Jewish Labor Committee

Finds Common Ground in Labor, Concern for the Poor and Interreligious Actions

Photo Jeffrey Bruno/ALETEIA - (Creative Commons)

September 18, 2015 -- New York, NY: Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Jewish Labor Committee, issued the following statement on the occasion of the impending visit of Pope Francis to the United States:

As an American organization that links the organized Jewish community and the organized labor movement, the Jewish Labor Committee joins in welcoming Pope Francis on his visit to the United States.
Pope Francis' visit is a special occasion for many of us to note his heartfelt and deeply-rooted respect for working men and women, for the poor and for the plight of immigrants.
We find common ground in Pope Francis's statement of last October that "[t]here is no worse material poverty than one that does not allow for earning one's bread and deprives one of the dignity of work," and his many pronouncements on the dignity and safety of workers. The Pope's appeal this March, that solidarity and justice prevail, noting that "when people do not earn their bread, they lose their dignity" resonated with us, bringing to mind the Talmudic passage from Pirke Avot, 3:16, on the importance and interrelatedness of both spiritual and physical sustenance: "Without bread [literally, "˜flour'], there is no Torah; without Torah, there is no bread."
His respect for and advocacy of the rights of workers, including the right to form and join unions, and secure decent remuneration and secure retirements, deserve wide applause from the larger community, and emulation by community leaders, religious and secular.
We also find both common ground and deep respect for the Pope's connections to and solidarity with the Jewish people, in Argentina, in Rome, and in more general terms, from the spirit in which he has approached interreligious encounters and dialogue. We welcome his condemnation of anti-Semitism, his solidarity with the victims of the attack on the AMIA Jewish Center in Buenos Aires, his leadership in Holocaust commemoration and education within Argentina, and his articulation of "the right of the State of Israel to exist and flourish in peace and security within internationally recognized borders" in May of last year.
The Pope's concern for the poor, for the exploited, for those who cannot earn a decent wage to provide for their families, for immigrants, and, especially in this time, those desperate refugees trying to escape horrendous conditions in the Middle East and Africa are concerns that resonate with us deeply. We hope that his visit here will focus upon these pressing issues and thereby help lead to solutions.

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 01:52 PM | Permalink

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 12:40 PM | Permalink

Photo via New England Jewish Labor Committee

September 9, 2015 -- Boston, MA: Jewish Labor Committee members joined 400 Boston hotel workers at Wyndham Boston Beacon Hill Hotel earlier today as part of the workers' efforts to secure a safe and healthy workplace.

Workers at the hotel clean rooms for Massachusetts General Hospital patients at MGH's 8-bed sleep study in the hotel, which is right next to the hospital.

Hotel workers filed an OSHA complaint in May, stating that they cleaned blood, vomit, feces, and needles without sufficient training and protection, and the agency opened an inspection of the hotel that month. They submitted evidence to the agency supporting their allegations of hazardous working conditions related to the potentially infectious materials. Workers also allege lacking information about the waste they clean and dispose of from the MGH sleep study inside the hotel.

They went on strike June 25, 2015 and they testified at Boston City Council that they were afraid for their safety at work.

In July, the hotel hired a temporary agency to clean the MGH sleep study facility. The workers are still concerned that the temps are not given enough training and that "the hotel is going in the wrong direction."

"We are seriously concerned about health and safety conditions in our workplace. Although we clean up after medical patients, we have not always had gloves to protect ourselves or cleaning supplies adequate to do our jobs. Housemen have had to transport bloody linens through the hotel without leak-proof, biohazard bags. Housekeepers have had to dispose of potentially contaminated needles without training on procedures for doing so safely."

According to a Boston Globe article*, Brian Lang, President of Unite Here Local 26 said that Wyndham management has been resisting workers' attempts to join a union, but the complaints filed by the housekeepers with OSHA are "independent of the issue of unionization."

* "Wyndham housekeepers say waste from patients endangers them," Boston Globe, May 20, 2015,

Photo via Unite Here Local 26

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 10:23 AM | Permalink

September 1, 2015 - New York, NY: Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Jewish Labor Committee, issued the following statement earlier today:

The Jewish Labor Committee condemns the recent spate of hate speech directed against members of the United States Congress because of their position on the pending Iran Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran's nuclear program.

While this is a complicated issue with valid points in support of or in opposition to the Iran deal, vitriolic attacks by persons or organizations against Senators or Representatives who take a position for or against the Iran deal is not only unwarranted but damaging to our democratic process. Those for the deal who attack someone such as Senator Chuck Schumer as a "war monger" and those against the deal who attack someone such as Representative Jerry Nadler as a "kapo" only add to the ultra-bitter atmosphere surrounding this issue, contribute nothing to the debate on this contentious plan, and contribute to the extreme partisanship that has deadlocked our government. Both Senator Schumer and Representative Nadler, and those like them, are strong supporters of Israel, and are progressive political leaders who work tirelessly to improve the lives of average citizens.

The Jewish Labor Committee condemns such hate speech.

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 01:12 PM | Permalink