Faith Leaders Release Open Letter to the One Percent

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday December 07, 2011 · 2:44 PM PST

2011/12/07 · 14:44

A national group of interfaith leaders is calling wealthy Americans to support economic policies that benefit all Americans. The board of directors of Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) approved “An Open Letter to the One Percent” at its national meeting in Washington, D.C. this week.

On Thursday IWJ will host an online Prayer Vigil for the one percent, to coincide with the Carnation Prayer Vigil for the unemployed scheduled for 11 a.m. that same day in Washington, D.C. Several thousand people are expected to attend.

Edith Rasell, Vice President of IWJ’s Board of Directors, said, “A lot of wealthy Americans give generously to help those in need. But charity isn’t enough. Those who benefitted most from unfair economic policies during the past decades have a responsibility to make things right and help us create an economy that works for all.”

IWJ’s board is calling for tax policies and legislation that require more from the wealthiest Americans in order to create good jobs for everyone who wants to work, and for an extension of unemployment benefits for those unable to find work. If Congress does not pass an extension before the end of this month, 2 million unemployed Americans will be left without the help they need to feed their families.

Here is the full text of the letter:

James Parks

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday September 28, 2011 · 12:49 PM PDT

2011/09/28 · 12:49

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler and U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will kick off the second annual Next Up Young Workers Summit in Minneapolis tomorrow.

James Parks

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday June 21, 2011 · 12:40 PM PDT

2011/06/21 · 12:40

The next generation of union organizers and activists take to the streets this week as some 45 AFL-CIO Union Summer 2011 interns begin a 10-week educational internship. The interns spent one week at the AFL-CIO for orientation before fanning out to work with local central labor councils and local unions in eight cities on organizing, research and community outreach projects.

They soon found out this is not your routine internship. For example, Sarah Mandel and the other interns in New Orleans will be working with public school teachers who were kicked out when the state took over the schools after Hurricane Katrina. They also will be involved in planning actions to save the Avondale shipyard and the thousands of jobs at stake there.

James Parks

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday June 10, 2011 · 12:24 PM PDT

2011/06/10 · 12:24

The public workers and students in Wisconsin wore out a lot of shoe leather in their months of protest against the conservatives’ attacks on working people. Now they have a bronze shoe to honor their efforts.

They won the first annual Muntadhar award sponsored by Prospero’s Books in Kansas City, Mo. The award, in the form of a bronzed shoe, is named for Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi, who earned international recognition after throwing his shoes at former President George Bush during a press conference in Iraq.

James Parks

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday June 07, 2011 · 2:16 PM PDT

2011/06/07 · 14:16

Fire fighters are everyday heroes, protecting and serving the public. But a group of Firefighters (IAFF) members in Worcester, Mass., have found a way to be heroes in their spare time by building ramps for people who need one.

James Parks

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday May 12, 2011 · 1:15 PM PDT

2011/05/12 · 13:15

You can help “Stamp Out Hunger” this weekend by joining with the Letter Carriers’ (NALC) in the largest one-day food drive in the nation. NALC asks that you collect canned goods and dry food, such as tuna, canned meat, soups, pasta, rice and cereal, and leave them in a bag or box by your mailbox on Sat., May 14. Your letter carriers will pick them up as they deliver your mail. NALC members will deliver the goods to local food banks, pantries and shelters to help needy families in 10,000 cities and towns in all 50 states and U.S. jurisdictions.

James Parks

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday May 11, 2011 · 11:46 AM PDT

2011/05/11 · 11:46

After the worst tornadoes in recent U.S. history tore through Alabama and across the southern United States last month, union members by the hundreds immediately began to do what we do best—mobilizing and organizing to help people in need.

Within hours of the storms, local union halls began setting up to become relief centers for the entire community. Large numbers of building trades union volunteers from throughout the region showed up to perform cleanup, support and relief work.

James Parks

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday May 05, 2011 · 9:42 AM PDT

2011/05/05 · 09:42

The nearly 100,000 workers who travel to North Carolina each summer to harvest the state’s tobacco crop are often repaid for their hard work with sub-minimum wages, dangerous conditions in the fields, and inhumane living conditions, according to findings released today from a human rights assessment conducted by Oxfam America and the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC).

James Parks

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday April 29, 2011 · 1:20 PM PDT

2011/04/29 · 13:20

In an emotional ceremony, punctuated by several standing ovations, the U.S. Labor Department inducted into the Labor Hall of Fame 1,300 Memphis sanitation workers whose 1968 strike for their freedom to have a union and collective bargaining was Martin Luther King's last campaign. King was killed in the midst of the strike.

James Parks

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday April 13, 2011 · 10:13 AM PDT

2011/04/13 · 10:13

This morning, I interviewed Martin Luther King III after he spoke to the AFL-CIO Executive Council, meeting here today in Washington, D.C

James Parks

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday April 04, 2011 · 11:39 AM PDT

2011/04/04 · 11:39

In this cross post from the AFL-CIO website, Martin Luther King III, president and chief executive officer of The King Center, explains why his father would be on the front lines today supporting public employees.

Forty-three years ago my father, Martin Luther King Jr., was assassinated while he was in Memphis, Tenn., supporting a strike of municipal sanitation workers. It was, in his eyes, more than a quest for a few more dollars in a paycheck. He saw the strike as part of the great struggle of his time—a struggle for democracy, for truth, for justice and for human dignity.

These are the same basic reasons that my father would be joining with millions of other Americans today in supporting public employees in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio and other states, where collective bargaining is now under attack.

James Parks

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday March 25, 2011 · 8:53 AM PDT

2011/03/25 · 08:53

Six Brazilian labor confederations expressed their solidarity with public employees in Wisconsin and other states who are struggling to defend their right to bargain for middle-class jobs. In a letter to President Barack Obama, who was visiting South America, the trade union leaders called on the United States to guarantee “full freedom of association, collective bargaining, and freedom of expression and assembly” for public employees.

The letter states that the Brazilian workers protest the way some U.S. state governments are limiting and even extinguishing basic rights won by public employees.

The six national confederations that signed the letter are the CUT, Forca Sindical, CTB, UGT, Nova Central, and CGTB. The signees represent nearly 5 million affiliated workers, while bargaining for some 50 million workers in the country

Newer
Older

RSS

Faith Leaders Release Open Letter to the One Percent

Watch Live Webcast of Solis and Shuler at Next Up Summit

AFL-CIO Union Summer Interns Take to The Streets

Wisconsin Protestors Share Iraqi Shoe-Thrower Award

Mass. Fire Fighters Build Wheelchair Ramps In Spare Time

Help Letter Carriers "Stamp Out Hunger" May 14

Workers Show Union Spirit Helping Tornado Survivors

Report: Workers Face Brutal Conditions in Tobacco Fields

1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers Inducted Into Labor Hall of Fame

Martin Luther King III: Labor Has Unique Opportunity to Rebuild

Why Martin Luther King Would Support the Public Worker Protests

Brazilian Workers Back U.S. Public Employees