Jewish Labor Committee

Jewish Labor Committee Congratulates President Stuart Appelbaum for Affirming His Gay Identity

2009-06-29T19:45:12Z

June 29, 2009 – New York: The Jewish Labor Committee congratulates its president Stuart Appelbaum for becoming the first lay-leader of a national Jewish organization and international labor leader in the United States to openly affirm that he is gay. Appelbaum’s announcement came as part of the ongoing effort to secure marriage rights for same-sex couples in New York State. Last month, President Appelbaum joined the board of directors of the Empire State Pride Agenda Foundation, the non-profit educational affiliate of ESPA, New York State’s LGBT lobbying group.

“I have always believed that the only way to challenge injustice is by organizing people for change,” Appelbaum told The Huffington Post on June 18. “That's why I first became involved in the labor movement. But change also requires being honest with each other and ourselves. For me, that means recognizing that the time has long passed for me to step forward and say: `yes, I'm gay.’”

Sybil Sanchez, Executive Director of the Jewish Labor Committee, congratulated President Appelbaum on his openness. “Stuart is a leader above the fray for the labor movement and the Jewish community, and now for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered people in their fight for equal rights,” noted Ms. Sanchez. “His bravery in publicly connecting his personal life story with his political beliefs is to be admired and emulated and we are proud of him.”

]]> Mr. Appelbaum told New York’s Gay City News, “I am defining myself publicly, and not just defining myself privately. That’s what makes a difference. I wanted to make my public role not just as a labor leader or Jewish labor leader, but as a gay Jewish labor leader.”

As President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Appelbaum has worked with marginalized grocery store workers in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, and expanded the union’s activities on behalf of poultry workers in the south. In landmark advocacy, he also secured for the first time in the United States a day off for Somali workers at the Tyson plant in Shelbyville, TN, to observe the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr.

As President of the Jewish Labor Committee, he has led the organization's campaign to garner Jewish communal support for passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, while leading the fight against attempts within the trade union movements in Europe and elsewhere to boycott Israel. He was recently honored as a Jewish leader by the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty for leading JLC’s social justice effort in bringing labor and Jews together in order to provide and distribute 50,000 pounds of kosher chicken to New Yorkers.

Appelbaum’s LGBT activism resonates the same way as his labor activism, and in a way that many consider characteristically Jewish - with an emphasis on unity and action. “It is an honor to join with my brothers and sisters in labor, the Jewish world, and the LGBT community in solidarity as we seek justice and repair of the world.” he said.

“Rabbis for Workers’ Choice” debuts in Philadelphia

2009-06-10T06:44:55Z

The Jewish Labor Committee has been working both nationally and locally to support the Employees Free Choice Act (EFCA). Hundreds of people across the country have signed onto the JLC’s petition {you can add your name here}.

In Philadelphia, the traditionally secular organization has organized something distinctive: a rabbinic appeal to Senator Arlen Specter. JLC Philadelphia Director Rosalind Spigel has enlisted 25 local rabbis plus rabbinical students to sign an open letter urging Pennsylvania’s newly minted Democratic senior senator to put Jewish values to work and help safeguard the rights of employees who wish to secure union representation.{Additional signatories are of course welcome – see here.} Congress is currently considering the Employee Free Choice Act. While Sen. Specter previously supported the legislation, most recently he indicated a disinclination to support this legislation.

On Tuesday, June 9, a rabbinic delegation of the Philadelphia JLC met Senator Arlen Specter to urge his support for the Employee Free Choice Act. Included in the delegation were Rabbis Anna Boswell-Levy, Reba Carmel, Leonard Gordon, and Alan LaPayover; also participating were Philadelphia JLC Vice President William Epstein {who is communications director for Local 1776 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, and board member of the Jewish Social Policy Action Network}, Philadelphia JLC President Jeff Hornstein {who is district organizing coordinator of SEIU Local 32 BJ}, and Philadelphia JLC Director Rosalind Spigel.

]]> Tuesday, June 9, also saw the official launch of the website of Rabbis for Workers’ Choice. The delegation that met Specter urged him to `stand with working families, and held a short ceremony to reinforce their message at his Philadelphia office.

The rabbis’ open letter begins by characterizing biblical references about the Sabbath, the day of rest from daily labors, as an affirmation of human dignity for the worker. It goes on to quote D’varim/Deuteronomy [24:14-15]: “You shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer, but you must pay him his wages on the same day, for he is needy and urgently depends on it.”

Under the proposed EFCA legislation, workers would be empowered to choose between a secret ballot and a majority sign-up process. Under current labor law, employers often use a combination of legal and illegal methods of intimidation to silence employees who attempt to form unions and bargain for better wages and working conditions. When faced with union organizing drives, up to 25 percent of employers fire at least one pro-union worker. [See Kate Bronfenbrenner, `Uneasy Terrain: The Impact of Capital Mobility on Workers, Wages and Union Organizing' (September 6, 2000).]

Currently, during the run-up to elections on whether to join a union, workers’ free speech rights are often squelched. Employers may practice various forms of economic coercion and the existing rules allow them to indefinitely delay recognition through drawn-out appeals. [See John Schmitt and Ben Zipperer, 'Dropping the Ax: Illegal Firings During Union Election Campaigns, 1951-2007' (March 2009).]

Penalties for employer transgressions are too weak to deter violations. For example, an employer found guilty of illegally firing an employee for union activity must only give back pay to that employee – and is allowed to deduct whatever that worker earned elsewhere in the interim. Many employers find the punishment for breaking the law a bargain if firing a pro-union employee scares off others from supporting the union.

Even if workers successfully form a union despite such tactics, their employer is allowed to repeatedly appeal the results – which can take years to resolve, by which time some employees may no longer be working there, and momentum of any organizing campaign may well be depleted. Such delays mock the democratic process and weaken union support by inviting more opportunities for employee turnover, harassment, and firings by management.

In the course of elections to secure union representation, workers are twice as likely (46 percent vs. 23 percent) as those in sign-up campaigns to report that management coerced them to oppose the campaign to unionize. Whereas less than one in 20 workers (4.6 percent) who signed a card in the presence of a union organizer reported feeling pressured to sign the card. Currently, 91 percent of employers faced with organizing drives force employees to attend one-on-one anti-union meetings with their supervisors; 34 percent of employers coerce workers into opposing the unionization drive with bribes and favoritism; and 51 percent threaten to close a work site if unionization prevails.

The proposed Employee Free Choice Act was crafted to remedy these pernicious practices and outcomes. Moreover, the implications for social justice are clear: the resulting growth in the unionized work force would produce better wages and working conditions for many of America’s society’s most impoverished and hard-pressed workers. Supporting the Employee Free Act is the right thing to do.

TULIP - Trade Unions Linking Israel and Palestine

2009-06-04T18:17:14Z

Trade union leaders from three continents have announced the launch of a new global movement "to challenge the apologists for Hamas and Hizbollah in the labour movement" and to fight for a two-state solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The movement is called TULIP - Trade Unions Linking Israel and Palestine, and recently had a launch in New York on the steps of City Hall.
The leaders are Paul Howes, national secretary of the Australian Workers Union, Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (USA-Canada), and Michael J. Leahy, OBE, General Secretary of Community ( United Kingdom ).

(l-r: AWU President Paul Howes, RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum, and NYC City Council Members Melinda Katz and Eric Goia.)

In remarks from the New York event, Stuart Appelbaum noted that "support for boycotting, divesting from and sanctions against Israel appears to be growing by leaps and bounds.

]]> President Appelbaum continued:
"This week, Norway ’s largest labor union urged the Scandinavian country to lead an international boycott of Israel if it did not reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians.
Last month, the Scottish Trade Unions Congress called for a boycott of Israeli products.
Earlier this year in the U.S. , Hampshire College divested from a mutual fund which owned equity in companies that do business with Israel , leaving an open debate in its stead as to that school’s political position regarding Israeli investments.
In response to concerns about growing calls to boycott Israel on U.S. campuses, the American Federation of Teachers has said that academic boycotts are `the complete antithesis of academic freedom.'
The boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement may seem unstoppable but indeed we intend to stop it and we welcome you here today with us as we do so by supporting workers and their unions in Israel and Palestine to promote co-operation and reconciliation.
As President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu have now met for the first time in their new roles, there is new hope for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. It’s important that trade unions participate in the change.
In such a climate, where’s the room for destructive calls for boycotting Israel that would serve to strengthen the hands of those who wish to see conflict escalate and Israel destroyed?
In backing the Hamas terrorists who deny Israel ’s right to exist, trade unions supporting boycotts against Israel have effectively thrown their support behind Iran ’s power play in the region. And we all know that the Iranian regime is no friend of the trade union movement.
The traditional role of trade unions when faced with conflict is to bridge the gap between those at war and encourage peace, justice and conciliation. Finding common cause in advocating for the rights of workers over the destructive efforts of conflict-makers is a trade union tradition that TULIP urges upholding and we urge others to join us in the cause.
There are outstanding examples of co-operation between Israeli and Palestinian unions that need to be encouraged. For example, let me tell you about a remarkable initiative launched by the International Transport Workers Federation to make life much easier for Palestinian drivers.
This has been a small but ground-breaking union agreement encouraging dialogue between the Palestinian and Israeli national trade union federations, as well as individual unions and their members on both sides of the divide. This agreement will help improve the livelihoods of hard-working union truckers and their families.
Also as we speak, the construction trade is focusing on a project to engage Israelis and Palestinians together in training in Israel .
These models are a firm rejection of those in trade unions promoting an Israel boycott movement.
There are already unions and associated NGOs in a number of countries that support these goals. But until now they have been fighting the battle alone, each in their own country. Now is the time to join forces, which is why today we are publicly launching TULIP.
We have no illusions that this will be anything other than a long and difficult process. But we also know that we have no choice.
We cannot abandon the field to those whose goal is the destruction of any chance for a real Israeli-Palestinian peace. We welcome trade unionists from all countries to join us."

Distributed at the May 21st event were TULIP’s founding statement, along with the Jewish Labor Committee's Statement of Opposition to Divestment From or Boycotts of Israel that 44 union leaders in the United States signed in 2007, as well as a statement against boycotts or divestment from the President of the 6.5 million-member Confederation of German Trade Unions [Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund - DGB].

Philadelphia-Area Rabbis and Rabbinical Students Speak out for Employee Free Choice Act

2009-05-15T11:41:56Z

{Any rabbis or rabbinical students interested in adding their names to this letter, click here.}

Dear Senator Specter:

We, the undersigned rabbis and rabbinical students, write to express our strong support for the Employee Free Choice Act.

Every major religion is sympathetic to the laborer. Judaism was early among the major religions in its assertion that labor involved more than mere economic activity. The commandment to observe the Sabbath was as much an affirmation of human dignity as of divine authority. “Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work.” But the seventh day was to be holy—holy in the eyes of God, but equally important—holy in its respect for all who work. As it is written in Deuteronomy: “You shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer, but you must pay him his wages on the same day, for he is needy and urgently depends on it.” (24:14-15)

It is not always easy to translate the sanctity of labor into terms that have meaning today, a time in which the marketplace seems to have been elevated above all other holy altars. We believe that the Employee Free Choice Act presents an opportunity to give concrete meaning to the often frustrated dream of a just society.

]]> To be sure, the Act is targeted with a smear campaign because it provides an effective and concrete way for workers to form and join unions. And it opens a path toward transformational change. Adoption of the Employee Free Choice Act would give working people the strength and the opportunity to emerge from the despair that so often encumbers their lives. It is no accident that deepening inequality has accompanied the 40-year assault on workers’ right to organize; most economists now agree that the growing gap between rich and poor in our country has been an important factor underlying the current recession. The Employee Free Choice Act would help to reestablish a sense of balance in our economic system.

As you know, current federal labor law typically requires that workers vote at least twice for union representation —once by signing a union authorization card, and then a second time in a so-called “secret ballot” election. In practice, workers who want to form a union are often met with a concerted campaign by the employer to undermine the organizing effort. Because the union has no access to the workplace, the employer starts from a very advantageous position, which it often exploits to crush the aspirations of the workers.

Imagine, Senator, a political election in which Candidate A has total and exclusive access to the voters for 8 hours a day and can require voters to attend meetings at which he tells the voters all the reasons why voting for Candidate B would be bad for them and their community. Meanwhile, Candidate B has little or no information about who the voters are, can only have access to them by chasing them down individually at the beginning or end of each day, and has no systematic means for rebutting Candidate A’s claims.

Imagine further, Senator, that Candidate A was found to have violated the law by intimidating voters or firing those who expressed support for Candidate B. And that the penalty for flagrant violations of the law consisted merely of a requirement to publicly apologize, months after the fact.

Senator, would you call such an election “free and fair”? Of course not. Yet that imaginary scenario mirrors the current NLRB election process. It is a broken process, a process that has been steadily eroded by a multi-billion dollar “union avoidance” industry. Why would any employer abide by labor law when the costs of non-compliance are so low?

The Employee Free Choice Act would allow workers to decide how they want to form a union, free from fear of reprisal. It would require employers to recognize and bargain after the workers obtain a simple majority on duly signed and authenticated union authorization cards. It would provide real penalties for violations of the law. It would require that the parties achieve a first contract in 90 days.

The Employee Free Choice Act would, in sum, restore workplace democracy and fairness. It is a way of balancing the scales of justice, of giving workers rights that most of us would take for granted.

Thus, we urge you, Senator Specter, to add your name to the growing list of sponsors of the Employee Free Choice Act. It is the right thing to do.

Rabbi Marjorie Berman
Philadelphia, Pa.

Rabbi Anna Boswell-Levy
Tzedek v’Shalom, Newton, Pa.

Rabbi Reba Carmel
Philadelphia, PA

Rabbi Meryl M. Crean
Elkins Park, Pa.

Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

Rabbi Jonathan Gerard
Easton, Pa.

Rabbi Gail Glicksman
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

Rabbi Shai Gluskin
Philadelphia, Pa.

Rabbi Leonard Gordon
Germantown Jewish Centre

Rabbi Erin Hirsh
Director of Education
Jewish Reconstructionist Federation

Rabbi Linda Holtzman
Mishkan Shalom

S. Tamar Kamionkowski, Ph.D.
Vice President for Academic Affairs
and Academic Dean, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

Rabbi Myriam Klotz
The Institute for Jewish Spirituality

Rabbi Yaacov Kravitz
Melrose Park, Pa.

Rabbi Alan Lapayover
Congregation Tiferes B’nai Israel

Rabbi Yael Levy
Mishkan Shalom

Rabbi Mordechai Liebling
Philadelphia, Pa.

Rabbi Yitzhak Nates
The Narberth Havurah

Dr. Adina Newberg
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

Rabbi Hava L. Pell
Camp Hill, Pa.

Rabbi Linda Potemken
Congregation Beth Israel
Media, Pa.

Rabbi Amber Powers
Dean of Admissions and Recruitment,
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

Rabbi Issac Saposnik
Philadelphia, Pa.

Rabbi Rav Soloff
Landsdale, Pa.

Rabbi Margot Stein
Bala Cynwyd, Pa.

Rabbi Jeff Sultar
Beth Am Israel, Penn Valley, Pa.

Rabbi David A. Teutsch
Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

Rabbi Joshua Waxman
Or Hadash, Fort Washington, PA

Rabbi Arthur Waskow
The Shalom Center

Rabbi Avi Winokur
Society Hill Synagogue

RABBINICAL STUDENTS, Reconstructionist Rabbinical College

Joshua Bolton
Benjamin Davis
Isabel De Konick
Boris Dolin
Brian Fink
Ilanit Goldberg
Rebecca Gould
Ari Hendin
Leslie Hilgeman
Shulamit Izen
Daria Jacobs-Velde
Joshua Jacobs-Velde
David Katz
Saul Oresky
Malka Packer
Danielle Parmenter
Michael Ramberg
Michael Ross
Jessica Shimberg
Alanna Sklover
Neora Snitz
Erica Steelman
Rachel S. Weiss
Alissa Wise

NOTE: Institutions for identification purposes only

Progress by Pesach – for just and fair immigration reform

2009-03-30T14:29:03Z

The Jewish Labor Committee is part of a coalition of Jewish organizations' campaign aiming for “Progress by Pesach” on comprehensive immigration reform. The campaign will call on the new Administration in Washington to direct Immigration and Customs Enforcement to curtail the use of workplace raids as a primary tool of immigration enforcement. "PbyP" has a goal of 10,000 signatures on a petition -- see below -- by April 8, the first night of Passover.

Your participation would be very helpful - and simple. Please print out this petition {note: 8-1/2" x 14"} and background article {8-1/2" x 11"} - you may want to print more than one of each - and add your name to our petition. If you can secure the support of others willing to sign on, that would be great. But please send the petitions -- even if not all of the spaces are filled in, even if it's just one person - you - signing onto the sheet -- back to us soon. Send it back to us via fax -- 1-212-477-1918.

]]> If you can secure additional signatures, make more than one copy of the petition, send in what you can by then, and then send the rest in as soon as you can - but by he end of the day, Sunday April 6th.

And please feel free to forward this to others who may be interested in supporting this campaign, and signing the petition.

* text:
Progress by Pesach – for just and fair immigration reform
I encourage the new administration and congress to choose humanitarian immigration reform in 2009. Our Jewish faith scripture tells us to "Welcome the Stranger" with love and compassion. However the singular focus on aggressive enforcement of outdated immigration laws creates a sense of fear and animosity between communities and the law enforcement that serves them. The policy of relying on raids and enforcement tactics as the sole means of controlling immigration has clearly failed.
Raids create trauma and hardship for undocumented immigrants and their families, by separating families and threatening the basic rights of immigrants and U.S. citizens alike.
The suffering caused by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids in homes and workplaces underscores the problems with current U.S. immigration policies and the urgent need for reform. Please work to ensure our country sees progress in the direction of humanitarian immigration reform in time for Passover, in April 2009.

JLC Supports Hilda Solis for Secretary of Labor

2009-02-09T19:42:18Z

February 5, 2009

Senator Edward M. Kennedy
317 Russell Senate Building
Washington D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Kennedy,

On behalf of the Jewish Labor Committee, I am writing to encourage the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee to expedite the appointment of Congresswoman Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor. Please share this letter with committee members.

Representative Solis has repeatedly demonstrated her dedication to working men and women and we believe she is the right choice for Secretary of Labor. Her work in Congress has advanced Americans’ needs on issues related to environmental justice, health care, education, and veterans’ benefits. She is an advocate for women’s rights and civil rights.

As early as 1996, JLC awarded Congresswoman Solis the Abe Levy Chaver Award for her contributions. We would be especially proud as American Jews in labor to welcome Solis as the nation’s first Latina cabinet member.

]]> Her appointment goes well beyond communal pride and our strong connection to her from within the Jewish community. Solis understands workers’ needs and how to advance them. Under her administration of the Labor Department, we would expect to see a renewed vision of the role and vitality of the National Labor Relations Act and Board that would support increased rights for workers to organize in the work place. When considering the critical role that a strong labor movement plays in advancing democracy and strengthening a fair and just economy, the nation obviously needs strong leadership on labor. If the economic stimulus package is going to work comprehensively, confidence-building among consumers and within the employment market are critical factors.

Solis has a proven record as a legislator with integrity. We can not afford to miss her leadership.

We therefore urge you to overcome the issues that have blocked her nomination and support the President in his historic and well-placed nomination.

Sincerely,

Sybil Sanchez
Executive Director

opeiu:153

JLC and Empire Kosher Poultry Announce Substantial Kosher Food Donation to NYC's Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty for Community Food Pantries

2009-02-06T12:14:28Z

Miller Photography

NEW YORK, February 6, 2009 – Mayor Michael Bloomberg today joined Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Jewish Labor Committee, Greg Rosenbaum, owner and CEO of Empire Kosher and Wendell Young, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776 to present a large donation of 50,000 pounds of poultry to the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty (Met Council) for needy families and the frail elderly who rely on kosher food pantries. The presentation took place at the Oneg Shabbos Food Pantry in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn. William Rapfogel, president of the Met Council accepted the food donation on behalf of the anti-poverty organization.
Empire Kosher, the Jewish Labor Committee and the Met Council are working together to provide emergency food for thousands of needy New Yorkers. Empire Kosher Poultry, Inc. is the largest kosher poultry producer in the world with facilities in central Pennsylvania. Empire produces kosher chickens and kosher turkeys for the North American market through a fully integrated process starting with breeder farms, egg hatchery, feed mill, grow out houses and processing facilities.

]]> Met Council provides more than 4.5 million pounds of kosher food to needy households in New York City every year, making it the largest kosher food pantry in the nation. Met Council serves 13,000 families each month in Jewish communities throughout the five boroughs with its 35 distribution sites. Families that keep Kosher find it especially difficult to put food on the table. In the past, the protein that was most consistently available for distribution by Met Council’s Food Pantry was canned tuna. Earlier today, due to the immediate need for kosher food donations, Empire delivered 4,500 pounds of kosher poultry to Met Council and will continue to supply them throughout 2009.
Mayor Bloomberg said “With so many New Yorkers are facing tough times, we must all do everything we can to tackle our challenges together as a City,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Our Administration recently provided emergency food programs across the City with $1.3 million worth of additional frozen foods, but many programs need help from others, too. I applaud New York City’s Jewish Labor Committee, Empire Kosher, and the Met Council for stepping in and coming together to help those struggling in these hard economic times.”
Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Jewish Labor Committee said "Empire is an example of how a company can do well while doing good. At a time when all we hear about is corporate greed, they're a reminder that the truly successful businesses are those that work with unions and give back to the community. America would be better off if more companies followed their example."
Greg Rosenbaum, owner and CEO of Empire Kosher stated "For more than 66 years, Empire has been proud to provide the finest kosher poultry products. Empire Kosher, our suppliers, our kosher certifying organizations, our employees and our consumers are glad to be able to make this important contribution to our community. When consumers decide what to purchase for Shabbat, they can not only feed their own families but also help feed less fortunate kosher keeping families in New York City by supporting Empire. In such tough times, we need to be sure that every family in our community has access to healthy and wholesome foods. I hope to see our kosher industry colleagues join us and do all they can to help this vital program.”
William Rapfogel, CEO of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty said “Maintaining a steady supply of kosher chicken has always been extremely difficult for us in the past. These donations will help feed thousands of families, just as more and more people are reaching out for help. We are grateful to Empire for their generosity and to the Jewish Labor Council for coordinating this donation.”
Wendell Young, IV, President, United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 1776 said “On behalf of the members and officers of UFCW Local 1776 I want to thank Empire Kosher for its generous donation to this worthy cause. Empire has a proud 70-year history of serving our nation’s kosher communities. Local 1776 is honored to represent the more than 500 men and women who work in Empire’s Mifflintown plant, and we’re especially proud that our members and Empire set the highest standards in the industry for quality products and workers’ safety.”
To contact the Met Council food program call 718-763-5318 or email food@metcouncil.org

Sybil Sanchez named new JLC Executive Director

2009-01-30T20:22:25Z

The Jewish Labor Committee is pleased to announce that Sybil Sanchez has been named the organization's Executive Director. Ms. Sanchez succeeded the organization's Acting Director, Rosalind Spigel.
With a background in Jewish communal organizing, strategic advocacy, and international work, Sanchez was selected “in order to build on our organization's unique contribution to workers' rights and Jewish concerns and to help us move forward during this unique moment in American history,” said JLC President Stuart Appelbaum. “She will lead us through changing times as new Federal legislation, such as the Employee Free Choice Act, is advanced within the new Congress and Administration.”

]]> “JLC is known for our advocacy in defense of workers’ rights locally, nationally and internationally and for bringing Jews and labor together in diverse ways, from organizing labor delegations to Israel, coordinating anti-boycott campaigns to convening labor seders to raise awareness of our shared interests,” Appelbaum said. “Ms. Sanchez will not only strengthen the Jewish - labor connection but also expand our capacity to utilize new ways of reaching out.”
“It is an honor to join the Jewish Labor Committee,” Sanchez added. “As we look to promote workers’ rights, so too do we seek to strengthen our connections with Israel and internationally around issues central to the Jewish community and the trade union movement. Many within the Jewish community care deeply about the state of working men and women and I look forward to working with them in my new capacity.”
Ms. Sanchez, the immediate past director of United Nations affairs of B'nai B'rith International and a graduate of the UJA-Federation of New York’s Muehlstein Institute for Jewish Professional Leadership, brings to the position a decade of human rights and Jewish communal experience. She holds a masters degree in international affairs from Columbia University and has previously worked for the United Nations and overseas in the Balkans. She speaks Hebrew, French, and Serbo-Croatian.

Jewish Labor Committee Statement on Gaza

2009-01-09T21:52:01Z

January 9, 2009: The Jewish Labor Committee deeply mourns the loss of innocent life and expresses its sorrow for the suffering in the escalation of violence in Gaza and Israel.

Hamas has sent thousands of rockets of different ranges over the border into Israel, including those that can strike Israeli cities as far as Ashdod. These attacks have been launched by Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and has over two years violated the de facto cessation of hostilities with Israel.

Israel has taken great lengths to avoid this sort of escalation, including an appeal by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Arab television to stop the firing of rockets and mortar shells so that a military response could be avoided. No country can be expected to tolerate continuous and unrelenting attacks against its civilian population. With a terrorist group engaged in active warfare and an international community that failed to intervene, and with Hamas formally ending the cease fire that it regularly violated, Israel was left with no choice but to defend itself and dismantle Hamas's ability to launch more missiles.

]]> Hamas's deliberate placement of its rocket launchers and operations facilities in and close to mosques, schools, and homes, even though Gaza is densely populated, endangered Palestinian civilians and tragically resulted in increased numbers of civilian casualties.

We are encouraged that Israel is continuing to supply humanitarian aid of food, water and medicine into Gaza, and to allow relief agencies to supply material to the suffering people of Gaza. These efforts must be expanded as much as possible under the circumstances.

The Jewish Labor Committee affirms its support for the working-men and women in Israel and Palestine and their labor unions who seek a peaceful life for themselves and their families. We note the Histadrut and the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions for their cooperative programs across the Green Line and their work together toward peace. We support efforts of Palestinian and Israeli trade unionists to maintain contact in the midst of this crisis despite living under personal threat and witnessing the death and injury of their friends and family.

We urge increased engagement of trade unions with their counterparts on all sides of this conflict to improve the lives of working people in Israel and Gaza, build grassroots trust, and enhance the peace process.

After nearly eight years of disengagement, on the part of the current U.S. Administration, we urge the incoming Obama administration to actively engage in the peace process in order to help bring about a two-state solution and a lasting and just peace.

Australia: Lighting Chanukah candles on International Migrant Workers' Day

2008-12-24T17:31:31Z

Sydney New South Wales, December 18: The shared values of the trade union movement and the Jewish community were highlighted on International Migrant Workers Day when the Australian Workers' Union and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies co-sponsored the first ever `Union Chanukah' celebration. Representatives of both the trade union community and the Jewish community came together to light Chanukah candles, dedicated to, among other values, Solidarity, Justice, Empowerment, Trust and Freedom. Chanukah, which lasts eight days, began at sunset, December 21.

]]> As today's Australian Jewish community is largely a post-war migrant community, the AWU joined with the Jewish community to celebrate this festival on the UN-declared International Migrant Workers' Day.
Lucy Fu, who works in aged care at the Montefiore Home one of the biggest aged care centres for the Sydney Jewish community, spoke for Asian Women at Work a community organisation assisting Asian migrant women who work in low-paid jobs.

Asian immigrant women workers must speak up for their rights at work
Lucy Fu lit the candle for Empowerment and talked about the need for Asian immigrant women to speak out and demand their rights at work.
Paul Howes, the AWU National Secretary, told the crowd who came together, in the atrium of the historic Sydney Trades Hall, that the union was eager to co-sponsor the event because of the universal message of Chanukah.

Shared values of Jewish community and trade union movement
"It celebrates the need for freedom from oppression. It celebrates the value of acting for what is right, and of communities not succumbing to laws that deprive them of basic freedoms.
" Chanukah also teaches the importance of struggle of a small committed band to win out for the good of the whole.
" These statements could easily have come from a Trade Union program, so clear is the commonality of Trade Union values and Jewish values," Paul Howes told the audience watching the lighting of the candles in the Chanukkiah.

Enthusiastic participation by MUA National Secretary
A particularly enthusiastic participant in the event was the National Secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia, Paddy Crumlin, who started off the candle-lighting.
When Cesha Glazer, a Holocaust survivor from Poland, came up to light a candle for Freedom there were a few teary eyes in the audience when she talked about the freedom Australia had given her, and her family, and asked people to remember the 6 million murdered during the Holocaust.

Chanukah re-told by professional story-teller
The Chanukah story was re-told to the audience by professional story teller Donna Jacobs Sife.
You can find a copy of the program here.
Other participants in the candle-lighting included:
• Shirley Lee, a Fijian aged care worker turned NSW Nurses Association official
• Mark Lennon, the Unions NSW Secretary.
• Dr Lisa Jackson Pulver, the Director of the Muru Marri Indigenous Health Unit
• Justice Stephen Rothman, AM, a former President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies and a former union industrial officer.
• Robert Goot, AM, SC, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry President, a barrister and also a former union industrial officer.

Jewish community wants to work with unions to battle discrimination in all its forms
The president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, Robin Margo, SC, concluded the event before people went off to eat the traditional foods made with oil during the festival of Chanukah - donuts and potato pancakes.
"The Jewish community shares with the union movement, a desire to make NSW a better place for all of its citizens, whether that be in terms of fair and equitable working conditions, combating racism and discrimination in all its forms and reaching out to those in our society that are less fortunate than ourselves," Robin Margo told the union leaders in attendance.
"To this end, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, as the roof body of the Jewish community of NSW, has a very active Social Justice Committee.
"The importance placed on social justice by the Board is illustrated by the our organisation being proud to have been a founding member of the Sydney Alliance, which brings together religious groups, community organisations and unions to work towards the common goal of improving the lives of all Sydney residents, but in particular the most disadvantaged ones," Robin Margo noted in his concluding remarks.

Brookline MA: Students on the March for Workers' Rights

2008-12-12T17:30:31Z

On December 7th, fifth-grade students from the Workmen’s Circle Jewish Sunday School in Brookline, MA marched down Harvard Street to protest the practice of Commercial Cleaning Services, a Boston area company. More than 50 people from the Jewish Labor Committee, Brookline PAX, SEIU Local 615, MassCOSH, and the Moishe/Kavod Jewish Social Justice House joined the students, whose statement can be found here.
{Note: This march was highlighted on the front page of the December 12 issue of Boston's Jewish Advocate.}

]]> The workers of Commercial Cleaning are members of SEIU Local 615, which represents more than 10,000 janitors in the Boston area. However, since August 2007, the workers have been without a union contract. In negotiations, Commercial Cleaning insisted on wages and benefits well below area standards.

The employees of Commercial Cleaning want the company to:
* Respect workers’ human and legal rights to fair treatment, pay employees for all hours worked without unfair and illegal deductions, and provide a workplace that is safe and free of sexual harassment.
* Reverse arbitrary cuts of full-time workers to part-time.
* Negotiate a fair contract that will provide the workers with union representation and protection against further abuses.

For more information, call Seth Leibson at SEIU 615 at 617 878-7590

Chicago IL: Republic Window and Door workers sit in, win settlement!

2008-12-11T02:40:39Z

JLC Chicago Chair Mike Perry demonstrates on December 10th against Bank of America after the bank cut off credit to the Chicago-based Republic Window and Door factory, forcing the company to close, and lay off all 260 workers, members of Local 1110, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.
Some 200 workers at Republic conducted a six-day occupation of the shuttered factory.
Community pressure led to a settlement this evening, totaling $1.75 million. It will provide the workers with

]]> - Eight weeks of pay they were owed under the federal WARN Act;
- Two months of continued health coverage, and;
- Pay for all accrued and unused vacation.

JPMorgan Chase will provide $400,000 of the settlement, with the balance coming from Bank of America. Although the money will be provided as a loan to Republic Windows and Doors, it will go directly into a third-party fund whose sole purpose is to pay the workers what is owed them. In addition, the UE has started the "Window of Opportunity Fund" dedicated to re-opening the plant. The fund was to be initiated with seed money from the UE national union and the thousands of dollars of donations to Local 1110's Solidarity Fund that have come in from across the country and around the world.

2009 Holocaust & Jewish Resistance Teachers Program

2008-11-01T17:52:20Z

A summer study program in Poland and Israel for U.S. secondary school teachers.

Thank you for your interest in our Summer Seminar Program on Holocaust and Jewish Resistance, initiated by Vladka Meed in 1984. This year's program is scheduled for July 5 - 23, 2009. Our seminar includes educational activities in Poland and Israel with the participation of scholars from Israel's Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and the Study Center of the Ghetto Fighters' House at Kibbutz Lohamei HaGeta'ot. On this web site, there is an online application for you to print out, complete and send back to us. [Just hit "continue reading", below, and scroll down]

]]> NOTE if for some reason you cannot print the application, just email us at jlcexec@aol.com and we'll send one out asap.

Applications are evaluated by a committee as they are received -- so applying early is to your advantage.

All applications must reach our office no later than April 1, 2009.

Click here for the application Download file in PDF format or in Word format

Cost to the applicant is $2,500, which includes round-trip travel from New York, trips to historic sites, hotel accommodations (2 to a room) and 2 meals daily.

Payment is expected immediately upon notification of acceptance, which will contain more information on the program.

Program Goals:
** To advance education in U.S. secondary schools about the Holocaust and Jewish Resistance;
** To deepen teachers' knowledge and strengthen their ability to implement Holocaust studies in their classrooms;
** To teach each new generation about the Holocaust and Jewish resistance, so that they will know, understand and never forget;
** To further educational activities which use the lessons of the past as warnings for the present, and the future.

Curriculum includes:
** Martyrdom and the Struggle for Survival in Jewish History;
** Life in the Ghettoes and the Camps;
** The Final Solution;
** Armed Resistance and Revolt;
** Spiritual Resistance;
** Reaction of the Free World;
** The Holocaust in Literature and Art;
** Post-War Impact of the Holocaust.

CONTACT INFORMATION, AND SPONSORS

For further information contact:

Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Teachers Program
c/o Jewish Labor Committee
25 East 21st Street
New York, NY 10010

tel: (212) 477-0707 email: jlcexec@aol.com

The HOLOCAUST & JEWISH RESISTANCE TEACHERS PROGRAM is sponsored by the

American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors
American Federation of Teachers
Educators Chapter, Jewish Labor Committee

With the active support of the

Atran Foundation, Inc.
Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany
Caroline and Joseph S. Gruss Monument Funds, Inc.
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

NOTE: A major part of the cost of this program is covered by very substantial scholarships arranged by the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors.

Support the Employee Free Choice Act

2008-10-30T11:47:12Z

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is critical Federal legislation that would help protect the rights of workers in the U.S. to organize and form unions. The law would give more workers a way to form unions and negotiate for better wages, health care and working conditions.*
The Jewish Labor Committee has joined in a multi-organizational coalition to support the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and we urge you to join the campaign to give American workers the rights that they deserve!
You are invited to sign our petition, that will be presented to the new President and Congress, by clicking here.

Questions? Here are some resources we've prepared:
>> A basic backgrounder that debunks some of the anti-EFCA arguments floating around. Download file
>> An article by Sybil Sanchez, our Executive Director, and Jonathan Zimet, our rabbinic intern. Download file

*The EFCA, when passed, would amend the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, by requiring employees to recognize a union when a majority of workers sign cards authorizing union representation [so-called card-check]. When passed, EFCA would also strengthen penalties for companies that coerce or intimidate their employees and establish binding arbitration mechanisms when employers and workers are unable to agree on a first contract.

]]> Here are a few additional online resources from

JCPA
> Confronting Structural Poverty: The Employee Free Choice Act of 2007
> Jewish Values and Labor Rights

AFL-CIO
> The Employee Free Choice Act
> Freedom to Join a Union

Change to Win
> Employee Free Choice Act – Latest News
> Freedom to Join Together in Unions

American Rights At Work
> The Employee Free Choice Act
> EFCA: Latest News

On the Latest Developments re Agriprocessors

2008-09-12T16:42:56Z

To read the most recent articles on the situation, click here. For items on blogs, here.

On Sept. 10, 2008, Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Jewish Labor Committee, issued the following statement on the latest developments regarding the Agriprocessors kosher slaughterhouse and meat processing plant in Postville, Iowa:

The 9,311 child labor violations issued by the Iowa Attorney General yesterday confirms our opposition to Agriprocessors’ workplace practices for over two years.

The Jewish Labor Committee hopes that all appropriate legal penalties be applied to the firm. The public must know that the need to respect all labor laws – including, but not limited to, child labor laws -- is taken seriously by the relevant government agencies as well as by employers, and that violations of these laws will be taken seriously as well.

]]> We wholeheartedly support the Orthodox Union when it stated that it would withdraw its kosher certification of the company within two weeks unless new management is hired. Whatever faith consumers might have had in the current management is gone. It is time for the Rubashkins to step aside and allow responsible employers to run the plant and continue production to provide a quality product for consumers, including, of course, those in our community who follow kosher dietary laws.

Since the ICE raid in mid-May, nearly 400 Agriprocessors workers and their families have suffered from broken homes, imprisonment, destitution and deportation. Community life in Postville, IA, has been disrupted for months before the employers were taken to task for their role in this scandal. We question now, as we did after the raid, why it was that serious investigations into Agriprocessors’ negligence and lawlessness was preceded by – and delayed by – such a massive ICE raid.

It is possible that additional charges relating to violations of OSHA and EPA regulations, as well as claims of sexual harassment and dangerous working conditions, may soon follow. We reiterate our hope that justice be done in these cases as well. This is necessary so that the legitimate needs of the workforce, the company, the consumers and the community-at-large are all met.

We believe that ultimately the best way to ensure the rights of the workers at Agriprocessors is through a union contract. As the liaison agency linking the organized Jewish community and the labor movement, we offer our help in any way possible.

Child Labor - Still a Scourge in U.S.A. {Photo probably taken during May 1, 1909 labor parade in New York City. George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress).}