Jewish Labor Committee

A number of significant articles appeared within a few weeks of Stuart Appelbaum’s Opinion piece, American Labor Can Help Right Anti-Israel Left, being published in the March 28 issue of The Forward. Most notable is

Union chief retreats from Israel advert [The Australian, April 6, 2008]: “The head of the Maritime Union of Australia has distanced himself and his union from an allegedly anti-Semitic advertisement linking Israel's statehood to `racism and ethnic cleansing', after his Sydney branch endorsed the ad.
Paddy Crumlin, the MUA's national secretary, said the advertisement published in The Australian last month had used `an appalling choice of words'.

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by Stuart Appelbaum, The Forward, March 28, 2008 [online here]

For more than two years, Israelis living in Sderot and other towns near Gaza have been the target of choice for Hamas terrorists. Launching its arsenal of Qassam rockets from residential neighborhoods and even schoolyards, they have as much as dared Israel to fight back. Now it has.

Predictably, much of the world is expressing its dismay — and those of us who call ourselves progressives are fuming that much of it is coming from our counterparts on the left overseas. However, it’s not enough for us to be indignant. Absent the involvement of the American labor movement, any effort to build worldwide support on the left for the Jewish state will be extraordinary difficult.

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There are a number of Labor Seders across the country this year: Boston, MA; Brooklyn and Manhattan, NYC; Philadelphia, PA; St. Louis, MO; Washington, DC; Houston, TX, and Los Angeles, CA. At these festive events, members of the Jewish community and members of the trade union movement sit down together for a a Seder meal and explore the relationships between the traditional story of Pesach and more recent struggles for freedom and dignity.
Most of the Labor Seders listed below still have seats available - but if you're interested in participating, call soon. People MUST make reservations - you cannot enter without one!

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JLC President Stuart Appelbaum met with Israeli President Shimon Peres Feb. 20. Appelbaum was in Jerusalem as part of the Israel Leadership Mission of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. In his meeting with Appelbaum and other leaders, Peres called for forging closer ties between Palestinians and Israeli Jews.

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July 6 - 21, 2008: A summer study program in Poland and Israel for U.S. secondary school teachers.
This seminar includes educational activities in Poland and Israel with the participation of scholars from Polands' Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, Israel's Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and the Study Center of the Ghetto Fighters' House at Kibbutz Lohamei HaGeta'ot. [Just click on "continue reading", below, for application and further details.]

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Friday, September 7, 2007 - The president of the Jewish Labor Committee today applauded yesterday’s decision by Germany’s largest labor federation to oppose a growing boycott campaign against Israel. JLC President Stuart Appelbaum, who is also the president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, said the move by the 6.5 million-member Confederation of German Trade Unions [Deutsche Gewerkschaftsbund - DGB] is a “powerful statement against the Israel-bashing which has become common in the European labor movement.” In July, the leaders of virtually every major U.S. union signed on to a JLC statement blasting British union support for the boycott effort.

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By Stuart Appelbaum

NEW YORK (JTA) -- As is the custom, millions of families will soon flock to beaches and backyard barbeques to celebrate Labor Day. Unfortunately, the reason for the holiday, recognizing the value of the labor movement, is too often forgotten. Of course, every family has reason to salute the contributions unions have made to our country. After all, it was organized labor that introduced the idea of the weekend and the 8-hour day. However, this year there's one group of Americans who have special reason to be thankful for organized labor -- those of us in the Jewish community.

At a time when many in business, the media and other institutions are too timid to challenge the rising tide of anti-Semitism abroad, America’s labor leaders did something extraordinary this summer. In a stunning show of solidarity with Israel, the presidents of virtually every major U.S. union signed on a declaration denouncing anti-Israel boycotts and divestment campaigns like the ones which have been endorsed by several British unons. CONTINUED

By David Dolev

BOSTON (Jewish Advocate) -- Many of us remember hearing stories of our parents, grandparents or great-grandparents moving to America and struggling to “make it” in the new country. Some may have been small business owners while others were rank and file workers, but common to all was the struggle to sustain themselves and their families. Many suffered in sweatshops and developed the mutual support system called the U.S. trade union movement.
The imperative of supporting one another in economic struggles was not new to them. One of our foremost scholars, the Rambam, states that the highest level of charity is “entering into a partnership with one in need, or finding employment for him, in order to strengthen his hand until he need no longer be dependent upon others.”
Remembering their own struggle, our parents and grandparents passed on to us the commitment to help others in need. That is what unions are all about – supporting the basic right of individuals to a fair salary, benefits, workers safety, and the ability to raise him/herself to a better life. This is why so many in the Jewish community are supporting the ... READ IT ALL HERE: Download file

U.S. labor leaders are denouncing British union support for a boycott of Israel . Their response comes in the wake of a decision by several unions, including the UK Transport and General Workers Union, to back economic, cultural and academic boycotts of Israel in protest against “the treatment of the Palestinian people.”

“Their resolutions have no purpose other than demonizing Israel ,” said Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Jewish Labor Committee, an alliance of Jewish union leaders and supporters which is soliciting support for a statement opposing these boycotts.

Continue reading "U.S. Labor Leaders Blast British Unions' "Boycott Israel" Resolutions" »

We view with increasing concern the phenomenon of trade unions in a number of countries, including, most recently, the United Kingdom, issuing resolutions that either directly or indirectly call for divestment from and boycotts of Israel.

With the large number of local, regional and international conflicts, with the diverse range of oppressive regimes around the world about which there is almost universal silence, we have to question the motives of these resolutions that single out one country in one conflict.

We note with increasing concern that virtually all of these resolutions focus solely on objections to actions or policies of the Israeli government, and never on actions or policies of Palestinian or other Arab governments, parties or movements. We notice with increasing concern that characterization of the Palestinians as victims and Israel as victimizer is a staple of such resolutions. That there are victims and victimizers on all sides, and that many if not most of the victims of violence and repression on all sides are civilians, are essential items often not mentioned in these resolutions.

Continue reading "Statement of Opposition to Divestment From or Boycotts of Israel" »

What is the JLC?
The Jewish Labor Committee is an independent secular organization that helps the Jewish community and the trade union movement work together on important issues of shared interest and concern. Our national headquarters are in New York City; we have staffed local/regional offices in Boston, MA; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Chicago, IL; Detroit, MI; Los Angeles -- and volunteer-led JLC or JLC-affiliated groups in such places as Washington, DC; Cleveland, OH; Miami, FL; Phoenix, AZ; Las Vegas, NV, San Francisco, CA; and Seattle, WA.

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You are Cordially Invited to Join the Jewish Labor Committee

For 71 years, the JLC has served as the bridge linking the Jewish community and organized labor in a shared commitment to economic and social justice. You can be a part of this historic tradition of working together to advance the cause of the Jewish people and to help create a better future for all.

You can join the outreach to the millions of families who are union members and all of the allied organizations and groups which support the labor movement.

If you share our concerns for human rights, respect for all in our increasingly diverse world, and Israel, you belong in the JLC. Individual dues are only $40 a year. By joining the JLC, you will be part of a progressive, community-oriented organization that will make your voice heard on behalf of justice and human rights.

E-mail us here JLCExec@aol.com with your name and address; we'll send you a membership form. Join the Jewish Labor Committee as we embark on a new century of struggle and service for the Jewish people.

The Arizona JLC is working the Arizona Minimum Wage Coalition, which has brought together unions, community groups and a number of small businesses. One focus is a ballot initiative, filed with the secretary of state last November – to be decided by voters November 2006. There currently is no state minimum wage in Arizona; only the Federal minimum wage of $5 .15 an hour.

The initiative specifies that employers pay workers no less than $6.75 starting Jan. 1, 2007. It also mandates that the minimum wage be annually adjusted for inflation, based on the percentage increase in the U.S. Department of Labor's consumer price index over a one-year span. Businesses with yearly gross revenue less than $500,000 would be exempt from these requirements. Their employees would keep the federal government's minimum wage.

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Last December, the California-Western Region of the Jewish Labor Committee joined members of the Communication Workers of America, California Nurses Association, members of USW Locals 675, 2801 and others rallying in Long Beach, CA during a nationwide day of support for Goodyear Tire and Rubber workers. On October 5th, responding to unacceptable contract offers Goodyear management, over 14,000 USW members went out on strike for job security and the guarantee of healthcare in their retirement. 86 days later, the union members at Goodyear ratified a new three-year contract. All striking Steelworkers returned to work January 2, 2007. [Photo by Cookie Lommel]

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Chicago JLC has been working with AFSCME Council 31 campaign, now over two years old, to organize 8,000 workers - including 2,000 nurses - at Resurrection Health Care, the second largest hospital system in the Chicago area. At a press conference in November, more than two dozen Resurrection nurses cited inadequate staffing levels, lax infection controls, deteriorating and outdated equipment and insufficient supplies as impediments to their ability to care for patients safely.

Chicago JLC reaches out to community synagogues and temples to hold Labor on the Bimah programs every year. Local JLC members have been active in numerous congregational and other Jewish community events; we are among the sponsors of the annual Walk for Israel / Israel Solidarity Day. Chicago JLC President Mike Perry is the Chair of the Domestic Affairs Commission of the local Jewish Community Relations Council.

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Since reconstituting the Cleveland Jewish Labor Committee, “we have been busy with our outreach work to connect the Jewish and Labor communities,” Cleveland JLC Treasurer John W. Ryan says. Among their recent activities were:
* assuring more Jewish communal construction projects are built union by stimulating discussion with their construction resource committee;
* holding events bringing together the Jewish and labor communities, including a breakfast briefing and Labor Seders;
* attempting to resolve a dispute between the IBEW and a local business owned by a Jewish individual, when the employer gutted the existing contract, including stripping away Jewish holidays;
* joining the community campaign against anti-workers practices at Wal-Mart;
* constructing, with volunteers including members of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, a Sukkah for working-class residents of the Cedar Center Apartments.

In February, JLC Michigan Regional Director Selma Goode was asked by the President of the Detroit City Council to serve on the Community Advisory Committee of the new Health Authority for Detroit; a key focus has been on providing medical care for the uninsured. Michigan JLC works with the Michigan Universal Health Care Network (MichUCAN); in October, MichUCAN held a forum with Congressman John Conyers on the medical coverage crisis. The event, co-hosted with Local 6000, UAW and the Labor Party, brought together over 200 people.

This year, Michigan JLC has participated in number of demonstrations in support of workers’ rights. In March, we marched in support of Detroit city workers, represented by AFSCME, to protest laying off hundreds of city workers, as well as curtailing all midnight - 5 a.m. bus service. In May, Michigan JLC joined a UNITE HERE demonstration at a new restaurant in downtown Detroit that refuses to bargain with its workers. Also mid-year, we participated in a demonstration by the five unions representing public school personnel to register our opposition to what were described as “enormous” lay-offs scheduled by the CEO of the school system. [Detroit's city government has no say in how the schools are run.] Michigan JLC works with the Action Coalition of Strikers and Supporters (ACOSS), which this May was planning a 10th anniversary commemoration of the newspaper strike/lockout in combination with a benefit for the Youngstown, OH newspaper workers “who have been on strike for some time now.” In October, Michigan JLC was there again, when ACOSS, in conjunction with Local 174, UAW, participated in a car caravan and dinner in support of mechanics on strike at Northwest Airlines. When a new cleaning firm began work in a large building in downtown and laid off several janitors, the Service Employees International Union held a rally – and Michigan JLC was there.

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On October 16th, JLC members and staff pasrticipated in a “Be Fair to those who Care” 1199SEIU rally in support of organizing hospital workers in Boston. Among rabbis present were Rabbis at rally included Rabbi Toba Spitzer (Congregation Dorshei Tzedek and President of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Assembly); Rabbi Barbara Penzner (Temple Hillel B'nai Torah, immediate past President of Massachusetts Board of Rabbis); Rabbi Victor Hillel Reinstein (Nehar Shalom community synagogue; and Rabbi Moshe Waldoks of Temple Beth Zion.

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[Photo by Arieh Lebowitz]
Dec. 6th: Rabbinical student Ben Greenberg gives a Hanukkah message of solidarity to cafeteria workers on strike at New York Life near Manhattan's Madison Square Park; fellow rabbinical student, Steven Exler, joined United Hebrew Trades-New York JLC Coordinator Carolyn De Paolo, PEF member Charles Davis and PSC/CUNY member Jim Perlstein at a simultaneous picket at 55 Water Street in New York's Wall Street District. 30 cafeteria workers, members of Local 100, UNITE HERE, are entering their fourth week on strike against Aramark, trying to secure a renewal of their contract, with job, wage and benefit, and pension security. Many of the cafeteria workers have been working without contracts for upwards of a year and a half.

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Philadelphia-area participants in this summer's Israel Institute for Labor Leaders debriefed Philadelphia JLC Regional Director Rosalind Spigel on their many positive experiences and informative meetings. Participants also met with Philadelphia AFC-CIO Council President Pat Eiding and Legislative Director Liz McElroy to report on their trip. Subsequently, Brother Eiding invited them to brief the delegates to the city's monthly AFL-CIO council meeting in October. A meeting has been scheduled with the Israeli Consul General.

In October, the Philadelphia JLC and the Jewish Community Relations Committee of the Jewish Federation held a debriefing with the In August, PJLC reached out to area rabbis to participate in this year's Labor on the Bimah program; we suggested that they highlight one of a number of issues particularly of concern to working people, such as health care reform; handgun safety; the Employee Free Choice Act; meaningful immigration reform.

In July, PJLC hosted a book signing on July 12th with Mr. Tsvi Bisk, author of The Optimistic Jews; A Positive View of Jewish Life in the 21st Century. Mr. Bisk, an Israeli, was in the country promoting his book and to attend a conference of the World Futurist Society.

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General Works; Specific Unions, Organizations and Movements; Autobiographies, Biographies, Memoirs; Unpublished Works.

Continue reading "Readings on the American Jewish Labor Movement" »