Jewish Labor Committee

Poster by Mitchell Loeb, 1934. The Jewish Labor Committee, the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, the Labor Chest to Combat Nazism and Fascism, and others made use of it in outreach campaigns.

April 21, 2020: New York, NY - On this day of commemoration of the Holocaust, we remember the origins of the Jewish Labor Committee, founded on February. 25, 1934, on Manhattan's Lower East Side, to provide a presence for the activists of the mostly Yiddish-speaking, mostly immigrant Jewish labor movement, in the American labor movement and in the mainstream Jewish community. The JLC's aim was to mobilize labor in the struggle against the rising threat of Nazism in Germany, and, more generally, of fascism in Europe.

You can learn about the JLC's Holocaust-era history at this online exhibition, prepared by the Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, Tamiment Library, NYU. The exhibit is based on "Labor and the Holocaust: the Jewish Labor Committee and the Anti-Nazi Struggle," by Gail Malmgreen.

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 12:22 PM | Permalink

(Photo by James L. Miller)

Both the American Federation of Teachers Nurses and Health Professionals and National Nurses United, representing many of these workers, have asked for the public's help.

Here are two petitions you can sign onto!

"Healthcare Workers Need Protective Equipment Now," [AFT],

and

"Tell Congress: We demand nurses are protected during COVID-19," [NNU].

[Note, on some of these sign-ons, you can uncheck any of the boxes that are pre-checked, or unsubscribe, to avoid getting additional email from the organizers of this petition or the group that is hosting it online.]

You can find out how to aid health care professionals, and other workers and their families affected by the Coronavirus Pandemic, in your community by reaching out to your local central labor council. You can find them here.

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 12:36 PM | Permalink