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Please look over our work and projected work in these categories:
3. Plans and projections from National Jobs with Justice
4. Possibilities for North Texas in 2010
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Helping Teamsters Local 767 defeat a decertification attempt on January 15 was a special source of pride for North Texas Jobs with Justice. The victorious workers and the students who helped them marched with us in the Dallas Martin Luther King Jr Parade/March. We continued the tradition of helping organizing struggles throughout the year. Probably more than anything else, we communicated in 2009. We were on KNON radio weekly. Two or three times a month, we sent out over 1,800 e-mails. We kept our web page posted, not just with out own activities but also those of other worker justice groups. We spoke to at least 15 different organizations. We made a monthly report to the Dallas AFL-CIO and one report to Tarrant AFL-CIO.
North Texas stood with the national organization on programs concerning Anti-Oppression, Anti-Sweatshop, Anti-War, Criminal Justice/Police, Day Laborers, Economic Development/Contractor Responsibility, Education Justice, Environmental Justice, Farmworker Justice, Globalization/Trade/Cross-Border, Government/Budget, Health Care, Housing Justice, Immigrant Rights, Living Wage, Minimum Wage Increase, Transportation, Justice, Voter Participation, Welfare Reform, and other Workers' Rights projects.
INFORMATION DISSEMINATION: Our North Texas Information System is one of the
most valuable assets in the North Texas movement for workers rights. Our web
page is widely read, and is linked to other progressive centers on the World
Wide Web. Every Wednesday morning, spokespersons for workers' issues appear
explain our issues on KNON radio. We regularly appear in columns in progressive
newspapers. We regularly publicize events to the commercial media. We send 2,000
e-mails at a time to activists and newspersons across North Texas.
EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT: We distribute literature and collect sign-up cards for the Employee Free Choice Act. Actually, North Texas Jobs with Justice began collecting petitions well before the official literature was first created in 2006. In 2008, we distributed over 1,000 of the official sign-up cards. We sent at least 150 signed ones to national.
CIVIL RIGHTS REACH-OUT: We have consistently reached out to civil rights groups since we first began in 1990. We march every year in the Dallas Martin Luther King Jr Birthday march/parade.
We held a Global Day of Action in conjunction with forces across the nation.
HEALTH CARE: April 8, we organized a rally for health care
Aug 21 helped organize health care rally and tribute to Congresswoman EB Johnson
RETIREES RIGHTS: We have been active in the causes of Retirees' Rights even though it has not been a national priority.
REACHING OUT FOR LABOR'S ALLIES: North Texas JwJ improved relations with Dallas Peace Center and got a monthly ad in their paper.
We joined the Christian Progressive Alliance at their Good Friday religious march on March 21
We reached out to environmentalists on May 28 with their Exxon-Mobil protest
To bring labor's message into the churches, we pushed for Labor in the Pulpit during late August
On September 1, JwJ organized a big contingent of religious and community leaders to the Labor Day AFL-CIO breakfast
We helped rally for gay rights on November 20 and 22
On December 8, we participated in a rally for People's Bailout with students in Denton
TRAINING AND EDUCATION: North Texas JwJ raised money to send a big delegation to the national conference in Rhode Island May 2-4. There, we rubbed shoulders with the top activists in the nation while listening to top speakers and participating in workshops. We also sent a sizable delegation to the 2008 United States Social Forum.
We toured national Jobs with Justice leader Krista Hanson November 6-8.
UNION SUPPORT: We publicized CWA 6215's rally ON February 24. In fact, we publicize just about every progressive event in North Texas all year through our e-mails, web page, newspaper column, and radio show
Ironworkers Local 847 (Western United States) has a program of pressuring prime contractors to help them pressure Great Western Erectors, a big subcontractor. We joined some of their delegations, and we helped them find a number of allies in the religious, civil rights, and student communities.
Helped TWU workers picket the airport Nov 19
Nov 26 helped auto workers appeal for federal loans
"TRADE," GOBBLELIZATION: On May 9, we helped launch "Dallas Sweat Free Campaign" led by Texas Fair Trade Watch
We publicized Fair Trade with Colombia after CWA leader Nancy Hall returned from there
We organized a movie showing "Battle in Seattle" and featuring Nancy Hall as speaker October 10
VOTER REGISTRATION AND PARTICIPATION: We registered voters before the primary election and again through Oct, 2008. On the first day of early voting, we worked with CWA and other unions to creat a "vote early" rally at the downtown Dallas voting center.
Organized unionists to rally Oct 20 to encourage voting. About 20 people attended
WORKERS RIGHTS: On February 1, we helped get people out for anti-immigrant hearings and spoke at the press conference.
March 8, we celebrated Int'l Women's Day at our own fund-raiser
June 4 helped launch new Living Wage effort
June 24, helped with immigrants rights press conference led by UNITE-HERE and spoke
December 13, launched new version of Workers Rights Board with hearings on Ironworkers at Great Western Erectors. This organization of community and religious leaders will regularly investigate working conditions in North Texas
Dec 18 commemorated "International Day of Immigrants"
National Jobs with Justice gathered input for a new Strategic Plan through most of 2008. North Texans participated. After the economic crisis became clear in October, the planning process became much more urgent. At this time, the Economic Policy Institute is predicting continued long term unemployment! This crisis for workers is greater than anything we have seen in our lifetimes.
At the same time that the economic crisis hit, American workers had their greatest electoral victory since the 1970s. The possibility of worker-friendly legislation is now a reality.
In other words, American workers have more challenges and more opportunities than we have ever seen!
National Jobs with Justice is proposing dramatic changes in our structure and activities in order to cope with this new situation. We will become much more aggressive in the fight for workers rights. We expect to train leaders and to undertake big national projects. The strategic plan should be finalized in late February, but the changes are already beginning. Jobs with Justice has been calling for workers' rights in any bailout and/or stimulus package.
National JwJ has joined the AFL-CIO, NAACP, and other organizations to fight the jobs crisis. North Texas Jobs with Justice is taking steps in public. We are also looking for allies in this vital battle. We have more contacts among unions and other progressive organizations than anyone else. Although we are not nearly as strong as some individual unions, we enjoy considerably more flexibility.
What we can do will not be limited by the needs and opportunities of 2010. Our only limitation is the amount of support we can gather!