Sunday, March 5, 2017

Sign the petition: “Right-to-Work” Laws Lower Wages for All Working People – Union and Nonunion Alike

Click here to sign the petition http://bit.ly/2lLzo4C

Donald Trump’s presidency could usher in a crisis for working people across the country.

Since Election Day, Republican lawmakers in Congress and state legislatures are aggressively pushing “right-to-work” laws. They’re paving the way for corporations to increase their power in workplaces and state and national politics.

And now, Donald Trump’s press secretary has indicated “the president believes in ‘right-to-work’” and he wants to do “what’s in the best interest of job creators.”

These policies won’t lead to more manufacturing plants or better jobs. They will only lead to weaker unions, less bargaining power for working people, and lower wages (union and nonunion).

We all benefit from strong unions of working people who bring about a better standard of living – not just for union members. Politicians and CEOs pushing “right to work” want to weaken unions and increase corporate profits because their goal is to make the rich richer.
Sign the petition today telling congressional and state lawmakers that “right to work” is bad for your state and bad for the country.
To: All Members of Congress and State Lawmakers

Working people in “right-to-work” states earn at least $6,000 less than other people on average. And EPI research shows that, even after controlling for other differences between states like the cost of living, people in “right-to-work” states still earn 3.2 percent less – or $1,558 less per year. So-called “right-to-work” laws lower the wages of everyone who works for a living – union and nonunion alike. Pushed by corporate lobbyists and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the only real purpose of so-called “right-to-work” laws is to lower wages and weaken unions. We demand that you stand up for workers’ rights and oppose “right-to-work” laws in Congress and in your state.

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Townhall: Building an Economy That Works for Everyone

Trump blames China, Mexico and every other country in the world for our economic troubles. But globalization - as well as automation - could have created an economy that worked for everyone, if we truly had a democratic society.

Instead of fighting for the working-class, Trump intends to continue the Reagan policies that led to the extreme inequality of wealth and power that hurt us all - more tax cuts for the Top 1%, more cuts in social programs like Obamacare and more deregulation of banks and corporations.

Time for a NEW New Deal.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10210256548442123&set=gm.1343753685662714&type=3&theater

Friday, September 30, 2016

Tools you can use to
TALK PROGRESSIVE with conservatives

(Developed by Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice/Unity Campaign and UAW Region 1A Retired Workers Council)

Pro-Government Quotes

“(There’s) a mindset that believes that less government is the highest good no matter what … It’s an ideology that undervalues the common good, says we’re all on our own and what’s in it for me, and how do I do well, but I’m not going to invest in what we need as a community.

“And, as a consequence, you end up seeing an underinvestment in the things that we all share that make us safe, that make us whole, that give us the ability to pursue our own individual dreams. So we underinvest in pipes underground. We underinvest in bridges that we drive on, and the roads that connect us, and the schools that move us forward.”
- President Barack Obama

“Government is the tool we can use to build the kind of society we want.”
- Ken Georgetti, Canadian labor leader

“I’ve always believed what the first Republican President, a guy named Abraham Lincoln, said. He said we should do individually those things that we do best by ourselves. But through our government, we should do together what we can’t do as well for ourselves.”
- President Barack Obama

“Government does what America’s future requires and what the private sector cannot do iris not doing effectively or at all.”
-George Lakoff

Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Big government is the only thing that could counter balance the power of big business and solve big societal problems like economic depression, racism, and environmental pollution”
Douglas Amy

“Privatization and deregulation are seen as virtues that lead to less government. That is a fallacy; they lead to less responsible government.”
- George Lakoff

Pro-Taxes Quotes

"Citizens should practically bear in mind that towards the payment of debts there must be revenue; that to have revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant.”
- George Washington

"Taxes, after all, are dues that we pay for the privileges of membership in an organized society.”
- Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Taxes are the lifeblood of government and no taxpayer should be permitted to escape the payment of his just share of the burden of contributing thereto."
- Arthur Vanderbilt

"In theory, taxes should be like shopping. What I buy is government services. What I pay are my taxes."
- P. J. O'Roarke

“Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society.”
-Oliver Wendell Holmes

“A society that does not invest heavily in its future cannot endure”
-David Cay Johnston

“There should not be one new dime in tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires as long as millions of children in America are poor, hungry, uneducated and without health coverage.”
Marian Wright Edelman

“The debate about taxes raises two questions:
(1) What kind of society do we want?
(2) How are we going to pay for it?”
David Cay Johnston

“Once you realize that trickle-down economics does not work, you will see the excessive tax cuts for the rich as what they are -- a simple upward redistribution of income, rather than a way to make all of us richer, as we were told.”
― Ha-Joon Chang, 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism

“The subjects of every state ought to contribute towards the support of the government, as nearly as possible, in proportion to their respective abilities.”
― Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations

Sunday, September 18, 2016


Help bring back Democracy to Michigan while helping Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice/Unity Campaign
to hire a part-time organizer

https://goo.gl/forms/CZEaBYvj1brUKCYH3

Click on the above link to complete the survey on Redistricting Michigan.

Gerrymandered districts have guaranteed the minority party controls state legislatures and Congress.
Time to make redistricting honest and objective.

Filling out this brief survey will help bring back democracy to Michigan and help Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice/Unity Campaign hire a part-time organizer.

And it won't cost you a dime. Thank you.

Tuesday, August 16, 2016




 "Reversing Runaway Inequality"

Communications Workers of America (CWA) union and Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice/Unity Campaign are offering a free training to help progressives get ready for the 2016 election.

Mike Schulte, staff person for the Michigan Communications Workers of America (CWA) union, recently conducted a workshop with Jerry King, UAW Local 140, for Southeast Michigan Jobs with Justice/Unity Campaign activists.

The workshop, "Reversing Runaway Inequality," was developed by CWA and Les Leopold of the New York Labor Institute. It provides activists the ammo they need to argue against the Building a Better Business Climate political agenda and helps them become "silo busters" and "movement builders."

Twenty (20) participants attended the JWJ session including the following labor and community groups: Michigan Voice, Empowered Voices, AFT/Lakeshore Schools, Women International League for Peace and Freedom, Our Walmart Alliance, Center for Community-Based Enterprises, Michigan Universal Health Care Action Network, West Side Mothers, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, UAW Local 228, A. Philip Randolph Institute, NAACP, Fannie Lou Hamer Political Action Committee, Restaurant Opportunities Center, Detroit Jews for Justice, and Economic Justice Alliance of Michigan.

A second workshop will be held Sept. 10 sponsored by the NAACP and the Fannie Lou Hamer PAC., with SEMJWJ/UC

More can be organized.  

If your group is interested in getting ready for this year's election season - and beyond - Email semjwj2@gmail

Wednesday, June 15, 2016