schakowsky's bill, so check back on her web site after Labor Day.   Click here to read more about HR 402, Rep. Rosa DeLauro's bill to create a National Infrastructure Bank

Our thanks to Mark Dunlea and Bich Ha Pham of WBAI City Watch for their efforts to inform the public about the jobs crisis and progressive solutions.

Help Organize A National Campaign to Enact HR 870,

The Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment & Training Act

Rep. John Conyers has proposed new legislation that would create a national jobs

program, funded by a financial speculation tax on Wall Street stock, bond and swaps

and derivative trading. The bill, HR 870, will be reintroduced in the next few weeks

with additional provisions emphasizing the right of all workers to a good job, and

calling for the federal government to “create living wage jobs for all at the earliest

practicable date.”

TAKE ACTION NOW FOR A NATIONAL JOBS PROGRAM & FULL EMPLOYMENT!!

1) Endorse HR 870 at www.PutAmericaToWork.net

2) Contact House Members and Urge Them to Cosponsor the Bill.

Urge Senators to Introduce a Companion Bill.

3) Pass a Local Resolution in your city or county or state or Labor Council about

the unemployment crisis and in support of HR 870 -- visit

www.PutAmericaToWork.net to download sample resolutions.

4) Hold a “First Friday” or “First Saturday” vigil or demonstration in your

community to protest the high unemployment rate, and demand a national

jobs program. (The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics releases new

unemployment statistics on the First Friday of every month, so you can

piggyback on local coverage of the unemployment crisis.) Develop a local

coalition/network in support of a national jobs program. Contact Logan

Martinez of NJFAC for more information. Loganmartinez2u@yahoo.com or

(937) 260-2591.

5) Organize a Local Community Forum or “Citizens’ Hearings about the

Unemployment Crisis.” Invite unemployed and underemployed workers to

speak about their experiences. Invite local & national experts to talk about

the human costs of unemployment, and the need for a national jobs program.

More info: www.PutAmericaToWork.net

Chuck Bell, Coordinator (914) 830-0639,  cbell [at] igc.org 

National Jobs For All Coalition, P.O Box 96, Lynbrook, NY 11563

Phone: 203-856-3877 • Web: www.njfac.org • E-mail: njfac [at] njfac.org 

New York City Council Introduces Resolution in Support of Full Employment and Living Wage Jobs for All!

The New York City Council Committee on Community Development is now considering a resolution in support of HR 870, the 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act, introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI).  The resolution was introduced by Council Members Brad Lander, Gale Brewer, Margaret Chin, Daniel Dromm, Letitia James, Deborah Rose and Jumane Williams.

The Put America to Work Campaign thanks these Council Members for their vision and leadership on this issue!   And we thank Mark Dunlea of Hunger Action Network of NY State for helping to get the resolution introduced.  We urge other cities and communities to pass similar resolutions to draw attention to the unemployment crisis and build support for a national jobs program.

Download a copy of the Draft New York City Resolution.

You can also obtain a Local Jobs Resolution Toolkit on how to pass a local jobs resolution at Cities for Progress.  Additional language that may be helpful for local resolutions can be found in the draft The Drive For Decent Work jobs resolution developed in 2008 -- but please update the text for your local situation, and add a current reference to HR 870.   Contact us if you'd like help developing a local resolution.

The text of the NYC draft resolution follows below.

Res. No. 956


Resolution calling upon Congress to pass and the President to sign The Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act, H.R. 870.

By Council Members Lander, Brewer, Chin, Dromm, James, Rose and Williams

Whereas, Millions of people in the United States are unemployed in good times as well as bad, and many more work without living wages, comprehensive health insurance and retirement benefits; and

Whereas, The official unemployment rate leaves out the "hidden unemployed" - who want full-time work but are forced to work part-time or who want a job but are not currently looking for reasons such as lack of child care or transportation; and

Whereas, In May 2011, an estimated 13.9 million workers were officially unemployed (9.1%), an additional 11.3 million were among the "hidden unemployed," bringing the actual jobless rate to roughly 16.5%; and

Whereas, The Full-Employment and Balanced Growth Act was signed into law by President Carter in 1978, thus becoming the nation's first attempt at establishing an official Federal full-employment policy; and

Whereas, The original intent of the legislation's sponsors, Senator Hubert Humphrey and Representative Augustus Hawkins, was to create a full-employment society brought about by direct hiring policies that would obligate the government to create jobs if the private sector was unable to create a fully employed society through gradual economic growth after ten years; and

Whereas, This legislation was supported by both civil rights and labor organizations who viewed the bill as a way to address the economic hardships being felt by low-income Americans; and

Whereas, The intent of the Act's sponsors was weakened when the bill reached the United States Senate prior to it being signed into law; and

Whereas, Congressman John Conyers, Jr. has introduced legislation that is tailored to fit the current state of the nation's economy and seeks to embody the spirit of the original Humphrey-Hawkins legislation; and

Whereas, H.R. 870 known as the Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act seeks to establish a National Full Employment Trust Fund to create employment opportunities; and

Whereas, This trust fund would have two separate accounts directing the allocation of monies towards job creation and training programs; and

Whereas, The first trust fund account would direct funds to a jobs program, allocating funds based on a Community Development Block Grant formula that considers unemployment data, with the purpose of creating employment opportunities in activities designed to address community needs for eligible individuals who either are unemployed for at least twenty-six (26) weeks or unemployed for at least thirty (30) days and low-income; and

Whereas, The second trust fund account would distribute funds to job training programs covered under the Workforce Investment Act; and

Whereas, Although New York City's economy has improved at a faster rate than both the state and the nation, state and federal budget cuts along with a slowly recovering national economy could keep the City's level of unemployment high for some time; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon Congress to pass and the President to sign The Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act, H.R. 870.

Conyers Introduces Deficit Neutral Full Employment and Training Bill

Washington DC- Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.) today introduced H.R. 870, the “Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment & Training Act,” 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. Local jobs would be created through a partnership between the Department of Labor, state, and local governments, non-profit community organizations, and small businesses. Under the Act, jobs would be created in the fields of construction, infrastructure repairs, green jobs, education, health care, and neighborhood renovation. The Act’s Full Employment Trust Fund would provide federal funding for local community-based job creation and training initiatives until full employment is reached in the United States. The Act is deficit neutral and fully funded through a modest tax on Wall Street stock and bond transactions.

“Today, there are millions of Americans who want a job, but can’t find one,” said Conyers. “The inability to find meaningful and sustainable work strips our fellow citizens of their basic right to have access to food, housing, health care, freedom of movement, and perhaps, most importantly, the ability to pursue life with a sense of dignity and meaning. High levels of unemployment are unacceptable and immoral in the wealthiest nation in the world. Thus, I believe it is critical that the federal government empower states, local governments, non-profits, and small businesses to create jobs during an economic downturn.

My “Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act” would allow local government officials to work with community leaders to come up with an effective job creation program, based on each community’s respective needs—be it improvements in infrastructure, housing, energy efficiency, education, or health care. The private sector will also benefit if millions of new jobs are created through improvements in our nation’s aging and crumbling infrastructure. New orders for brick, concrete, steel, aluminum, and plastics mean new jobs in America’s plants and factories and a rebirth of American manufacturing.

Lastly, because we exist in a period when concerns about government debt loom large in many minds, my legislation will be fully funded by a tax on Wall Street speculation and will not add a dime to the federal debt. Wall Street was responsible for the financial crisis that began in 2008 and continues to affect us today. Having already received significant assistance from the federal government, it is only fair that Wall Street now pay Main Street back by helping put America back to work.”

Link to Rep. Conyers' 3/2 Press Release