Jewish Labor Committee

Pledges Support for Israel, Calls for Support of U.S. President Obama’s Peace Initiative

(l-r: Sybil Sanchez, Morton Sloan, Roberta Reardon, Paul Almeida, Richard Trumka, Stuart Appelbaum, Jack Ahern, Rabbi Michael Miller, Ruben Diaz, Jr.)

Addressing the Jewish Labor Committee, newly-elected President of the AFL-CIO, Richard L. Trumka, has spoken out clearly and forcefully in opposition to calls to boycott Israel. .Before 475 participants of the annual Human Rights Dinner of the JLC, held in New York City on October 27th, Trumka stated that “we’re proud to stand with the JLC to oppose boycotting Israel.” Trumka was elected President of the national AFL-CIO in September of this year. The AFL-CIO is composed of 57 national and international labor unions, represents 11.5 million members.

He noted that “the Jewish community here – and around the world – has never had a stronger ally than the AFL-CIO,” adding that “so long as I’m president, you will never have a stronger ally than the AFL-CIO!”

Trumka added that “in America, we sometimes think that anti-Semitism is part of the past, but the truth is that it’s like a weed that can always grow back. And that’s especially true during hard times. You know, sometimes it’s couched as `anti-Zionism.’ Other times there’s no effort to disguise it at all.”

In a keynote address, Trumka stated that “there is only one way we’re going to stop the violence in the Middle East – and it’s not by bashing Israel – it’s by supporting President Obama’s peace initiative. And I ought to add, that’s why we need to stand by President Obama on Iran, too!” (President Trumka’s entire speech can be found here.)

Three extraordinary individuals received this year’s Human Rights Award from the JLC: Roberta Reardon, the National President, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, AFL-CIO {remarks here}, presented by Paul E. Almeida, President of the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO; Morton Sloan, President of Morton William Supermarkets {remarks here}, presented by Ruben Diaz, Jr., Bronx Borough President; and John T. Ahern, President of the New York City Central Labor Council, and Business Manager & Financial Secretary of IUOE Local 30 (remarks here), presented by Richard Trumka.
The dinner, hosted by Jewish Labor Committee President Stuart Appelbaum (remarks here), received greetings on behalf of the Jewish community of New York from Rabbi Michael Miller, Executive Vice President of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York (remarks here.) JLC Executive Director Sybil Sanchez also shared remarks at the beginning of the dinner (remarks here).

Continue reading "AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka Speaks Out Against Calls to Boycott Israel" »

London, UK - At the inaugural Executive meeting of Trade Unions Linking Israel and Palestine (TULIP) on Monday 12th October 2009, the three trade union leaders decided to launch a TULIP Solidarity Fund. The fund will work to practically support Israeli and Palestinian trade unions undertaking projects of mutual interest that foster peace and hope in the region.

Continue reading "Trade Unions Linking Israel and Palestine launches TULIP Solidarity Fund" »

As part of an effort to recognize the recent national labor leadership elections in Pittsburgh, celebrate the Jewish New Year, and stand in support of the state and people of Israel, thirty Philadelphia-area labor, government, and community leaders gathered at the Israeli Consulate in Philadelphia on Thursday, September 24, to honor the relationship between the U.S. and Israeli labor movements.
Sharing hosting duties were Patrick Eiding, President of the Philadelphia Council AFL-CIO, along with Consul General Daniel Kutner; the event was MC’ed by Deputy Consul General Raslan Abu Rukun.
Patrick Eiding related the close organizational and personal relationships between Philadelphia labor, the local Jewish community and the Israeli trade union movemwent. Edward F. Mooney, Vice President of District 13, Communications Workers of America, and Bernard Fisher, Past President of the local Coalition of Black Trade Unionists discussed their participation in a July 2007 labor leaders’ study trip to Israel. The personal remembrances of Mooney and Fisher were “life changing,” they reported, discussing how they explored all sides of the issues, from Jewish and Arab, Israeli and Palestinian perspectives.
Israeli Consul General Kutner gave a brief account of Israel’s founding of Israel, and the role of decades of hard work by the pre-state Israeli labor movement to build a socially just society.

Continue reading "Philadelphia-area Labor Leaders Meet to Support Israel" »

Stuart Appelbaum addressing rally in New York's Dag Hammarskjold Plaza
September 24, 2009: New York - Thousands of people, including New York Governor David Paterson and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel, gathered outside the UN building on Thursday to protest against Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's participation in the General Assembly session. The "Stand for Freedom in Iran” called for freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and freedom of the press; immediate cessation of human rights abuses, the release of demonstrators from prisons and protection for minority communities; prosecution of those responsible for the murder of Neda Agha-Soltan and the many other victims engaged in the recent protests; full compliance and cooperation by Iran with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Security Council resolutions including an end to all uranium enrichment in Iran; an end to incitement to genocide and support for terrorism.
Speakers included Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, UFCW - and President of the Jewish Labor Committee - and J. David Cox, Sr., National Secretary-Treasurer of the American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO. Additional rallies are being held in Washington, DC; Detroit, Michigan; Los Angeles, California; Miami, Florida; St. Louis, Missouri; and Chicago, Illinois; and in in Vienna, Paris, Germany, Cape Town, Buenos Aires, Holland, and Norway. President Appelbaum's remarks appear below.

I’m Stuart Appelbaum. I'm president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union and I'm also President of the Jewish Labor Committee.

And on behalf of the members of my union and the members of the JLC, I am proud to stand with you today.
Over the course of its history, the American labor movement has always fought for the rights of workers, not only here in America, but wherever men and women are denied their right to form unions.

That’s why I’m here today because, in contemporary Iran, worker rights simply do not exist.

But you don’t have to take my word for it: just ask Iranian workers who’ve tried to form free and independent unions and they’ll tell you the price people pay to organize.

They might tell you about Mansour Osanloo. He is a leader of the Tehran bus workers union. He was arrested in July 2007 and he is still in prison today.

Or they might tell you about Farzad Kamangar. Kamangar was a leader of Iran’s teachers’ union. After being arrested on trumped-up charges, he received a death sentence by the Tehran Revolutionary Court.

Or they might even tell you about Sussan Razani and Shiva Kheirabadi who were convicted and flogged this past February in Sananadaj Central Prison for merely attending a labor celebration in 2008.

And that’s only where it begins. Journalists are routinely jailed. Metal workers, mechanics, sugar workers, bakery workers and others are arrested and their unions broken.

Continue reading "Rally at United Nations: "Stand for Freedom in Iran”" »

Monday, Sept 21, 2009: New York - The Jewish Labor Committee notes the statement by the British Trades Union Congress of September 17, 2009. We welcome the TUC's affirmation of support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and emphasis on security for all parties. Yet, the resolution simultaneously seeks to impose military and economic sanctions against only one party to the conflict - the state of Israel and its democratic trade union center, the Histadrut. The resolution thus undermines the very end that that the TUC and trade unionists around the world fervently desire: a democratic, two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine question.

JLC President Stuart Appelbaum stated, "Support for a two-state solution is the goal and will not be achieved by isolating and boycotting Israel. We continue to look to the trade union movement to promote peace and solidarity for all workers and hope that we can work with the TUC and other labor federations around the world to establish a coordinated, constructive policy toward that end. After all, in labor's fight for justice, we need to see more cooperation among workers and unions through trade and economic development, not less."

International leaders of the U.S. and German labor movements have long condemned the use of boycotts against Israel as being counter-productive to a two-state solution. The Jewish Labor Committee urges that the British Trades Union Congress does the same.

The United Hebrew Trades - New York Jewish Labor Committee hit the streets again - to march in New York City's Labor Day Parade. Marching with national and local JLC staff were representatives of IBEW Local 3, the New York State Public Employees Federation, RWDSU Local 338, and the United Federation of Teachers. Lillian Roberts, Executive Director of AFSCME District Council 37, the city's largest municipal union, was Grand Marshall of this year's parade, which brought out some 50,000 people from 400 union locals and labor-related bodies. New York CIty Central Labor Council President Jack Ahern noted that "This is a march that brings together all working people and that's what it's all about."

Recently-appointed Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan, takes time out to chat with Jewish Labor Committee Executive Director Sybil Sanchez. For both individuals, this was their first Labor Day Parade in New York. Photos by Steve Pezenik.

Friday, September 11, 2009 -- Yesterday, the Jewish Labor Committee brought leaders from California, Pennsylvania, and New York to Washington, DC, to participate in two major advocacy efforts for human rights at home and abroad.

l-r: Rev. Dr. Clarence Pemberton (Philadelphia), Rabbi George Stern (Philadelphia), and Father Jack O'Malley (Pittsburgh), at the office of Senator Robert Casey.

Continue reading "JLC Fights for Workers Rights in the U.S. and Human Rights in Iran" »

The executive director of the Jewish Labor Committee makes her case for legislation that would remove obstacles to workers ability to join unions.

By Sybil Sanchez

Aug 29, 2009: NEW YORK (JTA) -- This Labor Day, take a moment to remember people like Lupe Hernandez.

When she toured a Jewish family’s apartment in the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, she felt connected to our history as immigrants struggling to make better lives for ourselves and our families. Hernandez is one of the immigrant workers on strike in the 2007 film "Made in LA" struggling to receive a fair wage and stop sweatshop abuse by organizing.

Labor Day might seem like a quaint throwback, but the struggle for workers' rights is still being fought today in our own backyards.

Our community’s relationship to labor is very different today than in yesteryear, but the Jewish obligation to remember our history remains relevant. As Jews, we must respect and support workers’ rights, whether it’s those of our ancestors or today’s immigrants.

While most headlines are focused on health care reform, labor law reform should stay on our agenda -- specifically, the Employee Free Choice Act. This much-needed legislation has three important principles: Workers would more easily be able to join or form a union; employers who break the law in efforts to stop union organizing would face more stringent penalties and workers who have chosen to form a union would have a clear path to an initial collective bargaining agreement with their employer.

Today, 44 percent of newly formed unions are unable to reach initial agreements, a serious problem the current law fails to address.

Continue reading "Celebrate Labor Day by supporting the Employee Free Choice Act" »

Steve Pezenik and Arieh Lebowitz, in Midwood, Brooklyn, representing the United Hebrew Trades – New York Jewish Labor Committee at Candlelight Vigil for Workers Rights. Left: JLC staffperson Steve Pezenik addresses people attending vigil for workers at Omni Nursing Homes in New Jersey, in front of the home of Omni owner Avery Eisenreich. Right: Carolyn Brooks, VP of Homecare Division, 1199SEIU; JLC Communications Director Arieh Lebowitz; Rene Ruiz, organizer , Homecare Division, 1199SEIU. Photographs by Jim Tynan {l} and Steve Pezenik{r}

August 3rd: Union members from across New Jersey and New York came together with one voice, saying “Be Fair to Those Who Care!” Among the community supporters were two representatives of the local Jewish Labor Committee.

Workers at four nursing homes in New Jersey, members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, have been working without a contract for two years. The nursing homes’ owner, Avery Eisenreich, has steadfastly refused to come to the table and negotiate a fair and mutually-acceptable contract. “Workers make as little as $7.90 an hour,” said Denise Bowden, a worker at the Harborview facility for 24 years. “We cannot take care of our families on what little he pays.” Other workers at Eisenreich-owned facilities spoke of their experiences, and their need for a new contract. Max Predestin, a certified nursing assistant (C.N.A) at Bristol Manor said, “It is not an easy decision to strike. We take this very seriously. We're going to stick together and fight for a better life for ourselves and our residents. We want a fair contract now!" Romeo Rodriguez, Dietary Aide at Harbor View said, “The owner has been unwilling to negotiate with us for two years. We need fair wages to support our families and to care for our residents.”

Continue reading "Vigil in Brooklyn for workers at four nursing homes in New Jersey working without contract for two years." »

In a recent editorial, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette Northwest Edition suggested that the supporters of the Employee Free Choice Act are Nazis. That is not a misprint, as it says in the final paragraph of the editorial: “Have you noticed? Political parties supposedly dedicated to the workers' welfare have a way of undermining their rights. They may begin by bullying management but wind up dictating to labor, too. And everybody else. For a European example to beware, note the sad history of the grandly named National Socialist German Workers Party, aka Nazis.”
Such a characterization is morally repugnant, historically inaccurate and, more than anything, illustrates the desperate lengths that some anti-EFCA advocates have to go in order to attract attention their cause.

Continue reading "Are supporters of the Employee Free Choice Act like Nazis?" »

June 29, 2009 – New York: The Jewish Labor Committee congratulates its president Stuart Appelbaum for becoming the first lay-leader of a national Jewish organization and international labor leader in the United States to openly affirm that he is gay. Appelbaum’s announcement came as part of the ongoing effort to secure marriage rights for same-sex couples in New York State. Last month, President Appelbaum joined the board of directors of the Empire State Pride Agenda Foundation, the non-profit educational affiliate of ESPA, New York State’s LGBT lobbying group.

“I have always believed that the only way to challenge injustice is by organizing people for change,” Appelbaum told The Huffington Post on June 18. “That's why I first became involved in the labor movement. But change also requires being honest with each other and ourselves. For me, that means recognizing that the time has long passed for me to step forward and say: `yes, I'm gay.’”

Sybil Sanchez, Executive Director of the Jewish Labor Committee, congratulated President Appelbaum on his openness. “Stuart is a leader above the fray for the labor movement and the Jewish community, and now for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered people in their fight for equal rights,” noted Ms. Sanchez. “His bravery in publicly connecting his personal life story with his political beliefs is to be admired and emulated and we are proud of him.”

Continue reading "Jewish Labor Committee Congratulates President Stuart Appelbaum for Affirming His Gay Identity" »

The Jewish Labor Committee has been working both nationally and locally to support the Employees Free Choice Act (EFCA). Hundreds of people across the country have signed onto the JLC’s petition {you can add your name here}.

In Philadelphia, the traditionally secular organization has organized something distinctive: a rabbinic appeal to Senator Arlen Specter. JLC Philadelphia Director Rosalind Spigel has enlisted 25 local rabbis plus rabbinical students to sign an open letter urging Pennsylvania’s newly minted Democratic senior senator to put Jewish values to work and help safeguard the rights of employees who wish to secure union representation.{Additional signatories are of course welcome – see here.} Congress is currently considering the Employee Free Choice Act. While Sen. Specter previously supported the legislation, most recently he indicated a disinclination to support this legislation.

On Tuesday, June 9, a rabbinic delegation of the Philadelphia JLC met Senator Arlen Specter to urge his support for the Employee Free Choice Act. Included in the delegation were Rabbis Anna Boswell-Levy, Reba Carmel, Leonard Gordon, and Alan LaPayover; also participating were Philadelphia JLC Vice President William Epstein {who is communications director for Local 1776 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, and board member of the Jewish Social Policy Action Network}, Philadelphia JLC President Jeff Hornstein {who is district organizing coordinator of SEIU Local 32 BJ}, and Philadelphia JLC Director Rosalind Spigel.

Continue reading "“Rabbis for Workers’ Choice” debuts in Philadelphia" »

Trade union leaders from three continents have announced the launch of a new global movement "to challenge the apologists for Hamas and Hizbollah in the labour movement" and to fight for a two-state solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. The movement is called TULIP - Trade Unions Linking Israel and Palestine, and recently had a launch in New York on the steps of City Hall.
The leaders are Paul Howes, national secretary of the Australian Workers Union, Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (USA-Canada), and Michael J. Leahy, OBE, General Secretary of Community ( United Kingdom ).

(l-r: AWU President Paul Howes, RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum, and NYC City Council Members Melinda Katz and Eric Goia.)

In remarks from the New York event, Stuart Appelbaum noted that "support for boycotting, divesting from and sanctions against Israel appears to be growing by leaps and bounds.

Continue reading "TULIP - Trade Unions Linking Israel and Palestine" »

{Any rabbis or rabbinical students interested in adding their names to this letter, click here.}

Dear Senator Specter:

We, the undersigned rabbis and rabbinical students, write to express our strong support for the Employee Free Choice Act.

Every major religion is sympathetic to the laborer. Judaism was early among the major religions in its assertion that labor involved more than mere economic activity. The commandment to observe the Sabbath was as much an affirmation of human dignity as of divine authority. “Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work.” But the seventh day was to be holy—holy in the eyes of God, but equally important—holy in its respect for all who work. As it is written in Deuteronomy: “You shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer, but you must pay him his wages on the same day, for he is needy and urgently depends on it.” (24:14-15)

It is not always easy to translate the sanctity of labor into terms that have meaning today, a time in which the marketplace seems to have been elevated above all other holy altars. We believe that the Employee Free Choice Act presents an opportunity to give concrete meaning to the often frustrated dream of a just society.

Continue reading "Philadelphia-Area Rabbis and Rabbinical Students Speak out for Employee Free Choice Act" »

The Jewish Labor Committee is part of a coalition of Jewish organizations' campaign aiming for “Progress by Pesach” on comprehensive immigration reform. The campaign will call on the new Administration in Washington to direct Immigration and Customs Enforcement to curtail the use of workplace raids as a primary tool of immigration enforcement. "PbyP" has a goal of 10,000 signatures on a petition -- see below -- by April 8, the first night of Passover.

Your participation would be very helpful - and simple. Please print out this petition {note: 8-1/2" x 14"} and background article {8-1/2" x 11"} - you may want to print more than one of each - and add your name to our petition. If you can secure the support of others willing to sign on, that would be great. But please send the petitions -- even if not all of the spaces are filled in, even if it's just one person - you - signing onto the sheet -- back to us soon. Send it back to us via fax -- 1-212-477-1918.

Continue reading "Progress by Pesach – for just and fair immigration reform" »

February 5, 2009

Senator Edward M. Kennedy
317 Russell Senate Building
Washington D.C. 20510

Dear Senator Kennedy,

On behalf of the Jewish Labor Committee, I am writing to encourage the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee to expedite the appointment of Congresswoman Hilda Solis as Secretary of Labor. Please share this letter with committee members.

Representative Solis has repeatedly demonstrated her dedication to working men and women and we believe she is the right choice for Secretary of Labor. Her work in Congress has advanced Americans’ needs on issues related to environmental justice, health care, education, and veterans’ benefits. She is an advocate for women’s rights and civil rights.

As early as 1996, JLC awarded Congresswoman Solis the Abe Levy Chaver Award for her contributions. We would be especially proud as American Jews in labor to welcome Solis as the nation’s first Latina cabinet member.

Continue reading "JLC Supports Hilda Solis for Secretary of Labor" »

Miller Photography

NEW YORK, February 6, 2009 – Mayor Michael Bloomberg today joined Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Jewish Labor Committee, Greg Rosenbaum, owner and CEO of Empire Kosher and Wendell Young, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1776 to present a large donation of 50,000 pounds of poultry to the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty (Met Council) for needy families and the frail elderly who rely on kosher food pantries. The presentation took place at the Oneg Shabbos Food Pantry in the Borough Park section of Brooklyn. William Rapfogel, president of the Met Council accepted the food donation on behalf of the anti-poverty organization.
Empire Kosher, the Jewish Labor Committee and the Met Council are working together to provide emergency food for thousands of needy New Yorkers. Empire Kosher Poultry, Inc. is the largest kosher poultry producer in the world with facilities in central Pennsylvania. Empire produces kosher chickens and kosher turkeys for the North American market through a fully integrated process starting with breeder farms, egg hatchery, feed mill, grow out houses and processing facilities.

Continue reading "JLC and Empire Kosher Poultry Announce Substantial Kosher Food Donation to NYC's Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty for Community Food Pantries" »

The Jewish Labor Committee is pleased to announce that Sybil Sanchez has been named the organization's Executive Director. Ms. Sanchez succeeded the organization's Acting Director, Rosalind Spigel.
With a background in Jewish communal organizing, strategic advocacy, and international work, Sanchez was selected “in order to build on our organization's unique contribution to workers' rights and Jewish concerns and to help us move forward during this unique moment in American history,” said JLC President Stuart Appelbaum. “She will lead us through changing times as new Federal legislation, such as the Employee Free Choice Act, is advanced within the new Congress and Administration.”

Continue reading "Sybil Sanchez named new JLC Executive Director" »

January 9, 2009: The Jewish Labor Committee deeply mourns the loss of innocent life and expresses its sorrow for the suffering in the escalation of violence in Gaza and Israel.

Hamas has sent thousands of rockets of different ranges over the border into Israel, including those that can strike Israeli cities as far as Ashdod. These attacks have been launched by Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and has over two years violated the de facto cessation of hostilities with Israel.

Israel has taken great lengths to avoid this sort of escalation, including an appeal by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Arab television to stop the firing of rockets and mortar shells so that a military response could be avoided. No country can be expected to tolerate continuous and unrelenting attacks against its civilian population. With a terrorist group engaged in active warfare and an international community that failed to intervene, and with Hamas formally ending the cease fire that it regularly violated, Israel was left with no choice but to defend itself and dismantle Hamas's ability to launch more missiles.

Continue reading "Jewish Labor Committee Statement on Gaza" »

Sydney New South Wales, December 18: The shared values of the trade union movement and the Jewish community were highlighted on International Migrant Workers Day when the Australian Workers' Union and the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies co-sponsored the first ever `Union Chanukah' celebration. Representatives of both the trade union community and the Jewish community came together to light Chanukah candles, dedicated to, among other values, Solidarity, Justice, Empowerment, Trust and Freedom. Chanukah, which lasts eight days, began at sunset, December 21.

Continue reading "Australia: Lighting Chanukah candles on International Migrant Workers' Day" »

On December 7th, fifth-grade students from the Workmen’s Circle Jewish Sunday School in Brookline, MA marched down Harvard Street to protest the practice of Commercial Cleaning Services, a Boston area company. More than 50 people from the Jewish Labor Committee, Brookline PAX, SEIU Local 615, MassCOSH, and the Moishe/Kavod Jewish Social Justice House joined the students, whose statement can be found here.
{Note: This march was highlighted on the front page of the December 12 issue of Boston's Jewish Advocate.}

Continue reading "Brookline MA: Students on the March for Workers' Rights" »

JLC Chicago Chair Mike Perry demonstrates on December 10th against Bank of America after the bank cut off credit to the Chicago-based Republic Window and Door factory, forcing the company to close, and lay off all 260 workers, members of Local 1110, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America.
Some 200 workers at Republic conducted a six-day occupation of the shuttered factory.
Community pressure led to a settlement this evening, totaling $1.75 million. It will provide the workers with

Continue reading "Chicago IL: Republic Window and Door workers sit in, win settlement!" »

A summer study program in Washington, DC, Israel, Germany and Poland for secondary school teachers.

Thank you for your interest in our Summer Seminar Program on Holocaust and Jewish Resistance, initiated by Vladka Meed in 1984. This year's program is scheduled for July 5 - 26, 2010. This seminar is for secondary school teachers who implement Holocaust studies in their classrooms. Our group visits historic sites and hears from survivors and prominent scholars. On this web site, there is an online application for you to print out, complete and send back to us. [Just hit "continue reading", below, and scroll down]

Continue reading "2010 Holocaust & Jewish Resistance Teachers Program" »

The Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is critical Federal legislation that would help protect the rights of workers in the U.S. to organize and form unions. The law would give more workers a way to form unions and negotiate for better wages, health care and working conditions.*
The Jewish Labor Committee has joined in a multi-organizational coalition to support the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) and we urge you to join the campaign to give American workers the rights that they deserve!
You are invited to sign our petition, that will be presented to the new President and Congress, by clicking here.

Questions? Here are some resources we've prepared:
>> A basic backgrounder that debunks some of the anti-EFCA arguments floating around. Download file
>> An article by Sybil Sanchez, our Executive Director, and Jonathan Zimet, our rabbinic intern. Download file

*The EFCA, when passed, would amend the National Labor Relations Act of 1935, by requiring employees to recognize a union when a majority of workers sign cards authorizing union representation [so-called card-check]. When passed, EFCA would also strengthen penalties for companies that coerce or intimidate their employees and establish binding arbitration mechanisms when employers and workers are unable to agree on a first contract.

Continue reading "Support the Employee Free Choice Act" »