Jewish Labor Committee

Meeting at the Office of the French Prime Minister, Jean-Marc Ayrault. Photo by Ezra Lichtfield.

February 11, 2013: France - Following the massacre at a Jewish Day School in Toulouse last year and the firebombing of a Jewish supermarket in Sarcelles, near Paris, along with a doubling of reported incidents of anti-Semitism in 2012 from the year before, leaders of the Jewish community of the United States participated in a series of meetings in France to show solidarity with the Jewish communities in France and show concern over the rise of anti-Semitism. JLC President Stuart Appelbaum traveled to France as a member of the delegation, which was organized by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
The new French Government responded enthusiastically to the opportunity to meet with the U.S. delegation during its time in France, and the officials who met with the delegation recommitted themselves to oppose the rise of anti-Semitism and racism.

Continue reading "JLC President Appelbaum Discusses Anti-Semitism in France During U.S. Jewish Solidarity Mission" »

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 04:30 PM | Permalink

May 24, 2011: The Jewish Labor Committee today praised President Barack Obama for publicly reasserting the unshakable commitment of the United States to Israel's security. During his presentation to the American Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the President also assured that the U.S. will stand against attempts to single out Israel for criticism in international forums. The JLC also welcomes the President's assertion of the enduring friendship between the two countries based on shared history and shared values and supports the President's call for renewed negotiations to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"We agree with the President's insistence, expressed so clearly, that the status quo is unsustainable," said Jewish Labor Committee President Stuart Appelbaum.
"The President correctly called for negotiations between both parties and not unilateral measures, such as a United Nations vote on Palestinian statehood, as the only way to effectively resolve the conflict."
"President Obama is correct," noted Appelbaum. "A resolution cannot be imposed from the outside, and any lasting solution must take into consideration the territorial and security needs of both the Israeli and the Palestinian people. The President's reference to the pre-1967 borders as a basis for territorial compromise reiterates what has been a standard part of the U.S. position for more than two decades. The borders would undoubtedly need to be adjusted through negotiations and land swaps. The President also reiterated the long-standing US position that negotiations must be based on the recognition of the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish State. He correctly stated that if Hamas wants to be a party to the negotiations, then they must recognize Israel, reject violence and adhere to all existing agreements."
"This is indeed the time for hard choices," concluded Appelbaum. "The Administration should do whatever it can to bring both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority back to the negotiating table. And we support actions on the ground that strengthen the ability of Israelis and Palestinians to realize that peace and cooperation are not only necessary, but possible."

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 05:14 PM | Permalink

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.

Continue reading "Support the Employee Free Choice Act" »

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 06:47 AM | Permalink

Some 400 people came together on July 9th at the Hilton New York to attend the 2008 Human Rights Award Dinner of the Jewish Labor Committee's Trade Union Council for Human Rights. Our three honorees were: Anna Burger, International Secretary-Treasurer, SEIU and Chair, Change to Win; William Lucy, International Secretary-Treasurer, AFSCME and President, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists; and Christian W. E. Haub, Executive Chairman of the Board of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Inc.
[l-r: Rosalind Spigel, Acting Director, Jewish Labor Committee; Christian W. E. Haub; Anna Burger; William Lucy, Arlene Holt Baker, Executive Vice President, AFL-CIO; Joseph T. Hansen, International President, United Food and Commercial Workers International Union; Stuart Appelbaum, President, Jewish Labor Committee, and President, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, UFCW.]

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 11:15 AM | Permalink

The Educators' Chapter of the JLC heard Philip Dine, journalist with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and author of the acclaimed new book, "STATE OF THE UNIONS: How Labor Can Strengthen the Middle Class, Improve Our Economy, and Regain Political Influence," at the Biennial Convention of the American Federation of Teachers, held in early July in Chicago, IL.

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 03:34 PM | Permalink

Demonstration on Thursday, June 19th, of workers, family members and supporters.

On Monday May 26, 2008, twenty long-term employees at Flaum Appetizing Company, a major distributor of high-end kosher products in Williamsburg, Brooklyn New York, lawfully stopped work to protest of the firing of one of their co-workers, Maria Corona. At this point, instead of negotiating with them, management locked out and fired these workers. Previously required to work more than sixty hours per week without legally-mandated overtime pay, without sick leave, holidays, vacations, or even drinking water on the job, the workers joined the Food and Allied Workers Union 460/640, IWW.

Continue reading "Support Workers Fired at Flaum Appetizing Company in Williamsburgh, Brooklyn!" »

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 05:09 PM | Permalink

BIDMC in heated battle with healthcare union
by Lorne Bell / The Jewish Advocate / Friday May 30 2008

Marya Axner, center, director of the JLC New England Office, stands with other JLC and Workmen's Circle members at a May 9 rally in Longwood to encourage greater healthcare worker membership in SEIU 1199. Hundreds attended and the Dropkick Murphys performed. [Photo courtesy of The Jewish Advocate]

Two weeks ago, members of the Jewish Labor Committee of New England and the Boston Workmen's Circle gathered near the Longwood Medical Center to rally in support of local 1199, a division of the Service Employees International Union now organizing across Boston's medical community. But at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the union and hospital CEO Paul Levy are accusing one another of using unscrupulous tactics to influence workers.
"œThere has been a very poor history on the part of [the hospital's] management in dealing with workers who are organizing," said Mike Fadel, executive vice president of 1199SEIU.
Fadel said that the union has fielded several complaints from Beth Israel DeaconessÂ’ workers. In April, Anthony Patti, a former Beth Israel Deaconess maintenance employee, spoke out against the hospital in an SEIU advertisement in the Boston Herald.
"œWhen our managers found out [that we were organizing], they hit us with a campaign of intimidation and misinformation," wrote Patti. "œThey said if we voted to unionize they'd replace us with outside contractors. In my case, my director reminded me that my children wouldn't have insurance if I lost my job."

Continue reading "Boston: Jewish labor groups support SEIU Local 1199's efforts to organize" »

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 02:53 PM | Permalink

U.S. labor leaders are denouncing British union support for a boycott of Israel . Their response comes in the wake of a decision by several unions, including the UK Transport and General Workers Union, to back economic, cultural and academic boycotts of Israel in protest against "œthe treatment of the Palestinian people."

"œTheir resolutions have no purpose other than demonizing Israel ," said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Jewish Labor Committee, an alliance of Jewish union leaders and supporters which is soliciting support for a statement opposing these boycotts.

Continue reading "U.S. Labor Leaders Blast British Unions' "Boycott Israel" Resolutions" »

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 10:53 PM | Permalink

We view with increasing concern the phenomenon of trade unions in a number of countries, including, most recently, the United Kingdom, issuing resolutions that either directly or indirectly call for divestment from and boycotts of Israel.

With the large number of local, regional and international conflicts, with the diverse range of oppressive regimes around the world about which there is almost universal silence, we have to question the motives of these resolutions that single out one country in one conflict.

We note with increasing concern that virtually all of these resolutions focus solely on objections to actions or policies of the Israeli government, and never on actions or policies of Palestinian or other Arab governments, parties or movements. We notice with increasing concern that characterization of the Palestinians as victims and Israel as victimizer is a staple of such resolutions. That there are victims and victimizers on all sides, and that many if not most of the victims of violence and repression on all sides are civilians, are essential items often not mentioned in these resolutions.

Continue reading "Statement of Opposition to Divestment From or Boycotts of Israel" »

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 08:59 PM | Permalink

The Arizona JLC is working the Arizona Minimum Wage Coalition, which has brought together unions, community groups and a number of small businesses. One focus is a ballot initiative, filed with the secretary of state last November -- to be decided by voters November 2006. There currently is no state minimum wage in Arizona; only the Federal minimum wage of $5 .15 an hour.

The initiative specifies that employers pay workers no less than $6.75 starting Jan. 1, 2007. It also mandates that the minimum wage be annually adjusted for inflation, based on the percentage increase in the U.S. Department of Labor's consumer price index over a one-year span. Businesses with yearly gross revenue less than $500,000 would be exempt from these requirements. Their employees would keep the federal government's minimum wage.

Continue reading "Recent Activities: Arizona" »

Posted by Arieh Lebowitz at 06:09 AM | Permalink