Jobs With Justice

Eric; Larson

Description

For 25 years, the labour-community coalition Jobs with Justice has endured the brutal vagaries of the global economy with a single alternative economic vision. By putting its ideas into practice, it has won powerful victories with working-class communities. Through a series of interviews and essays, Jobs with Justice allows the activists that have built JwJ to tell why the organisation's core principle - the power of solidarity between unions, community groups, and immigrant, student and faith organisations - continues to drive its victories at all levels.

Informations

• Publié par: PM Press
• Date de parution: 26 septembre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781604868852
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Jobs with Justice 25 Years, 25 Voîces

Edîted by Erîc Larson Introductîon by Larry Cohen

Jobs with Justice: 25 Years, 25 Voices Edited by Eric Larson

© PM Press 2013 All rigHts reserved. No part of tHis book may be transmitted by any means witHout permission in writing from tHe publisHer.

PO Box 23912 Oakland, CA 94623 www.pmpress.org

Cover design by JoHn Yates Front cover pHoto © Ted Polumbaum Layout by JonatHan Rowland

ISBN:978-1-60486-746-6 LCCN: 2012954997

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in tHe USA by tHe Employee Owners of homson-SHore in Dexter, MicHigan. www.tHomsonsHore.com

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Acknowledgments

Edîtor’s Preace: Capturîng the Storîes o the “Permanent Coalîtîon” — Erîc Larson

Introductîon: Stand Up! Fîght Back! — Larry Cohen

Pà I: Jôŝ î JûŝîçÉ MÉàŝ . . . VîçôY

Mattîe Stegall (Nacogdoches, TX) Stewart Acuf (Atlanta, GA) Steve Valencîa (Tucson, AZ) Margaret Butler (Portland, OR) Marîa Whyte (Bufalo, NY) Lara Granîch (St. Louîs, MO) Aî-Jen Poo (New York Cîty)

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Pà II: Jôŝ î JûŝîçÉ MÉàŝ . . . Tàŝôî RÉàîôŝîŝ, Bîî DîFÉÉçÉŝ

Carl Rosen (Chîcago, IL) Rand Wîlson (Boston, MA) Barbara Ingalls (Detroît, MI) John Ryan (Cleveland, OH)

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Fred Azcarate (Natîonal JwJ Oice) Mary Beth Maxwell (Natîonal JwJ Oice) Russ Davîs (Boston, MA) Sîmon Greer (Natîonal JwJ Oice/New York Cîty) Treston Davîs-Faulkner (Phîladelphîa/Natîonal JwJ Oice)

Pà III: Jôŝ î JûŝîçÉ MÉàŝ . . . îî ô É ûûÉ

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Mîchael Leon Guerrero 125 (Natîonal JwJ Board o Dîrectors) Marîelena Hîncapîé 133 (Natîonal JwJ Board o Dîrectors) Denîse Dîaz 139 (Central Florîda) Israel Alvaran 144 (San Francîsco, CA) Isaîah Toney 150 (Student Labor Actîon Project/Natîonal JwJ Oice) Saket Sonî 154 (New Orleans, LA)

Côçûŝîô: Jôŝ î JûŝîçÉ—TÉ NÉX CàÉ

Sarîta Gupta (Executîve dîrector, Jobs wîth Justîce)

Côŝî MÉîàîô

Rev. Calvîn Morrîs, Ph.D. (Former natîonal JwJ board member)

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Acknowledgments

The idea for this book emerged in 2011 as Jobs with Justice leaders discussed the organization’s upcoming 25th anniver- sary. Since then, hundreds of people have helped make it pos- sible—from the dozens who shared their stories to the many dozens who helped us turn ideas, aspirations, and interviews into what you’re holding now. First, I’d like to recognize the volunteers who donated their time, energy, and patience to transcribe interviews: Joanna Stewart, Samuel Nelson, Ben Bull, Elena Korn, Ana Carolina Vasconcelos, Silke Martin, Joyce Larson, Eileen Carney, Victoria Ruiz, Julie Pittman, Chelsea Miller, Rani Gupta, and Andre Martins. Anne Lewis, Russ Davis, Rae Axner, Greta Aiken, and Becca Rast helped make the inter- views and transcriptions possible, and Rand Wilson gener- ously shared materials. Naomi Demsas from the national JwJ oïce was involved in all steps of the book’s production, and deserves many thanks. Others in the national JwJ oïce had a hand in this as well. Jonathan Williams played a crucial role in sorting, înd- ing, and selecting photographs, which are arranged chrono- logically. Carlos Jimenez, Scarlet Jimenez, and Mackenize Baris helped make sure interviews and photos got into my hands. Huy Ong, Erica Smiley, and others helped make the JwJ Story Center, and the 2011 national meeting more gen- erally, a smashing success. The same goes for the videogra- phers who helped create an invaluable video archive: Barni Qaasim (IftiinProductions.com) and Jason Michael Aragón (PanLeft.net).

vî | Jobs wîth Justîce

Finally, thanks so much to Bill Fletcher for his comments and to Steve Early for his help in connecting us with the folks at PM Press. They have been generous, dedicated, and pa- tient. Sarita Gupta had the vision to make this project hap- pen, and backed it up with action and ideas. I’d like to dedicate this to the family and friends of Mattie Stegall, who passed away a few months after I inter- viewed her for this project. Her courage helped make Jobs with Justice possible.

Eric Larson, editor

Editor’s Preface: Capturing the Stories of the “Permanent Coalition”

This book reflects on the Jobs with Justice coalition’s last 25 years—but it’s very much directed at the next 25. Though the înal section, “JwJ Means . . . Fighting for the Future,” indeed recounts some of the struggles that will carry JwJ into the next quarter century, the book revolves not around time periods but around two principal themes: winning concrete victories and transforming relationships through coalition work. Any organization undergoes dra- matic changes in 25 years, and especially 25 years of relent- less attacks by the One Percent. But these two themes have consistently driven local coalitions and national and inter- national organizing alike. Concrete victories have inspired the Labor and community activists of the coalition since the successful struggles in places like eastern Texas and western New York in the late 1980s, and coalition work has, as several JwJ organizers have told me, led everyday activists “out of their comfort zones” and into the struggles of other unions, 1 neighborhoods, communities, and regions. There’s something for everyone here. Longtime JwJ ac- tivists likely recall the Emergency Drive for Health Care, the early Workers’ Rights Boards, the many battles with Verizon,

1 I’ve chosen to capitalize “labor” in this book when the term refers to unions. It remains lowercase when it refers to work or working-class organizations more generally.

vîîî | Jobs wîth Justîce

or success stories everywhere from St. Louis to Portland to Bualo. (See contributions from Granich, Butler, and Whyte, for example.) Those who got involved during JwJ’s rapid growth in the late 1990s may seek out perspectives on the co- alition’s role in global justice campaigns (Azcarate, Guerrero, Greer), or on the importance of SLAP—the Student Labor 2 Action Project (Davis-Faulkner, Toney). In the last decade, battles for the rights of immigrant workers have gained a more prominent place in the coalition (Poo, Soni, Hincapié). Readers interested in why Jobs with Justice will be a crucial component of struggles for social and economic justice in the future should turn to the Introduction, by JwJ founder Larry Cohen, and the Conclusion, by its current executive director, Sarita Gupta. I’d also like to call readers’ attention to Rev. Dr. Calvin Morris’s “Closing Meditation.” In tracing a parallel between his work in the civil rights movement and the Jobs with Justice movement he îrst encountered more than a decade ago, Morris stresses the value of bringing peo- ple together both in struggle and in faith. That the two principal themes of this book have their own corresponding sections shouldn’t suggest that they are unrelated. In the JwJ Story Center or elsewhere, JwJ activ- ists’ accounts of victories almost always involved trans- 3 formed relationships. At the same time, activists’ descrip- tions of transformed relationships—which often took the form of highly personal, even emotional, testimonies—often concluded with stories of victory marches or community cel- ebrations. Though the transformed relationships I refer to here are those between dierent working-class communities and organizations, JwJ victories also transform other kinds of relationships—like those between workers and bosses.

2 Please note that the interviews I mention in parentheses in this preface are only a sample of those that address the indicated theme. 3 Many of the interviews for this book took place at the Jobs with Justice Story Center, a project that enabled JwJ supporters at the organi- zation’s 2011 national meeting to share their JwJ stories with a îlm crew.

Capturîng the Storîes o the “Permanent Coalîtîon” | îx

Though it’s unlikely that Walmart would admit it publicly, JwJ-supported victories like a recent one at a Walmart sup- plier fundamentally alter the worksite relationships upon which even the biggest global retailers rely. The immigrant workers who led that struggle through the New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice are transforming all kinds of relationships as they chip away at the structural power of 4 the One Percent. The fact that JwJ leaders and members so often discussed both concrete victories and coalitional relationship-building is precisely why we’ve highlighted them in the structure of this volume. Many interviewees speak of a vast range of ex- periences they’ve had as part of the JwJ network, and the diversity of those experiences is no accident. It reects the central element of the JwJ solidarity model. Because of how JwJ leads members “out of their comfort zones,” some coali- tions have battled for workers’ rights one month, housing justice the next, and health care access the next—or have done all three at the same time. Unfortunately, because of space limitations, not all of the many interviews we carried out appear here, and they are all heavily edited for length and theme. Deciding how to condense such rich and multi- faceted material into an accessible and aordable book was the most diïcult part of this project. Fortunately, the rich reserve of video interviews that resulted from the process will be available for coalitions to use for educational and mo- bilization purposes. A careful reader will notice that other threads connect the interviews and essays as well as the two we’ve empha- sized. Strategically deployed direct action is one of them. From Atlanta to Texas to Portland, Jobs with Justice lo- cal coalitions have specialized in knowing when and how to confront the powerful. Another thread is perseverance. Although much has changed in the last 25 years, the struggle

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See the Saket Soni interview in this volume for more information.