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Sweet and Good New Year
L'Shana Tova u'Mtukah
Gut Yuntif, Gut Yohr
All of us at the Jewish Labor Committee
wish you, your family, relatives,
co-workers, friends and neighbors
a good and sweet year - a more peaceful,
more just, fairer and better year.
Photo courtesy Jobs With Justice
September 7, 2017: New York , NY - The Jewish Labor Committee condemns President Donald Trump's decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
This program gave 800,000 young people -- children and teens who had arrived in the U.S. ten or more years ago at age 15 or younger -- a chance to legally study or work.
"It is inexplicable and unconscionable that we would again upend their lives and return these young people to limbo," said JLC President Stuart Appelbaum. Appelbaum called on Congress to promptly pass legislation assuring continued legal status for these "Dreamers."
"Our ancestors were the Biblical 'strangers in a strange land,' " said Appelbaum, who is also the President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union. "As we move from Labor Day to the High Holidays, we recall our own American immigrant stories. By closing doors, canceling promises, and building walls, we betray our moral and ethical obligations to these young people."
Protest against announced repeal of DACA, NYC, "ŽSept. "Ž6"Ž, "Ž2017 Photo by Harrie van Veen/Creative Commons
JLC Executive Director Jonathan D. Rosenblum (black t-shirt, holding JLC placard), Chicago JLC Area Director Eli Fishman (in sunglasses), and Chicago JLC Chair Mike Perry (holding JLC placard)
September 4, 2017: Chicago, IL -- Jewish Labor Committee staff and lay-activists joined thousands of union members and other workers fighting for a fair wage and union rights on the job at today's Fight For $15 Labor Day Rally in Chicago's Loop. Chicago JLC participated in a Jewish Contingent, along with Chicago's Jewish Council on Urban Affairs and the Chicago Workmen's Circle branch.
Activists at the rally included Moral Monday founder The Reverend Dr. William J. Barber II, The Reverend Jesse Jackson, former Governor Pat Quinn, and SEIU Healthcare Illinois president Greg Kelley.
The minimum wage in Illinois is $8.25 an hour. A bill sent by state legislators to Governor Bruce Rauner in May that would have required the state's hourly minimum wage to go up to $15 over five years was vetoed by Rauner a few weeks ago. Chicago currently has a minimum wage of $11 an hour, which rises to $13 an hour in 2019.
"The JLC supports Illinois workers' demands for $15 an hour as a minimum living wage, and we call on the state's leadership to respect workers' rights to organize and obtain decent working conditions, whether we're talking about fast food workers or hospital workers," said national JLC Executive Director Jonathan D. Rosenblum. He noted that the majority of hospital workers are not union members. Getting hospitals to respect their employees' wish to secure union membership was on the agenda of today's rally. "Now, more than ever," he added, "the Chicago's Jewish community must take action. Our Jewish values teach us that we must stand strong for just labor practices. That's why we're here taking a stand in supporting striking workers and fair wages."
Graphic by Brittney Willis.
The Jewish Labor Committee wishes everyone a happy Labor Day Weekend. This holiday has many meanings in the United States - a long weekend, a barbeque with friends and family, or the last day to wear those white pants you got on sale.
For us, and many others across the country, Labor Day most of all means a day to celebrate workers and to restate the goals and accomplishments of the labor movement. We remember those who fought and sacrificed to secure many of the things that we take for granted, including an eight-hour workday, the right to unionize, even the two-day weekend.
This Labor Day, take some time to appreciate the achievements of working men and women in the United States. Here's a link to an article about Labor Day, and how to teach kids about it; also check out our reading list on Jews in the American labor movement.
Movies? Salon has "The 10 best Labor Day movies for folks who can't watch "9-to-5"³ one more time"; the Los Angeles Times asks "Want to watch something at home on Labor Day Weekend? Here are some suggestions"; five years back, even Forbes had a decent "Top 10 Labor Day Movies List"!
For news on the challenges confronting workers not just in the USA but around the globe, just click here.