Jewish Labor Committee

I am delighted to join you today as the relatively new executive director of the Jewish Labor Committee. It is indeed a unique time for us to come together and focus on building our organization's contribution to workers' rights and Jewish concerns. As we stand together on the battle lines pushing for the right to health care and passage of the Employee Free Choice Act so workers can organize, it is indeed a unique point in time for American history to meet and honor leaders like Roberta, Morty and Jack.

Today's news tells us we are struggling as economists seek to gauge consumer confidence in the hopes for an improvement to our economy and as we are focusing on the call for accountability from our nation's bankers and the world finance industry. We hope to hear a bit about that later from Rich Trumka as he is returning just now from the American Bankers Association Meeting. We need to continue seeking inspiration from our President in the “Si Se Puede” spirit that got him there in the first place. That is – if it's yes we can, then it's yes we certainly must and we are here tonight to do it together!

And, that's in a nutshell what the Jewish Labor Committee is all about. As we look to promote workers' rights and economic justice, so too do we seek to strengthen our connections with Israel and internationally around issues central to the Jewish community and the trade union movement. Many within the Jewish community care deeply about the state of working men and women and it is incumbent upon all of us here in this room to work together in building on that concern to protect our rights, starting with passage of the Employee Free Choice Act.

As someone who is still often told she's generally speaking in the 'youth category,' I am especially concerned about our future.

So here's an important socio-economic picture of what we're dealing with:

According to the AFL-CIO more than one in three workers under the age of 35 are living at home with their parents. They are less likely than other age cohorts to be employed, to have health insurance, and to have a retirement savings plan. 24 percent of young people make less than what they need to pay their monthly bills and nearly one-third of all young workers are uninsured.

Considering these details, it's no surprise that just 5 percent of workers age 16 to 24 belong to unions. For, as we know, with union density comes a healthy economy and these statistics reveal the endemic problems of economic justice that we and our younger generations face today.

The problem when it comes to union membership and youth isn't that the needs aren't there: it's that younger people don't have access to collective action as a way to solve them.

Indeed that's where Jews and labor have so much to build on together as communities with common concerns.

For as you may know, concern about the rates of participation and membership of youth is a key component that both organized labor and the Jewish community share and about which they can both learn much from each other.

The Jewish community at large has put tremendous resources into researching Jewish membership, participation and identity among young people. Likewise, labor is increasingly concerned with the conditions with which young people must now contend today and in the future.

That's why it's so great to look out here at you and see so many of you in the room tonight. It's a great moment but if it's the only moment, then we surely have not done our job.

We so appreciate your support for as everyone knows, fundraisers like tonight are critical to help us fulfill our mission. But, also, as everyone knows, we need more than money to make community - we need you! From our springtime labor seders that bring Jewish and labor leaders together to celebrate freedom from oppression to our national advocacy programs like our work on the Employee Free Choice Act - there's so much we can do when we put our energy into it.

We hope that tonight is just the start of our coming together. There's a saying in Judaism that comes from a compilation of ethical teachings called “the Ethics of the Fathers”: “You are not obliged to complete the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.” I look forward to working on it together but tonight let's celebrate 75 years of Jewish values at work.