(l-r: Sybil Sanchez, Morton Sloan, Roberta Reardon, Paul Almeida, Richard Trumka, Stuart Appelbaum, Jack Ahern, Rabbi Michael Miller, Ruben Diaz, Jr.)

Addressing the Jewish Labor Committee, newly-elected President of the AFL-CIO, Richard L. Trumka, has spoken out clearly and forcefully in opposition to calls to boycott Israel. .Before 475 participants of the annual Human Rights Dinner of the JLC, held in New York City on October 27th, Trumka stated that “we’re proud to stand with the JLC to oppose boycotting Israel.” Trumka was elected President of the national AFL-CIO in September of this year. The AFL-CIO is composed of 57 national and international labor unions, represents 11.5 million members.

He noted that “the Jewish community here – and around the world – has never had a stronger ally than the AFL-CIO,” adding that “so long as I’m president, you will never have a stronger ally than the AFL-CIO!”

Trumka added that “in America, we sometimes think that anti-Semitism is part of the past, but the truth is that it’s like a weed that can always grow back. And that’s especially true during hard times. You know, sometimes it’s couched as `anti-Zionism.’ Other times there’s no effort to disguise it at all.”

In a keynote address, Trumka stated that “there is only one way we’re going to stop the violence in the Middle East – and it’s not by bashing Israel – it’s by supporting President Obama’s peace initiative. And I ought to add, that’s why we need to stand by President Obama on Iran, too!” (President Trumka’s entire speech can be found here.)

Three extraordinary individuals received this year’s Human Rights Award from the JLC: Roberta Reardon, the National President, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, AFL-CIO {remarks here}, presented by Paul E. Almeida, President of the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO; Morton Sloan, President of Morton William Supermarkets {remarks here}, presented by Ruben Diaz, Jr., Bronx Borough President; and John T. Ahern, President of the New York City Central Labor Council, and Business Manager & Financial Secretary of IUOE Local 30 (remarks here), presented by Richard Trumka.
The dinner, hosted by Jewish Labor Committee President Stuart Appelbaum (remarks here), received greetings on behalf of the Jewish community of New York from Rabbi Michael Miller, Executive Vice President of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (remarks here.) JLC Executive Director Sybil Sanchez also shared remarks at the beginning of the dinner (remarks here).

I’m Stuart Appelbaum. I'm president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union and I'm also President of the Jewish Labor Committee.

And on behalf of the members of my union and the members of the JLC, I am proud to stand with you today.
Over the course of its history, the American labor movement has always fought for the rights of workers, not only here in America, but wherever men and women are denied their right to form unions.

That’s why I’m here today because, in contemporary Iran, worker rights simply do not exist.

But you don’t have to take my word for it: just ask Iranian workers who’ve tried to form free and independent unions and they’ll tell you the price people pay to organize.

They might tell you about Mansour Osanloo. He is a leader of the Tehran bus workers union. He was arrested in July 2007 and he is still in prison today.

Or they might tell you about Farzad Kamangar. Kamangar was a leader of Iran’s teachers’ union. After being arrested on trumped-up charges, he received a death sentence by the Tehran Revolutionary Court.

Or they might even tell you about Sussan Razani and Shiva Kheirabadi who were convicted and flogged this past February in Sananadaj Central Prison for merely attending a labor celebration in 2008.

And that’s only where it begins. Journalists are routinely jailed. Metal workers, mechanics, sugar workers, bakery workers and others are arrested and their unions broken.

JLC President Stuart Appelbaum stated, "Support for a two-state solution is the goal and will not be achieved by isolating and boycotting Israel. We continue to look to the trade union movement to promote peace and solidarity for all workers and hope that we can work with the TUC and other labor federations around the world to establish a coordinated, constructive policy toward that end. After all, in labor's fight for justice, we need to see more cooperation among workers and unions through trade and economic development, not less."

International leaders of the U.S. and German labor movements have long condemned the use of boycotts against Israel as being counter-productive to a two-state solution. The Jewish Labor Committee urges that the British Trades Union Congress does the same.

The United Hebrew Trades - New York Jewish Labor Committee hit the streets again - to march in New York City's Labor Day Parade. Marching with national and local JLC staff were representatives of IBEW Local 3, the New York State Public Employees Federation, RWDSU Local 338, and the United Federation of Teachers. Lillian Roberts, Executive Director of AFSCME District Council 37, the city's largest municipal union, was Grand Marshall of this year's parade, which brought out some 50,000 people from 400 union locals and labor-related bodies. New York CIty Central Labor Council President Jack Ahern noted that "This is a march that brings together all working people and that's what it's all about."

Recently-appointed Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, takes time out to chat with Jewish Labor Committee Executive Director Sybil Sanchez. For both individuals, this was their first Labor Day Parade in New York. Photos by Steve Pezenik.

l-r: Rev. Dr. Clarence Pemberton (Philadelphia), Rabbi George Stern (Philadelphia), and Father Jack O'Malley (Pittsburgh), at the office of Senator Robert Casey.

By Sybil Sanchez

Aug 29, 2009: NEW YORK (JTA) -- This Labor Day, take a moment to remember people like Lupe Hernandez.

When she toured a Jewish family’s apartment in the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, she felt connected to our history as immigrants struggling to make better lives for ourselves and our families. Hernandez is one of the immigrant workers on strike in the 2007 film "Made in LA" struggling to receive a fair wage and stop sweatshop abuse by organizing.

Labor Day might seem like a quaint throwback, but the struggle for workers' rights is still being fought today in our own backyards.

Our community’s relationship to labor is very different today than in yesteryear, but the Jewish obligation to remember our history remains relevant. As Jews, we must respect and support workers’ rights, whether it’s those of our ancestors or today’s immigrants.

While most headlines are focused on health care reform, labor law reform should stay on our agenda -- specifically, the Employee Free Choice Act. This much-needed legislation has three important principles: Workers would more easily be able to join or form a union; employers who break the law in efforts to stop union organizing would face more stringent penalties and workers who have chosen to form a union would have a clear path to an initial collective bargaining agreement with their employer.

Today, 44 percent of newly formed unions are unable to reach initial agreements, a serious problem the current law fails to address.

Steve Pezenik and Arieh Lebowitz, in Midwood, Brooklyn, representing the United Hebrew Trades – New York Jewish Labor Committee at Candlelight Vigil for Workers Rights. Left: JLC staffperson Steve Pezenik addresses people attending vigil for workers at Omni Nursing Homes in New Jersey, in front of the home of Omni owner Avery Eisenreich. Right: Carolyn Brooks, VP of Homecare Division, 1199SEIU; JLC Communications Director Arieh Lebowitz; Rene Ruiz, organizer , Homecare Division, 1199SEIU. Photographs by Jim Tynan {l} and Steve Pezenik{r}

August 3rd: Union members from across New Jersey and New York came together with one voice, saying “Be Fair to Those Who Care!” Among the community supporters were two representatives of the local Jewish Labor Committee.

Workers at four nursing homes in New Jersey, members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, have been working without a contract for two years. The nursing homes’ owner, Avery Eisenreich, has steadfastly refused to come to the table and negotiate a fair and mutually-acceptable contract. “Workers make as little as $7.90 an hour,” said Denise Bowden, a worker at the Harborview facility for 24 years. “We cannot take care of our families on what little he pays.” Other workers at Eisenreich-owned facilities spoke of their experiences, and their need for a new contract. Max Predestin, a certified nursing assistant (C.N.A) at Bristol Manor said, “It is not an easy decision to strike. We take this very seriously. We're going to stick together and fight for a better life for ourselves and our residents. We want a fair contract now!" Romeo Rodriguez, Dietary Aide at Harbor View said, “The owner has been unwilling to negotiate with us for two years. We need fair wages to support our families and to care for our residents.”

“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.”

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.

(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.

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.