Make Government Work Tool Kit #4 - Page 1 of 2

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Make Government Work Tool Kit #4 - Page 2 of 2

Check out Page 1 of 2 here

What's "Make Government Work" All About?

With 75% of Americans distrusting the federal government, any progressive issue which depends on governmental action is faced with an uphill battle. In the midst of the progressive era of politics, for comparison, only 22% of Americans distrusted the federal government in 1964.

The heyday for America’s workers generally is considered to be from 1945 to 1976. That's when the American Dream became reality for tens of millions of working-class Americans, except for those in inner cities, Appalachia, the Deep South and corporate agricultural fields.

Two factors contributed most for this broad prosperity when many workers on a 40-hour work week could support a family of four, send their kids to college and provide for a secure retirement.They are (1) Strong unions and (2) A government that worked for the 99%, not just the 1%.

So what might explain why the lives of our working-class has declined since 1976? Mainly, (1) the decline of union membership, and (2) the shift to conservative government policies.

The conservatives' model for success - free markets, small government and pursuit of individual self-interest – had its chance to work for the 99%, but it's failed miserably. So what keeps them in power?

Conservatives have offered a powerful narrative explaining what's wrong with America that millions of white working-class voters have accepted. For 40 years, Americans have received a steady diet of right-wing messaging of how government is incompetent, wastes tax dollars, threatens freedom and,in the end, makes no difference in people's lives. So why vote if it's a waste of time? And why vote for progressives who want to give that bad government more power?

Progressives are long overdue in offering our narrative for what happened to the American Dream, sharing our vision for America, and showing how progressive values, as expressed by the New Deal ad Great Society, are American values.

Find out more about Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice's "Make Government Work" Project by emailing us at:  makegovernmentwork2016@gmail.com

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The 2016 Election and the 42 Percent

As we gear up for the 2016 presidential race, there are some new political players in town. Across party lines and regional divides, these Americans are leading the call for an economy that works for working families again. They see raising wages and rebuilding the middle class as top priorities for the country today -- and they're ready to make their voices heard at the ballot box. It's not hard to understand why: These men and women make up the astonishing 42 percent of all workers in America who are now paid less than $15 an hour.

But while presidential candidates, economists and commentators debate how to address America's low-wage crisis, one important question has been overlooked: What do the tens of millions of Americans paid less than $15 an hour -- the "42 percent" -- think about how to rebuild America's economy?

Now, for the first time, their voices are heard through findings released by the National Employment Law Project, from a survey asking Americans paid less than $15 an hour a wide range of questions about the economy and how to create good jobs. These Americans responded with a clear set of ideas for a better future.

Most notably, 72 percent of workers paid less than $15 an hour say they support unions -- higher than any level of support ever recorded among the general population. And it's not hard to see why. These workers -- those hit hardest by declining wages and weakened workplace protections -- struggle simply to keep food on the table and a roof over their families' heads. In the absence of fair pay and a voice at work, they will be left to rely on public assistance just to cover the basics. A study earlier this year by The University of California-Berkeley showed that working families receive $154 billion a year in public assistance.

It's not surprising that these workers are looking for commonsense solutions, and many believe that joining with their coworkers is their best chance at a brighter future. Seventy-two percent believe unions can make a real difference in whether or not workers like themselves get raises. Sixty-six percent say they would have a better chance of making $15 an hour and being able to support their families if they could join a union.

This outpouring of support for a voice on the job from underpaid workers across the economy is the latest sign that workers across the economy are ready to join together in unions to address the most important problems on the job. From reporters at digital outlets like Gawker, Salon and Al Jazeera to pharmacists at a Brooklyn Target to cooks and cashiers at McDonald's, workers across the economy are demanding a seat at the table and a say at work. And they're not alone. Economic experts like former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers have weighed in as well, declaring unions a critical pathway to rebuilding the middle class.

Minimum wage increases are great, but not enough. Workers shouldn't have to rely on sporadic and incremental raises dependent on the good will of politicians. They need an ongoing vehicle for making sure their wages rise with profitability, productivity and economic growth.

The U.S. is the one of the only major nations without meaningful worker representation through unions or other vehicles. In Europe and throughout the world, workers have real vehicles for collecting bargaining and participating in wage decisions by sector. The absence of worker voice in the US compared with other nations is a factor in the significantly greater imbalances here than elsewhere in what workers are paid versus the compensation for corporate executives.
McDonald's and other major corporations with wages so low their employees must rely on public assistance to get by can lead the way in answering the call of the tens of millions of underpaid Americans demanding a living wage and a voice on the job.

And looking ahead to 2016, the survey shows "the 42 percent" are poised to become a potent political force whose priorities will continue to change the climate for unions in the country.

Sixty-nine percent of unregistered respondents in the just-released survey say they would register to vote if there were a presidential candidate who supported raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and making it easier for workers to join a union. Among registered respondents, 65 percent say they are more likely to vote if a candidate supports a $15 minimum wage and a union for all workers.

The "42 percent" have made themselves clear: Raise wages so that we can support our families, or lose our support at the polls.

Christine Owens is executive director of the National Employment Law Project.

via Huffington Post


Take Action in the fight for a Living Wage for All Workers, Click on:

http://fightfor15.org/ 

Hotel workers need support 2014!

The old Ponchartrain Hotel is reopening under a new name, the Crowne Plaza, and a new format – NON-UNION.

UniteHere! has asked that all available activists support their cause and join the picket lines around the hotel across from Cobo Hall.

Please note the following schedule:
Wednesday, July 10th 11am-1pm
Monday, July 15th 7:30am-9:30am
Friday, July 19th 11am-1pm & 4pm-6pm

Full Employment/Green Jobs

 

"Full Employment/Green Jobs" Statement

By Rev. Charles Williams, president of National Action Network – Michigan:

“Detroit today is a Tale of Two Cities.

“One city, located in Downtown and Midtown, is doing well. In fact, it's doing very well with an abundance of private investment and public subsidies. That city is thriving.

“The Other City is where the rest of us live. We're not doing very well. We're still waiting for the private investment and public subsidies to come our way. Many of us are barely surviving. Some aren't doing that well.

“The worst thing is so many young people appear to have given up. They don't believe they have a future. But I firmly believe a young person with a good-paying job is less likely to go out and commit a senseless act of violence.

“Prevailing government policies in Detroit, Lansing and Washington D.C. don't offer our young people that hope of something better.

“After 50 years of factories and businesses abandoning Detroit and taking good-paying jobs and much of our city's tax base with them, an austerity policy only makes things worse. Cutting public spending on schools, water and sewers, streets, and everything else people need while cutting taxes on the Top 1% are exactly the worst policies at the worst time.

“Private capital only goes where it can make a profit. Government spending can go where people need it, if policy directs that.

“Kevyn Orr's bankruptcy deal does nothing to help the Other City. Neither does Gov. Snyder's tax cuts to business with no strings attached to create even one single job. And Paul Ryan's federal budget tears the guts out of much needed social programs.

“We need a new policy in Detroit, Lansing and Washington D.C. A Full-Employment/Green Jobs policy will direct government to do its job to create employment in the Other City, rebuild our nation, stimulate the private economy and give hope to our youth.”

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The United Auto Workers Union (UAW)

Excerpts from “Sustainable Jobs to Sustain Our Planet”

From: UAW Resolutions, 36^th Constitutional Convention

June 2-5, 2014

“From extreme weather events that have devastated entire communities to dirty air, despoiled land and oil-slicked waters, we all have a stake in reducing America's use of fossil fuels. This environmental challenge is also an economic opportunity. Clean energy can be at the heart of a broader strategy to create thousands of good-paying manufacturing jobs for American workers, while making the communities we live in cleaner and healthier.

“To see how policies to reduce fossil fuel consumption can support good jobs, Americans can look to the auto industry … thousands of UAW members are working today making the vehicles of the future.

“There is no reason this positive experience cannot be extended to other industries. Initiatives to improve energy efficiency, develop renewable energy sources, and eliminate harmful emissions and toxic waste can spur technological innovation, drive the growth of new industries and bring new employment opportunities. Our trading partners already see the economic potential of green energy ...”

The UAW's Action Agenda calls for:

1. Federal and state investments in green infrastructure, mass transportation and energy-efficient buildings.
2. Research into renewable energy and fuel-saving technologies.
3. Assistance for workers and communities impacted by changing technologies and the transition to new, renewable energy sources.
4. Special attention to the inclusion of women, people of color and residents of hard-hit urban communities in the new green economy.
5. Work with our allies in the civil rights and environmental movements to protect and advance workers in the emerging green economy to organize and bargain collectively ... to ensure green jobs are, in fact, good jobs.

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"Move the Money” to “Full Employment/Green Jobs”

This Bulletin's Full Employment/Green Jobs Statement comes to us from Rev. Richard Peacock, chairperson of Peace Action of Michigan:

“The rough winter cost me $211 due to a pothole. Potholes may have cost you more, and you may have lost wages by missing work. That is just one reason to Move the Money from unnecessary Pentagon spending to fixing potholes, rebuilding roads, insulating houses and more.

"Move the Money" is a project of Peace Action in Michigan and across the country. Congress, presidents, lobbyists and corporations have skewed the budget priorities in favor of Pentagon spending and wars. The core Pentagon budget grew almost 50% over the last decade. In addition, making war on and occupying Iraq and Afghanistan is costing us trillions.

“Pentagon spending is a very poor job creator. For every $1 billion spent on the Pentagon, 11,200 jobs are created. That same $1 billion would create 16,800 jobs in clean energy or 26,700 jobs in education. Investing in Full Employment/Green Jobs is possible because the Pentagon can spend smarter and less.

“Diverse organizations such as the Progressive Democrats of America and the Republican Liberty Caucus have many ways to make Pentagon spending smarter and less. There are bills in Congress to reduce the amount of our taxes we pay for "modernizing" unnecessary nuclear bombs. We can lobby our elected officials to support wiser Pentagon spending. Plus, we must ask candidates for federal offices: (1) "Will you support auditing the Pentagon?" and (2) "Will you cut the unnecessary number of nuclear weapons of mass destruction?"

“Jobs with Justice and Peace Action can continue to use the vocabulary of: "Full Employment/Green Jobs," "Move the Money" and "Make Pentagon spending smarter and less."

“Peace Action wants to share a “Move the Money” presentation with you and your friends. Which of your favorite groups could use suggestions for moving the money from the Pentagon to the People? Contact Rev. Rich Peacock, Peace Action of Michigan, 248-321-7480, rjpeacock@wowway.com”

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 Rally Green Jobs and Full Employment 2014

Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice thanks the 65-70 people who joined our Rally for Green Jobs and Full Employment on Friday June 29th at Nine Mile and Woodward. There was an impressive delegation of activists from Good Jobs Now, the group that is leading the campaign for a living wage at McDonald’s, Burger King and other low-wage retailers. Also, attending were individuals from Feed Da Streetz, DSA, Moratorium Now!, Occupy Detroit, People Before Banks, CWA, NALC, USW, Peace Action, Halt Fermi 3, SEIU, UAW, MNA, Anti-Fracking, UWUA. Did I miss anybody?

“We also want to thank our speakers: Craig Covey, former mayor of Ferndale, Douglas “G-Style” Myers, environmental justice activist from River Rouge, and Rep. John Conyers, author of the Full Employment bill, HR-1000.

And finally, JWJ wants to thank Al Benchich and Fred Vitale for use of their powerful sound system, The Rust Belt, for letting us their electricity to power the powerful sound system, and Affirmations and Peace Action for offering space to meet if the rains came during the Rally.

The Employee Free Choice Act: Fighting For Workers Right To Organize And Collectively Bargain

The Employee Free Choice Act: Fighting for Workers Right to Organize and Collectively Bargain

Over the past 19 years, Jobs with Justice coalitions have proven again and again that when enough of us stand together, we all start winning. More than 41 million workers say they want a union, yet workers who attempt to organize face vicious employer opposition.

Labor law and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) fail to prevent or punish illegal or immoral employer behavior; 25% of employers illegally fire at least one worker during a union campaign, and 1/3 of employers never negotiate first contracts even after workers vote to join a union. Workers need support from their communities to ensure that they are able to exercise their democratic right to organize.

Our country's labor law system is broken. NLRB elections fail to meet U.S. standards for democratic elections. Employers can obstruct workers' attempts to organize and bargain in bad faith with organized workers and receive only a slap on the wrist, if they are punished at all. We desperately need comprehensive labor law reform, such as the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), which would hold employers accountable for respecting workers' rights.

JWJ coalitions throughout our network are engaged in promoting labor law reform-and in fighting alongside workers who are trying to organize every day. When community members stand with public transit workers; when congregations stand with health care workers; when nurses stand with janitors; when we stand together, we can win, even in today's harsh anti-worker climate.

JWJ has worked on thousands of union organizing, bargaining, and first contract campaigns. Since 2000, JWJ has helped more than 70,000 workers organize unions at 160 workplaces. That track record demonstrates the strength of the JWJ model of permanent coalitions, where labor, religious, student, and other community allies commit to work together to support a campaign for as long as it takes, upholding our core principles of solidarity, militant creative action, and strategic power analysis.

Help workers win back their right to organize and have a choice in how that will be decided, either by secret ballot or signing a card.  Link has been broken since at least August 2011

JWJ's first "First Friday" action draws more than 150

Detroit: On March 4, more than 150 people, chanting and carrying signs including ones that read "Money for jobs, not the banks," rallied at the Michigan Labor Legacy Monument near Hart Plaza in Downtown Detroit to call attention to the city's high unemployment.

This First Friday for Full Employment rally, the first one in Detroit, was organized by Southeast Michigan Jobs With Justice (JWJ) and its Jobs Committee along with support from the UAW, Metro Detroit AFL-CIO, SEIU, two postal workers locals, Detroit Federation of Musicians, Moratorium NOW, OPEIU, and AFSCME. First Friday actions also took place in Chicago, New York City, Dayton, Ohio, Portland, Oregon and other cities where there are JWJ chapters.

First Friday actions correspond monthly with the release of the federal government's Bureau of Labor Statistics latest unemployment data. Despite the slight dip in unemployment nationally, First Friday actions serve as a reminder that a jobs deficit still exists and the unemployed still need a safety net to help them survive these tough economic times.

Rep. John Conyers (D-14th District) spoke to the crowd, emphasizing the need for a federal jobs program like the one he is sponsoring in Congress. Detroit Councilwoman Brenda Jones, a CWA member, echoed Detroiters' desperate needs for jobs. OPEIU member and JWJ activist, Maria Catalfio, gave a first-hand account of her bus trip to Wisconsin where she and other OPEIU members joined the massive protests against the proposed union-busting bill submitted by Republican governor, Scott Walker.

The next First Friday action will actually be held on Monday, April 4, in order to help build a rally at the Detroit Federal Building, Cass and Michigan, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., that has been called by the Communications Workers union (CWA) and the Metro Detroit AFL-CIO to support all public employees.

Cynthia Peele is a freelance writer living and working in Detroit, Michigan. 

She also serves as SEM-JWJ Public Relations Director.