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Jobs With Justice A campaign for workers' rights. | |
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KY JwJ is dedicated to protecting the rights of working people and supporting community struggles to build a more just society. KY JwJ accomplishes this goal by building a diverse coalition of labor, community, and religious groups that work together, mobilizing the strongest possible base of support for workers' social and economic rights. 
Did You Know? KY Social Forum strategy session set! The first KY Social Forum strategy session will be on Wednesday, July 2nd from 6-8pm at the Fairness Campaign in Louisville. Woo hoo!!! What an honor it will be to have Stephanie Guilloud of Project South with us to share her experience and insight in planning a state-wide Social Forum. There will stories shared from our journey to the USSF in Atlanta in 2007. We'll begin thinking about when in '09 we want to have our Social Forum as we build up momentum for the 2010 USSF. We'll also start thinking about where to have the KY Social Forum (you know we've got some GREAT state parks!). But why a KY Social Forum, anyway? To bring together folks from rural and urban parts of our state to fight for our basic human rights more collectively. To create strong, grassroots coalitions across the expanse of KY. To become more educated about such issues as housing, hunger, homelessness, poverty, environmental justice, workers' rights, youth advocacy and organizing, mountaintop removal, reproductive justice, immigrant rights, queer advocacy and organizing, media justice, non-partisan political mobilizing, economic justice, and more. And how will we do this? We'll develop viable communications networks, clear outreach strategies, and we will be intentional about representation, using arts and culture, providing space for healing and spirituality, and more. ***Mark your calendars for Wednesday, July 2nd!!!*** Peace! Become a Community Captain Learn tools to build our democracy together! Join Kentuckians For The Commonwealth and Kentucky Jobs With Justice and other allied organizations. Become a Community Captain and help your friends and neighbors to register to vote, get them valuable information about candidates and the election, and mobilize them to vote! Friday, August 1st and Saturday, August 2nd in Louisville. For more information or to reserve your space, contact Dave Newton at Dave@KFTC.org or call (859) 420-8919 or email attica@kyjwj.org or call (502) 582-5454. Women Building Power Check out the planning meeting report back from the first meeting! You can also view the 2nd report back from the April 2008 meeting. From Senator Denise Harper Angel’s legislative survey 2008: “Should non-violent convicted felons have their voting rights restored once they have served their prison sentences?” Yes - 76% No - 16% Unsure - 7% No Answer - 1% The full text report and Executive Summaries of "Beginning the Dialogue to Understand the Strengths and Unmet Needs of the Hispanic/Latino Community in Louisville Metro" report is available in English and Spanish online at: http://www.louisvilleky.gov/OFW/Reports.htm. This report is based on the Cross-Cultural Community Conversations Project which consisted of a series of 'platicas' (conversations) with Hispanic/Latino men and women to assess their unique strengths, needs and perspectives and to enhance our ability to provide equal access to and quality of services in Louisville Metro. This project was based on collaborations with a number of community partners. 
Victory! Lykins Reinforcing barred from publicly funded construction projects in Kentucky FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12/07/207 Complaints against a Louisville construction contractor have reached critical mass resulting in the debarring of Lykins Reinforcing from publicly funded construction projects in Kentucky. After reviewing over 100 violations totaling almost a quarter of a million dollars, the Kentucky Finance Cabinet has decided to refuse this contractor access to public funds. In a statement dated December 5, 2007, Gwen Pinson, Executive Director of the Office of General Counsel to the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet stated that “effective immediately, pursuant to 200 KAR 5:315(2)(3), Lykins is hereby debarred from bidding to the Commonwealth of Kentucky, or participating in a public works contract of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.” Ms Pinson noted that Lykins Reinforcing has repeatedly violated prevailing wage requirements and currently owes $229,500 in penalty fines. This decision vindicates the efforts of the striking Lykins workers who have been distributing informational leaflets at University of Louisville’s parking garage at the Bio-Medical Center, the University of Kentucky Pharmaceutical Complex in Lexington and Smith Stadium at WKU for several months. They have expressed concerns ranging from sub-standard wages to lack of health insurance. A group of Hispanic “rod busters” indicated that they were being unfairly treated by being kept off higher paying state jobs and denied the same medical coverage offered to their non-Hispanic counter-parts. Employees stated that they could no longer tolerate working for a company that took advantage of immigrant workers. The workers have been joined in their protests by concerned citizens from the human-rights community, Hispanic rights activists and faith-based groups from Louisville, northern Kentucky and Cincinnati, Ohio. Attica Scott, of Kentucky Jobs With Justice stated, ”This kind of abuse cannot be tolerated. We must not let it stand.” “We are also human beings,” stated Freddie Peralta of the Kentucky Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, “and we also have rights.” Lykins Reinforcing is not a stranger to allegations of worker abuse. In December of 2005, Lykins was the object of a class action ERISA suit involving several employees who alleged that Lykins deprived them of their 401K pension contributions. P.O.Box 21816, Louisville, KY 40221-0816 email to: rivers_of_truth @ sbcglobal.net
Action Updates SEIU campaign update Check out this link to the Courier-Journal -- -- about our action in support of “The Campaign to Improve Assisted Living” in partnership with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Thank you to leaders and staff from Women In Transition and the Center for Labor Education and Research at the University of Kentucky for braving the cold to call attention to the poor treatment of patients and staff of Atria Senior Living which is headquartered in downtown Louisville. We went to the headquarters of Atria because residents across the country are complaining of low staffing ratios (in some cases, only 1 employee for 152 residents), medication errors (at one facility, a patient died because she was mistakenly given her husband's meds), and firing workers who have stood up for themselves and their patients (we will hear from one of those fired employees on Monday). At an Atria facility in New York, workers have been struggling to form a union for a voice in care for residents and in working conditions for the staff. Instead of listening to workers, Atria Lynbrook is intimidating, harassing and disciplining employees for trying to form a union, even using immigration status to bully pro-union workers. We could go on... and we will... At facilities around the country, Atria is now facing a large number of federal investigations over charges that the company violated federal labor law, including threatening, intimidating, spying on, and otherwise violating the rights of employees who have been active in forming a union for improvements at their facilities. We will keep you informed in ’08 about ways in which you can support “The Campaign to Improve Assisted Living.” For more info on the campaign, visit http://www.improveassistedliving.org/. Our nurses are on strike for patient care Shame on Appalachian Regional Healthcare! Well, it looks like people in Kentucky have sent a strong message to Appalachian Regional Hospitals that we demand respect for Kentucky & West Virginia nurses! We had a strong group of volunteers distributing handbills at the ARH headquarters in Lexington last week and they called the Sheriff’s department out to try to intimidate us. Of course, we ain’t havin’ it!!! Remember, we need you to take action at http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/kna to support our nurses. On November 13, 2007, Nurses will held a press conference to launch a struggle to win safe staffing and quality conditions in the hospitals. Shortly, the NLRB will be ordering a new election for RN's at Audubon Hospital in Louisville. The press conference comes on the heels of a new victory by the Nurses Professional Organization in winning over $171,000 in back pay for three nurses unlawfully denied jobs because of their stand for good staffing and for the union. Norton Audubon Hospital must pay the money to resolve the unfair labor practices. Nurses are inviting the community to join with them in asserting the right to speak, advocate, and organize. Please join us for the press conference to show solidarity with nurses and patients. ...for further Information: Kay Tillow, Nurses Professional Organization, California Nurses Association, National Nurses Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO, 502.636.1551 Background More than 600 nurses in Kentucky & West Virginia had their pay cut by 10% by the ARH in December 2005. A Case was arbitrated and Nurses were upheld in their grievance but the Company refused to adhere to the Arbitrator’s ruling and appealed to Federal Court. The Kentucky Nurses Association, which has represented 9 ARH hospitals since the 1970s after purchasing them from the United Mine Workers, is in the midst of a public awareness campaign against this employer for their negative treatment of nurses and allowing and promoting unsafe staffing for patients. The UMW built the hospitals to care for their own in their local communities and to support unionism. Payors of benefits need to be educated that there are not sufficient nurses to care for their members. Contact KYJWJ for more info at 502.582.5454. Action Update This past year has been filled with walking the picket line with striking Steelworkers, participating in the first-ever US Social Forum, launching a new partnership with Kentuckians For The Commonwealth to build voter power in our state, volunteering at the Fairness Campaign booth at the Kentucky State Fair, and continuing to support the organizing drive of UAW at the Toyota plant in Georgetown (read more on our Worker Rights Board page). Below are a few summaries of our work this past year. US Social Forum Makes Impact On June 26th, Kentucky Jobs With Justice led 25 delegates to the United States Social Forum in Atlanta, Georgia. We thank the National Jobs With Justice Education Fund, Funding Exchange, and countless individual donors for their financial support to make our trip possible! Our goals for bringing such a larger delegation to Atlanta mirrored the National Jobs With Justice goals: it was an opportunity to build relationships with other networks of movement-building groups (local, national and regional); it was a space to share our model of coalition building and mobilization which we did at a workshop co-facilitated by the Coordinator of KY JWJ; it was a chance to learn from other groups on how they approach their work; it was a space for JWJ staff, leaders, and activists to gather to have discussions and planning on our continued campaign work; it was a space to celebrate our 20th Anniversary as a national network (and yes, our folks were impressed that for the rest of the week they kept running into individuals who couldn’t stop talking about the JWJ party!); it was an opportunity to explore future actions and mobilizations with other groups who share our vision; and it was a chance to continue building our grassroots base and core of state-wide leaders. The delegation consisted of folks from around the state of Kentucky, mainly from Louisville and Lexington, among which many were students, civil rights, environmental, and worker justice activists, an aspiring film maker, as well as union members, teachers, and community members. “It is a blessing for me to be part of something like this,” said Lavel White while in Atlanta, one of our student delegates and an aspiring documentarian. You can check out Lavel’s slide show of our trip on our blog at www.myspace.com/kentuckyjwj. We held a USSF report back on Thursday, July 19th. At the report back, the students talked about the conflicts that they noticed between national and local and national and regional groups and how those conflicts impact the social justice movement. Other folks talked about how powerful it was to have queer issues, race, and gender discussed in the same plenary. Others recognized from being part of this delegation that there are people from across the state who are doing good movement-building work and we’ve got to figure out how to connect more deeply with one another. Finally, we decided at the report back to hold a Kentucky Social Forum in 2009 to build momentum for the 2010 USSF. Look out for big things from Kentucky! Kentucky Pushback Network The Pushback Network held its first national convening in Louisville on July 13-15, 2007! This event brought together over 150 staff and grassroots leaders from six states. Participants shared skills and lessons learned and strategies for upcoming efforts. The Pushback Network is a national effort that includes six state alliances in New York, California, Mississippi, Alabama, New Mexico and Kentucky. Each alliance works to change the electorate in their state by increasing the number of people of color and poor and working class people who are registered, and increasing their participation in elections and issue campaigns. Although KY JWJ and KFTC are working collaboratively on this project, each organization is taking on different and unique pieces of the work in rural and urban areas of our state. Freedom Fest '07 On August 11, 2007, Hujambo Network, Building Communities and Families, and the ACLU, held the highly anticipated 1st Annual "Freedom Festival: Back to School Drive" at Victory Park in Louisville, KY. The Freedom Festival is a committee working to unify national and international organizations for a coalition of community leaders and music artists who support unity through educational training, strategic community agenda building, and economic recycling of community income. This free outdoor event, organized by local hip hop artist Afrykah WubSauda, included a complete day of family fun, cultural performances and a back-to-school drive for returning students in Jefferson County. The event was sponsored by Forever Records, Unstoppable Sound Agency, Muhammad Ali Institute at the University of Louisville, Community Farm Alliance, YMCA Safe Place, and Kentucky Jobs With Justice. There was a special presentation from 1-3PM by Kentucky Jobs With Justice titled “Path to Voter Power” street theatre featuring the Community Justice Drum Circle, African dance, spoken word performances and more. It was a collaborative project, organized by JaBani Bennett, of local community artists, activists, faith leaders, and labor union members with funding provided by the “We Shall Overcome Fund” of the Highlander Research and Education Center in New Market, TN. We shared an information table with the Kentucky Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and garnered support for the legal defense for the San Francisco 8, raising awareness about the case, connecting the community with this campaign, and mobilizing support for its upcoming event strategies. Live performances from Hurra Season, Native, Father Jah, Mac D, Imani Dance and Drum Company, River City Drum Corp and many more surprise guests was off the chain! We registered two dozen new voters and shared information with former felons about how they can apply to restore their right to vote! Special thanks to the KY JWJ street soldiers who worked on voter registration: Alex Campbell, J Anthony Holbert, Ashley Jackson, Christian Motley, and Lavel White. The street theatre piece is part of a larger voter power campaign to increase the base of people of color and youth registered and active voters in Louisville. Contact the Kentucky Jobs With Justice office at 502.582.5454 if you are interested in learning more about this work. 
Thank you for your support! KY JWJ has won many victories this year because thousands of people like you have taken the following pledge: I’ll Be There... ... standing up for our rights as working people to a decent standard of living. ...supporting the right of all workers to organize and bargain collectively. ...fighting for secure family-wage jobs in the face of corporate attacks on working people and our communities. ...organizing the unorganized to take aggressive action to secure a better economic future for all of us. ...mobilizing those already organized to join the fight for jobs with justice. During the next year, I WILL BE THERE at least five times for someone else’s fight, as well as my own. If enough of us are there, we’ll all start winning. Please make a commitment to financially support this pledge and workers’ rights by donating online at http://www.kyjwj.org/donate.htm, you’ll join the more than 2,800 people in Kentucky who have signed the Jobs With Justice pledge. Here’s what you can expect as a donor to Kentucky Jobs With Justice: weekly GetActive email updates on economic justice and workers’ rights, quarterly newsletters about our growing state-wide work, and a commitment from us that we will stand up for working people in Kentucky. And you can stand with us right now—here’s how: In a government-supervised election last summer, more than 80 percent of the workers at the Ohio Valley Aluminum Co. (OVACO) plant in Shelbyville, Ky., voted to join a union. A year has passed, yet the workers still don't have a labor agreement with management. The terminations of five employees have been challenged as illegal retaliation for their participation in a picket line at the plant [this summer where KYJWJ leaders and staff showed up in support]. OVACO needs to hear from you today. "This dispute is not just about the folks at OVACO," said USW District 8 Director Billy Thompson. "It's about defending every man and woman in America who chooses to have a union." Learn more about the campaign by watching this video with Harold Johnson, a 33-year veteran of the company. The OVACO workers already have received unprecedented encouragement and support throughout Kentucky and beyond in the effort to gain their first union contract. Make sure the company hears from you. Click here to show your support for the OVACO workers. Kentucky Jobs With Justice is an almost-all volunteer organization. Our victories rely on activism and organizing of people like us. Please take a moment to donate online at http://www.kyjwj.org/donate.htm. Thank you for taking this important step for justice. We look forward to seeing you at upcoming actions!  Jobs with Justice - A Coalition on Behalf of Working Families: A Faith Perspective
By Frank Schwartz, Faith Co-Chair, KY Jobs With Justice The Jobs with Justice Pledge card that people are asked to sign is the initial step that commits new participants in the coalition for workers rights. This singular act takes a new member on a journey of solidarity and activity that strives to: improve working peoples standard of living, fight for justice, security and protect workers rights to organize. When faith communities join Labor unions and Community organizations to support working families they bring valuable witness to the effort. This can counteract some of significant anti-worker position that is voiced by the business community and governmental bodies. Simply said, the Jobs With Justice Pledge is a pledge to be there, when you are needed. The pledge to be there for five times for someone else?s fight as well as your own is the corner stone for coalition building and worker and community solidarity. During the past years Congregations were encouraged to speak out for worker justice during Labor Day Weekend. Labor in the Pulpit is the effort by Jobs with Justice to bring the various issues of workers justice to members of congregations. Speakers, including the clergy, highlight the issues of the day to their congregants: working on behalf of a living wage, health care justice for all workers, Global Justice and fair trade that protects workers here and abroad. The faith community can use the ethical and moral teaching of their tradition to support economic and social issues that demand action from civil society. They and their members can provide a voice for fairness in the workplace. During the past few years many tomato-pickers were able to get improved wages and safer working conditions due to the boycott of several national faith groups. In conclusion, when you belong to Kentucky Jobs With Justice you are part of a coalition that strives to improve working peoples lives. So if you have not taken the "I'll Be There" pledge, this is your time to join! And you can do so on-line at: http://www.kyjwj.org/support.htm . 
We are on the move! We have moved! We give a huge shout out to UFCW Local 227 for housing us these many years but we are growing from year-to-year with new staff, increased campaigns & programs, and more focused and intense grassroots fundraising. ***NOTE NEW ADDRESS*** Our new mailing address is: 1800 W Muhammad Ali Boulevard, Suite 2E, Louisville 40203 (right above Expressions of You). Did you know that you can donate on-line to Kentucky Jobs with Justice? Why, sure you can! Make your gift at: https://secure.ga6.org/08/KentuckyDonate . Please visit our myspace page and become our friend today! Last updated: July 2, 2008 |
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Kentucky Jobs with Justice
1800 W Muhammad Ali Boulevard, Louisville, KY 40203
tel: 502.582.5454
fax:502.582.5452 e-mail: kyjwj@kyjwj.org