Jewish Labor Committee

December 22, 2016 New York , NY The Jewish Labor Committee today issued the following statement:

The Jewish Labor Committee opposes the nomination of CKE Restaurants CEO Andy Puzder to be the United States Secretary of Labor, as proposed by President-elect Donald Trump. It is unprecedented to appoint a corporate chief executive officer to this position, especially one who in his public statements, in the sexist advertising promoted by his company, and in his numerous writings has made clear he opposes most of the laws he will be sworn to enforce. A man who makes $17,912 in a day and who argues against a raise for minimum wage workers is not an acceptable Secretary of Labor.

Mr. Puzder has been CEO of a company which has been cited repeatedly for violations of our nation's employment and safety laws. That alone should automatically disqualify him from becoming Secretary of Labor. When the Department of Labor conducted investigations of the 20 largest fast food brands, more than half of the CKE-affiliated restaurants investigated were found to have at least one wage and hours violation. The company admits in filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that it faces multiple class action lawsuits over violations of wage and hour laws. Since Mr. Puzder took over as CKE CEO in 2000, the company has been cited 98 times for safety violations, including 36 classified as "serious", meaning risking death or grave physical harm to employees. Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, has argued that it is "hard to think of anyone less suited for the job" and we agree that a CEO whose company has such a record of rampant violations of the law is not a credible enforcer of labor and employment laws against other employers.

On policy, Mr. Puzder has been an outspoken opponent of government taking action to help raise wages of low-income workers, including opposing expanding coverage of overtime rules and raising the minimum wage. We are deeply concerned that Mr. Puzder has publicly promoted predictions of job loss in cities and states that have raised the minimum wage, but seems to refuse to adjust his views now that those predictions of job loss have proven false in cities and states with higher minimum wages such as New York and California . There is no place for such a rigid anti-worker ideologue in the position of Secretary of Labor.

We ask the United States Senate to reject this nomination when it is asked to deliberate on it early in 2017.

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 04:11 PM | Permalink

December 21, 2016, New York , NY The Jewish Labor Committee today issued the following statement:

The Jewish Labor Committee opposes the nomination of David M. Friedman to be the United States Ambassador to the State of Israel, as proposed by President-elect Donald Trump. His many statements and actions over the years make it clear that he will not help, but rather impede, any meaningful progress towards a fair and just negotiated resolution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
The Jewish Labor Committee opposes Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank , whether the establishment of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements. We support the consensus desire of most Israelis and Palestinians (long confirmed by polling data) for a reasonably negotiated, fair and secure two-state solution for Israel and its Palestinian neighbors. It is essential that any U.S. ambassador to Israel be supportive of a two-state solution.
The nomination of David M. Friedman, President-elect Donald Trump's bankruptcy attorney, to the sensitive post of United States Ambassador to the State of Israel is a serious mistake for several reasons. First and foremost, because Friedman is an active supporter of the West Bank settlement movement and has stated in very clear terms that he does not believe in a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinian people, we believe he is not an appropriate nominee for this crucial post.
Mr. Friedman has no experience in foreign policy or in diplomacy, and he doesn't even seem to believe in diplomacy. This is best exemplified by his condemnation of the liberal pro-Israel organization J Street as "worse than Kapos" (Jews who were forced to collaborate with the Nazis in concentration camps) within the context of his refusal in advance to meet with J Street or other groups that believe in a two-state solution. This alone is a departure for American ambassadors to Israel , who traditionally are open to meeting with a wide spectrum of the American Jewish community.
We are deeply concerned that the incoming U.S. Administration apparently wants to go on record as endorsing the views of a supporter of the settlement enterprise who opposes a two-state solution This will communicate to Israel, the Palestinians, the Arab world and the entire international community that the US is no longer interested in using its good offices to promote a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And we cannot see how the status quo will move forward without at least the supportive involvement of the United States .
Friedman's attitudes and positions are contrary to what have been the bi-partisan policies of the United States for decades. Rejecting a two-state solution would doom Israel 's future as a Jewish and democratic state.
If the incoming United States Senate effectively repudiates a peaceful two-state solution by confirming Mr. Friedman's unwise appointment, this would dangerously and unnecessarily inflame extremist passions against both the United States and Israel . We would not want to see the incoming administration get off to such a bad start, in one fell swoop endangering our national security and that of the State of Israel, and undermining efforts toward Mideast stability.
For all of these reasons, we oppose the nomination of David M. Friedman to be the United States Ambassador to the State of Israel, and ask the United States Senate to reject this nomination when it is asked to deliberate on it early in 2017.

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 03:05 PM | Permalink

December 19, 2016: Philadelphia, PA - Jewish Labor Committee hosted a panel discussion this evening on "Immigration, Xenophobia and Labor." Seventy people, many of them new to the JLC, showed up to hear PA State Senator Daylin Leach, UFCW Local 1776 President Wendell Young IV, the Executive Director of HIAS PA, Cathryn Miller-Wilson, and the Executive Director of the Northeast Region of the ADL, Nancy Baron Baer.
"While moderate and progressive organizations are clamoring to figure out how to collaborate in order to face the coming administration, JLC is paving the way by bringing together high ranking members of the PA State government, the and the local Jewish and labor communities," related Philadelphia JLC Regional Director Michael Hersch. "Though we're all concerned about what the future holds, what's remarkable is our collective commitment to work and fight together to preserve those democratic and inclusive values we all hold dear."

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 11:43 PM | Permalink

JLC Associate Director Arieh Lebowitz at rally next to Make The Road New York representatives.

December 18, 2016: New York, NY - The Jewish Labor Committee joined with hundreds of other people at an #ImmigrantNY rally at Manhattan's Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza in support of immigrants and immigrants' rights. Organized by the New York Immigration Coalition, over 80 local and national community, ethnic, religious and political organizations participated; many continued on to Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue.

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 10:21 AM | Permalink