Posts Tagged ‘Interfaith Worker Justice’

Black Friday Solidarity with Walmart Workers

1 Comment | Share On Facebook| Black Friday Solidarity with Walmart Workers Share/Save/Bookmark Nov 28, 2012

In conjunction with Black Friday strikes at a over a hundred Walmart stores, Unitarian Universalists around the country answered the call to show Walmart workers some love.

As people of faith, UUs joined Interfaith Worker Justice in urging Walmart to:

  • provide a living wage and affordable healthcare to its employees;
  • establish a global responsible contractor policy requiring contractors to provide living wages, worker safety, and labor rights; and
  • sign a national community benefits agreement that ensures Walmart strengthens communities, protects the environment, and is responsible for the well-being of its employees in its retail stores and U.S. supply and distribution chain.

VUU member Rob Smith tries to deliver their letter to the local Walmart.

In Phoenix, members of the “Standing on the Side of Love Team” at Valley Unitarian Universalist (VUU) joined a numbers of partners in showing their solidarity and support for Walmart workers on Black Friday. Rev. Andy Burnette, VUU Senior Minister, signed the IWJ’s “Call for Jubilee at Walmart on Black Friday” letter, and the congregations board endorsed it as a formal statement from the congregation. Rob Smith and other congregation members brought the letter to their witness, though they were refused entrance into the store.

In his invitation to VUU Standing on the Side of Love committee members, Smith wrote:

“For me, spending a few hours away from my family on this day is a powerful reminder that many folks working at Walmart and elsewhere will not have the privilege of spending this long weekend with their loved ones as I do.”

For more on the Black Friday Walmart actions in Arizona, check out this video from the demonstrations in Buckeye and Tempe:

Across the country, UUs also participated in other Black Friday witness events:

  • First Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Terre Haute, Indiana, delivered a letter to their local Walmart manager.
  • Ministers at Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church and Foothills Unitarian Universalist Church in Eastern Tennessee organized with Interfaith Worker Justice of East Tennessee to send an interfaith letter to Walmart store managers in Knoxville, Alcoa, Oak Ridge, Maryville, and Clinton, Tennessee, and to Walmart’s corporate office in Bentonville, Arkansas.
  • Rev. Jim VanderWeele of Community Church Unitarian Universalist of New Orleans addressed a witness outside of a Tchoupitoulas, Louisiana, Walmart before leading the group to present a letter to the store manager.
  • Unity Church-Unitarian in St. Paul, Minnesota, held a Black Friday worship service.
  • Members of Unitarian Universalist Church of Yakima, Washington, witnessed at their local Walmart.
  • The Universalist Unitarian Church of Joliet, Illinois, continued their support of Walmart workers with Black Friday events.

    VUU members witness at a local Walmart on Black Friday.

  • The Geneva, Illinois, Unitarian Church also organized with local partners for Black Friday events.
  • Rev. Marti Keller of Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta, Geogria, offered a sermon on Black Friday.
  • UUs joined a witness at a Walmart in Quincy, Massachusetts.
  • UU Mass Action promoted state-wide action on Black Friday.

Did you or your congregation participate? Tell us! See Interfaith Worker Justice’s roundup on their blog–they report organizing over 100 actions of the 1,000 that were held around the country!

This round-up was compiled by Audra Friend, Program Coordinator, Unitarian Universalist Association Multicultural Growth & Witness.

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Show Walmart Workers Some Love

3 Comments | Share On Facebook| Show Walmart Workers Some Love Share/Save/Bookmark Oct 18, 2012

The poet Langston Hughes writes, “I dream a world where all will know sweet freedom’s way, where greed no longer saps the soul, nor avarice blights our day.” Across the country, Walmart store and warehouse workers are risking all they have to make that dream a reality. Just this month, Walmart workers walked off the job in 12 different states to protest Walmart’s poor wages and working conditions.

Now, Standing on the Side of Love and Interfaith Worker Justice are coming together to support Walmart workers on Black Friday, November 23, 2012. Click here to find an action near you.

I have had the honor to meet some of these brave workers. Sebastian* gathers carts in the parking lot of a California Walmart store. He loves his job and his co-workers, but he doesn’t love the pay or treatment by managers. He can’t get enough hours to be eligible for health care benefits, so he has none. He makes just a bit above minimum wage and keeps hoping for a raise, but hasn’t gotten one in two years. The managers ignore him and treat him like he is disposable. Sebastian is smart and committed to the company. He deserves a voice. He deserves respect.

The average Walmart Associate makes just $8.81 per hour and many, like Sebastian, have no benefits because they aren’t allowed to work the minimum number of hours to receive health care coverage. As one of the largest employers of immigrants and people of color in the United States, Walmart’s policies have a direct impact on some of the most marginalized members of our communities.

Walmart can afford to do better. Last year, the company made $10 billion in profits. In 2010, the net worth of six members of the Walton family exceeded the combined wealth of the bottom 42% of American families. Walmart claims it is doing its share to help poor people by keeping prices low. Phewy! Walmart could still have low prices and pay its workers living wages and benefits.

This year on Black Friday—Walmart’s number one profit day, we’re going to show Walmart workers some love. Please join me and other worker advocates and people of faith in showing support for Walmart workers. Some of us will be doing prayer vigils and delivering letters to managers. Others will be holding flash mobs inside the store. Together, we will raise our voices with those of workers across the country to call for increased wages, better working conditions, and more respect for Walmart workers.

Please join me in standing on the side of love with Walmart workers. Click here to find an action at a Walmart store near you.

In justice,

kim

Kim Bobo
Executive Director
Interfaith Worker Justice
kimbobo@iwj.org

*name changed for his protection

The message above went out on Thursday, October 18, 2012 to Standing on the Side of Love supporters. You can sign-up for these emails here.

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Attn: Clergy and Faith Leaders Concerned About Workers Rights

3 Comments | Share On Facebook| Attn: Clergy and Faith Leaders Concerned About Workers Rights Share/Save/Bookmark Feb 25, 2011

The UUA is asking for your support for public sector workers. As you know, Wisconsin has become the flash point for maintaining collective bargaining rights for public workers. This is an historic moment for workers and those that support them.

The news in Wisconsin is happening in lots of other states. Interfaith Worker Justice, of which the UUA is a member, is asking for your help to garner broad religious support for workers on this issue.

Please join UUA President Rev. Peter Morales and sign on to IWJ’s Open Letter from Faith Leaders: Stop Attacks on Public Sector Workers and Unions. To sign on, visit: http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1035/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5946


Rev. Colin Bossin

Rev. Colin Bossen


Below is an excellent open letter from Rev. Colin Bossen, Minister, Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland with more about this issue:

Dear Colleagues:

We are called as religious leaders to support public employees who are fighting to preserve their collective bargaining rights. To understand why, we need to look no further than the example of Martin Luther King, Jr.

When King was assassinated he was in Memphis, Tennessee, supporting a sanitation workers strike. The slogan those public employees adopted for their struggle was “I am a Man.” The struggle in Memphis was about human dignity and human rights far more than it was about money. The sanitation workers in Memphis were fighting for their right to bargain and the recognition of their union. They knew without these things, the mayor of Memphis would not treat them as human beings deserving of respect and dignity. He would treat them like chattel consigned to marginal pay without the prospect of job security.

King understood that the key issue in Memphis was human dignity. He urged religious leaders to support the struggle by marching, speaking out, organizing economic boycotts and engaging in civil disobedience. Religious leaders have moral authority. That moral authority should be used to work for justice.

The struggle today in Ohio, Indiana, Wisconsin and other states is the same as it was in King’s day. Public employees are fighting for human dignity. Collective bargaining rights stem from the rights of assembly and free speech. An assault on collective bargaining is an assault on human rights.

It is also an assault on our democracy. Any society that does not afford its citizens human rights does not deserve to be called a democracy. Without human rights it is impossible for citizens to make their views known or participate in society’s decision making process.

Some of you have probably heard that this struggle is about fixing state deficits. It is not. In Wisconsin, the state’s immediate budget shortfall stems from the legislature’s recent decision to cut taxes. In Ohio stripping public employees of their rights to bargain will not demonstrably save the state money. When confronted with this fact State Senator Shannon Jones, the sponsor of the legislation, was asked why she wanted to pass it. She replied, “It’s my philosophy. We think that public employees should not have the rights that they have now.”

Larger issues are at stake. If we religious leaders are to continue to have moral authority in our communities we must speak up in support of public employees right to collective bargaining. In the Unitarian Universalist tradition, we believe in the inherent worth and dignity of every person. If our principles are to be more than hollow words we must stand up for human rights when they are threatened.

As in King’s day, there are many things we can do to support the struggle of public employees. We can reach out to labor unions and let them know of our support. We can work with solidarity organizations like Interfaith Workers Justice (www.iwj.org) and Jobs with Justice (www.jwj.org). We can write letters. We can preach sermons and hold teach-ins to educate the members of our congregations and the public. We can march and rally, and if the time comes, we can engage, like King and his generation, in non-violent civil disobedience.

Towards the end of his last speech in Memphis, King preached: “Let us rise up… with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation.” Today, as in 1968, the challenges we face present us with the opportunity to make America a better nation. Don’t be silent. Don’t be absent. Let your voice be heard.

In solidarity,

The Rev. Colin Bossen
Minister, Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland

Rev. Colin Bossen
Minister
Unitarian Universalist Society of Cleveland

http://www.uucleveland.org/

blog: http://infidelity.blogsome.com/
216.932.1898 (office)

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Attention Clergy: Tell Pres. Obama to Stop Separating Children from Their Parents

3 Comments | Share On Facebook| Attention Clergy: Tell Pres. Obama to Stop Separating Children from Their Parents Share/Save/Bookmark Jan 28, 2011

The UUA’s Standing on the Side of Love campaign, along with congregations and individuals around the country, are challenging President Obama’s Immigrations & Customs Enforcement (ICE) ACCESS programs in our communities. While President Obama was expressing his support for undocumented immigrants in his State of the Union address, communities in Washington and Michigan were coping with the aftermath of large ICE raids that separated children from their parents.
cutimmigrantkids

We cannot stand by while people are carted off.

The UUA is taking the lead on circulating a faith letter urging Obama to halt enforcement-only ICE ACCESS programs immediately. These programs are inhumane. They solve no problems.

Major denominational sign-ons to our letter include the Episcopal Church, United Church of Christ, United Methodist Church, National Coalition of American Nuns, Friends Committee on National Legislation, and Gamaliel National Clergy Caucus, as well as organizations like Interfaith Worker Justice.

Now, we are asking all clergy to answer the call of justice and sign this letter. Organizational leaders are welcome to sign as well.

Click here to add your name.

The Yakima-Herald reports that some families are in hiding. Some bystanders told the Herald there were children had been left without supervision.

ICE ACCESS is simply wrong, and our group will be delivering this crucial letter from faith leaders across the country to Pres. Obama in just a couple of weeks. We need to remind the President that children cannot thrive without their parents and communities cannot feel safe while they are being torn apart. Urge Obama to halt enforcement-only ICE ACCESS programs immediately and work for real immigration reform that upholds human dignity and worth.

Please add your name and religious title, and stand on the side of love with immigrant communities!

When you are done, don’t forget to share the link with your interfaith allies.

Sign today!

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