Jewish Labor Committee

As part of an effort to recognize the recent national labor leadership elections in Pittsburgh, celebrate the Jewish New Year, and stand in support of the state and people of Israel, thirty Philadelphia-area labor, government, and community leaders gathered at the Israeli Consulate in Philadelphia on Thursday, September 24, to honor the relationship between the U.S. and Israeli labor movements.
Sharing hosting duties were Patrick Eiding, President of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO, along with Consul General Daniel Kutner; the event was MC'ed by Deputy Consul General Raslan Abu Rukun.
Patrick Eiding related the close organizational and personal relationships between Philadelphia labor, the local Jewish community and the Israeli trade union movemwent. Edward F. Mooney, Vice President of District 13, Communications Workers of America, and Bernard Fisher, Past President of the local Coalition of Black Trade Unionists discussed their participation in a July 2007 labor leaders' study trip to Israel. The personal remembrances of Mooney and Fisher were "life changing," they reported, discussing how they explored all sides of the issues, from Jewish and Arab, Israeli and Palestinian perspectives.
Israeli Consul General Kutner gave a brief account of Israel's founding of Israel, and the role of decades of hard work by the pre-state Israeli labor movement to build a socially just society.

The program ended with a full hour of networking. To follow up in the success of the program, the cosponsors plan to meet to develop follow-up activites.
Among the labor, community and government leaders in attendance, in addition to those mentioned, were local Philadelphia and state union presidents Jerry T. Jordan, President, Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 3; Ted Kirsch, President, American Federation of Teachers Pennsylvania (AFTPA); James Weyrauch, Exec. V.P, National Council of Field Labor Locals, AFGE; & V.P., PA AFL-CIO; Alan Greenberger, Interim Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, Commerce Department, City of Philadelphia; Nancy Gilboy, President & CEO, International Visitors Council of Philadelphia; Sallie Glickman, Chief Executive Officer, Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board; Matt Goldfine, Chief of Staff, Office of State Rep. Tim Briggs; and Seth J. Kaplan, Deputy Chief of Staff, Representative Brendan Boyle, 170th Legislative District.
The event was co-sponsored by the Philadelphia Jewish Labor Committee; the Philadelphia Israeli Consulate; the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO; State of Israel Bonds; and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Philadelphia.

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 02:13 PM | Permalink

Stuart Appelbaum addressing rally in New York's Dag Hammarskjold Plaza
September 24, 2009: New York - Thousands of people, including New York Governor David Paterson and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, gathered outside the UN building on Thursday to protest against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's participation in the General Assembly session. The "Stand for Freedom in Iran" called for freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and freedom of the press; immediate cessation of human rights abuses, the release of demonstrators from prisons and protection for minority communities; prosecution of those responsible for the murder of Neda Agha-Soltan and the many other victims engaged in the recent protests; full compliance and cooperation by Iran with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Security Council resolutions including an end to all uranium enrichment in Iran; an end to incitement to genocide and support for terrorism.
Speakers included Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, UFCW - and President of the Jewish Labor Committee - and J. David Cox, Sr., National Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO. Additional rallies are being held in Washington, DC; Detroit, Michigan; Los Angeles, California; Miami, Florida; St. Louis, Missouri; and Chicago, Illinois; and in in Vienna, Paris, Germany, Cape Town, Buenos Aires, Holland, and Norway. President Appelbaum's remarks appear below.

I'm Stuart Appelbaum. I'm president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union and I'm also President of the Jewish Labor Committee.

And on behalf of the members of my union and the members of the JLC, I am proud to stand with you today.
Over the course of its history, the American labor movement has always fought for the rights of workers, not only here in America, but wherever men and women are denied their right to form unions.

That's why I'm here today because, in contemporary Iran, worker rights simply do not exist.

But you don't have to take my word for it: just ask Iranian workers who've tried to form free and independent unions and they'll tell you the price people pay to organize.

They might tell you about Mansour Osanloo. He is a leader of the Tehran bus workers union. He was arrested in July 2007 and he is still in prison today.

Or they might tell you about Farzad Kamangar. Kamangar was a leader of Iran's teachers' union. After being arrested on trumped-up charges, he received a death sentence by the Tehran Revolutionary Court.

Or they might even tell you about Sussan Razani and Shiva Kheirabadi who were convicted and flogged this past February in Sananadaj Central Prison for merely attending a labor celebration in 2008.

And that's only where it begins. Journalists are routinely jailed. Metal workers, mechanics, sugar workers, bakery workers and others are arrested and their unions broken.

And at this May's international labor-day demonstration, the police locked 2,000 workers in Iran in the park where they had gathered and violently attacked. Beaten with batons, tear-gassed, and kicked; and, their cameras and cell phones were broken by the police to try and stop the story from getting out. But the story did get out -- and we are determined to tell it.

Ahmedinajad has sought to ban unions, to abolish the minimum wage, and to maintain the ability to fire workers without cause or recourse to compensation.

In short, the Iranian regime seeks a lawless workplace environment for all Iranians. They have imposed a violent crackdown on all forms of labor protest. They are feverishly working to strip Iranian workers of their dignity.

But the cause of worker rights in Iran will never be extinguished.

To quote Osanloo, "All we are asking is for Iranian workers to be treated as free human beings, not as slaves."

Today, we are demanding that the Iranian regime immediately release all imprisoned trade unionists, that it recognize independent labor unions, and that Iran ratify and adhere to the International Labor Organization conventions governing the right to organize unions, to collectively bargain labor agreements, and the freedom of association.

The bottom line is that there can be no true Freedom in Iran absent the freedom to organize.

Today, I am calling on labor unions throughout the world to stand with our brothers and sisters in Iran. The global labor movement must play an important role in advocating for union rights in Iran and preventing repression of trade unionists.

Ensuring basic labor rights means filling the words "Stand for Freedom in Iran" with content and meaning.

We in the labor movement have the immediate moral responsibility to tell working people in Iran that you are our brothers and sisters - and we will stand with you for freedom in Iran for all workers and for all people.

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 05:15 PM | Permalink

Monday, Sept 21, 2009: New York - The Jewish Labor Committee notes the statement by the British Trades Union Congress of September 17, 2009. We welcome the TUC's affirmation of support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and emphasis on security for all parties. Yet, the resolution simultaneously seeks to impose military and economic sanctions against only one party to the conflict - the state of Israel and its democratic trade union center, the Histadrut. The resolution thus undermines the very end that that the TUC and trade unionists around the world fervently desire: a democratic, two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine question.

JLC President Stuart Appelbaum stated, "Support for a two-state solution is the goal and will not be achieved by isolating and boycotting Israel. We continue to look to the trade union movement to promote peace and solidarity for all workers and hope that we can work with the TUC and other labor federations around the world to establish a coordinated, constructive policy toward that end. After all, in labor's fight for justice, we need to see more cooperation among workers and unions through trade and economic development, not less."

International leaders of the U.S. and German labor movements have long condemned the use of boycotts against Israel as being counter-productive to a two-state solution. The Jewish Labor Committee urges that the British Trades Union Congress does the same.

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 01:26 PM | Permalink

The United Hebrew Trades - New York Jewish Labor Committee hit the streets again - to march in New York City's Labor Day Parade. Marching with national and local JLC staff were representatives of IBEW Local 3, the New York State Public Employees Federation, RWDSU Local 338, and the United Federation of Teachers. Lillian Roberts, Executive Director of AFSCME District Council 37, the city's largest municipal union, was Grand Marshall of this year's parade, which brought out some 50,000 people from 400 union locals and labor-related bodies. New York CIty Central Labor Council President Jack Ahern noted that "This is a march that brings together all working people and that's what it's all about."

Recently-appointed Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, takes time out to chat with Jewish Labor Committee Executive Director Sybil Sanchez. For both individuals, this was their first Labor Day Parade in New York. Photos by Steve Pezenik.

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 07:43 PM | Permalink

Friday, September 11, 2009 -- Yesterday, the Jewish Labor Committee brought leaders from California, Pennsylvania, and New York to Washington, DC, to participate in two major advocacy efforts for human rights at home and abroad.

l-r: Rev. Dr. Clarence Pemberton (Philadelphia), Rabbi George Stern (Philadelphia), and Father Jack O'Malley (Pittsburgh), at the office of Senator Robert Casey.

With hundreds of labor, environmental, religious and community groups in coalition with American Rights At Work, JLC leaders went to Capitol Hill advocating that Congress pass the Employee Free Choice Act. The act would make it easier for workers to join unions, effectively penalize companies that intimidate workers for organizing, and expedite the realization of contracts between employers and their employees.

From the key contested states of Pennsylvania and California, we were represented by Rabbi George Stern, JLC Philadelphia Director Rosalind Spigel, JLC Western Region President and business owner Floyd Glen-Lambert, and Leslie Gersicoff, Executive Director of the Jewish Labor Committee Western Region Leslie Gersicoff. [For more about Jewish advocacy on EFCA, see the Jewish Labor Committee's 2009 Labor Day statement here.]

While our EFCA team was meeting with 15 Congressional members (from Pennsylvania: Senators Robert Casey and Arlen Specter, Representatives Kathy Dahlkemper, Jason Altmire, Joe Sestak, Robert Brad, Mike Doyle and Chaka Fattah; from California: Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, Representatives Barbara Lee, Diane Watson, Bob Filner, Dana Rohrabacher and Henry Waxman), JLC Executive Committee members Elihu Davison of Morristown, N.J. and Gerry Sommer of Washington, D.C. joined JLC Executive Director Sybil Sanchez at the National Jewish Leadership Advocacy Day on Iran. The event was convened to advocate against a nuclear Iran through the National Inter-Agency Task Force on Iran, with representation from diverse local and national Jewish communal institutions across the country. The Task Force has been endorsed by all major religious movements within Judaism.

Sanchez delivered the following statement to the over 300 Jewish leaders present:

The Jewish Labor Committee is celebrating 75-years of connecting Jews and labor in the struggle for human rights.

We stand in solidarity today with those on the forefront of that struggle in Iran, be they minorities, women or workers. I would like to convey greetings from Stuart Appelbaum, President of both the Jewish Labor Committee and the Retail, Wholesale Department Store Union.

Along with RWDSU's support in this effort, we are grateful for the support of the American Federation of Teachers and the AFL-CIO. AFT President Randi Weingarten couldn't join us today but we welcome her representative David Dorn, director of the AFT's international affairs department.

President Weingarten is en route to Pittsburgh for as you might know, the AFL-CIO will be having its 26th Constitutional Convention there. Consequently, AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeny cannot join us either, but we do have a statement to deliver from the Federation:

"The AFL-CIO, on behalf of its nearly ten million members, repeats the call for full democratic rights for all Iranians, including freedom of association and freedom of assembly. The government of Iran must cease all violent repression, must release all imprisoned trade unionists; and must recognize all independent workers organizations in Iran. We urge the government of Iran to respect workers rights and stop repression against peaceful demonstrations." [For more information on the AFL-CIO's position in defense of workers' rights and freedom of association in Iran, see here.]

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 04:05 PM | Permalink