Jewish Labor Committee

(September 24, 2012) Boston, MA - Today, the New England Jewish Labor Committee joined with Moshe Kavod House Boston to support the SEIU 615 janitors whose contract expires on September 30th. 14,000 union janitors are faced with the end of their contract, and the reality that hard-fought contractual gains won at the bargaining table over the last decade may be endangered. Contractors are proposing to create a permanent second-tier category of janitorial workers that they can pay less than currently, as well to eliminate language intended to move workers from part-time to full-time employment among other disastrous proposals. Many janitors are working several jobs; at many job sites, they are given way more than they can possibly do in the time allotted. Most work 1 hour less than the 29 hours necessary to receive health care.
The demonstration, at 12 noon at the Berkeley Building in Downtown Boston, focused specific attention on over 50 contracted janitors, members of SEIU Local 615 who work in the building, as well as the thousands of others whose job security is at risk. This unique action of prayer, song, shofar and testimonials included members of the Jewish community of Greater Boston and members of Local 615.

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 06:21 PM | Permalink

A picket line outside Gale School in Rogers Park on the morning of Monday, September 10. (Photo: Sarah Jane Rhee/Chicago Indymedia)

(September 10, 2012) Chicago, IL - The Jewish Labor Committee supports Chicago's teachers in their effort to achieve a fair agreement that is good for them, their students and the city of Chicago. Michael Perry, Chair of the Chicago Region of the Jewish Labor Committee, stated that:

"The Chicago Teachers Union and its members were committed to working around the clock to achieve a fair contract that allowed them to be in the classroom teaching the city's children -- where they wanted to be doing what they have devoted their work lives to doing. All they asked was that their work and that their role as partners with administrators to make sure every student has a real chance to succeed be respected. They had already agreed to a longer school day, and they had put forward ideas to make each school day not only longer, but better by including more art, music and other subjects that enrich and motivate children.

"No one becomes a teacher or a school support staff to become rich. But they can and should expect fair and decent conditions, including respect and a voice in how to improve the education of the children whom they serve."

Perry concluded by emphasizing that "understanding the crucial importance of decent education to our community's youth, we are committed to a fair agreement between Chicago's teachers and the City of Chicago."

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 04:32 PM | Permalink

(clockwise from left: New England JLC Regional Director Marya Axner and NE JLC volunteer Amy Mazur; Louis Mandarini, Jr., who works on union relations for the Elizabeth Warren campaign; Amy Mazur (front left), and Marion and Bob Ross (on the right - the latter is a professor at Clark University).

(September 5, 2012: Lawrence, MA) - The New England JLC staffed a table at the Centennial Bread and Roses Festival held in Lawrence, MA, on September 3rd . People gathered at the NE JLC table and discussed our work in the region.

This year was the 100th Anniversary of the Great Lawrence Strike of 1912, popularly referred to as the Bread & Roses Strike, when Lawrence, Massachusetts textile workers launched an explosive eight-week strike that popularized the slogan "Bread and Roses" - dignity and improved conditions as well as higher wages. Their victory made it clear that semi-skilled workers - many of them recently-arrived immigrants and nearly half of them women - could organize themselves to improve their working conditions, and their lives.

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 03:29 PM | Permalink

Honoring Workers in Our Synagogues
by Stephanie Ainbinder

(September 3, 2012) Boston, MA - It is a season to honor workers. Both the secular holiday of Labor Day and the book of Deuteronomy call on us to reflect on the treatment of workers during this time.

This year, the New England Jewish Labor Committee is coordinating "˜Labor on the Bimah' outreach in the greater Boston area to raise awareness in Jewish congregations of issues facing working families. In celebration of Labor Day, nine representatives, including union leaders, union members, attorneys, and a rabbi, will speak at synagogues in the greater Boston area about their involvement in support of workers. Speakers will discuss connections linking Jewish values and the fight for better treatment of working men and women. [Details below.]

One of the Boston-area synagogues participating in `Labor on the Bimah' is Temple Aliyah in Needham, where Martin Abramowitz, former VP of planning at Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, will give a D'var Torah. "For me as a volunteer, it's partly about being true to my roots (both my parents were union workers in the clothing industry)" Abramowitz said, "but it's mostly about recognizing that, in the end, 'we are all workers' and we need to regain our empathy with working people who are struggling. In the end, it's not about unions, but about workers."

Rabbi Carl Perkins of Temple Aliyah also thinks "˜Labor on the Bimah' is a worthwhile program. "During the week of Labor Day, when we read from the Book of Deuteronomy -- which goes out of its way to exhort us to care for those of limited economic means and which charges us to treat laborers with particular care and respect -- it behooves us to reflect on the challenges laborers face today and to try to bring the messages of our tradition close to home," he stated. "We need to ask ourselves what responsibilities the Torah would impose on us regarding laborers."

Fitting in with the secular calendar of Labor Day, the parsha of Shabbat on Labor Day weekend this year was Ki Teitzei, which has much to say about workers and our treatment of them. In Deuteronomy, Chapter 24, Verses 14-15 it says, "Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin."

Don Siegel, attorney at Segal Roitman and former Boston JCRC President, spoke about those verses in his D'var Torah at the Newton Minyan on the Shabbat before Labor Day. He commented that "just as the children of Israel needed to be reminded about their responsibilities to all workers before entering the promised land, Ki Teitzei reminds us all that those responsibilities haven't changed over time."

In addition to Siegel's d'var, nine other synagogues are participating in 'Labor on the Bimah' this year. This past Shabbat, Brian Lang, President of Unite Here Local 26, and Rabbi Barbara Penzner spoke at Temple Hillel B'nai Torah. Marya Axner, Regional Director of the New England Jewish Labor Committee, spoke at Congregation Dorshei Tzedek.

On September 8th, Martin Abramowitz will speak at Temple Aliyah; on September 15th Nicole Dector of Segal Roitman will speak at Temple Beth Zion, on October 12th; Dave Borrus of Piledrivers Local 56 will speak at Beth El Temple Center; and on Yom Kippur Dick Bauer, attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services, will speak at Kahal B'raira in Cambridge. [The author of this article, Stephanie Ainbinder, a former Jewish Organizing Initiative Fellow at New England JLC who is currently working for the Massachusetts Building Trades Council, will be speaking at Moishe Kavod House at a date to be determined.]

The Jewish Labor Committee has been working with congregations across the country for many years to focus on workers' rights during a Shabbat near Labor Day. And for over a decade, 'Labor on the Bimah' has been part of a nationwide effort to expand the way congregants think about their religion, justice, and workers' rights. Community leaders across the country speak at houses of worship as a part of a larger program, 'Labor in the Pulpit,' with specific outreach aimed at Jewish, Christian and Muslim congregations.

Marya Axner said that "we are looking forward to making "˜Labor on the Bimah' a yearly tradition in the Greater Boston Jewish community. We are committed to involving more synagogues, temples and havurot in our work over the next several years."

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 11:57 PM | Permalink