Clergy Fired Up Over ICE Raids

Transcription

Clergy Fired Up Over ICE Raids
Newsletter of Interfaith Worker Justice
R
May 2007
Clergy Fired Up Over ICE Raids
INSIDE
• 2006 Annual Report
• Why the Employee Free
Choice Act Matters
• New Sanctuary Movement
eligious leaders
throughout California
are coming together
this spring to denounce what
immigrant rights advocates
are calling inhumane tactics.
“We believe that God
exists in every person,” says
Joan Helland, liaison to the
San Diego based Interfaith
Committee for Worker Justice
and member of the San Diego
Meeting of the Religious
Society of Friends. “Everyone
has an inherent worth
regardless of their gender,
race or immigration status.”
Better known to some as
the Quakers, the Religious
Society of Friends have long
been advocates of immigrant
rights, having participated
in the first Sanctuary movement in the early 1980s.
Shortly after the San Diego
Meeting joined the recently
announced New Sanctuary
Movement, the Immigration
and Customs Enforcement
Agency, or ICE, began staging sweeps into the city’s
predominantly Latino neighborhoods as part of a recent
uptick in enforcement
throughout California.
“What’s disconcerting to
us is the manner in which
these raids take place,” said
Pedro Rios, director of the
Continued on page 4
FAITH WORKS • May 2007
Faith Works is published by Interfaith Worker Justice.
Interfaith Worker Justice calls upon our religious values in order to educate, organize, and mobilize the religious
community in the U.S. on issues and campaigns that will improve wages, benefits, and working conditions for
workers, especially workers in low-wage jobs.
Board Membership
Co-Presidents: Rev. Nelson Johnson, Pulpit Forum of Greensboro and Faith Community Church, Bishop
Gabino Zavala, Archdiocese of Los Angeles
Vice-President: Ms. Edith Rasell, Minister for Labor Relations, United Church of Christ
Public Policy Chair: Ms. Rosalyn Pelles, Dept. of Civil, Human and Women’s Rights, AFL-CIO
Organizing Chair: Mr. Jeffry Korgen, National Pastoral Life Center
Communications Chair: Mr. Charles F. Whitaker, Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University
Finance and Fundraising Chairs: Rev. Bennie Whiten, Jr., United Church of Christ, Mr. Monroe Sullivan,
Retired Businessman/Social Activist
Board Development Chair: Rev. Darren Cushman-Wood, Speedway United Methodist Church
Mr. Hussam Ayloush, Council on American-Islamic Relations – Southern California; Imam Mahdi Bray,*
Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation; Ms. Linda Chavez-Thompson, AFL-CIO; Mr. Robert DeRose,
Barkan + Neff Law Offices; Dr. Mary Heidkamp, Dynamic Insights International; Ms. Karen McLean Hessel,*
Justice for Women, National Council of Churches; Mr. John Hill, General Board of Church and Society, United
Methodist Church; Rev. Daryl Ingram, African Methodist Episcopal Church; Rabbi Jill Jacobs, Jewish FundS
for Justice; Rev. Jarvis Johnson, Walmart Watch; Ms. Susan Leslie, Unitarian Universalist Association; Ms.
Linda Lotz, American Friends Service Committee; Rev. J. Herbert Nelson, Liberation Community Church; Rev.
Sinclair Oubre, Catholic Labor Network; Sr. Mary Priniski, OP, Catholic Committee of the South; Mr. Bill
Quigley, Loyola Poverty Law Center; Ms. Joanne Reich, Ministries with Women, Children, and Families; Mr. J.
Chris Sanders, Political Consultant, UFCW; Mr. Thomas Shellabarger, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops;
Rev. Dr. Paul Sherry,* National Council of Churches; Ms. Evely Laser Shlensky,* Commission on Social Action
of ReformJudaism (URJ and CCAR); Ron Stief, Public Life and Social Policy, United Church of Christ; Rev. Phil
Tom, Urban Ministry Office, Presbyterian Church USA
Special Advisors: Bishop Jesse DeWitt,** Retired, United Methodist Church; Rev. Jim Lawson, Holman
United Methodist Church; Rev. Joseph Echols Lowery, Southern Christian Leadership Conference; Rabbi
Robert Marx, Congregation Hakafa; Rev. Jim Sessions, United Methodist Church; Rev. Addie Wyatt, Vernon
Park Church of God
* * Former Board President, * Former Board Officer
Rabbi Laurie Coskey, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) of California; Mr. Matt Gladue, Twin Cities
Workers Interfaith Network (WIN); Ms. Annica Gorham, Interfaith Worker Justice Center of Houston; Mr. Patrick
Hickey, Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice of South Central Wisconsin; Rev. Rebekah Jordan, Mid-South
Interfaith Network for Economic Justice; Rev. Carol Been, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) of
California; Mr. Brian O’Shaughnessy, New York State Labor-Religion Coaltion; Mr. Francisco Risso, Western North
Carolina Workers’ Center; Rev. Alexia Salvatierra, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice (CLUE) of California;
Rev. Trina Zelle, Interfaith Worker Justice of Arizona
IWJ Directors Council
IWJ Staff
Executive Director: Kim Bobo
Deputy Director: Charese Jordan • Assistant to the Director: Cathy Junia
Office Manager: Bridget Harris Olusesi • Development Director: Aina Gutierrez
Associate Development Director: Wesley Aten • Development Assistant: Mayumi Swanson
Development Associate: Simintha Esson • Workers’ Center Network Coordinator: Jose Oliva
Director, Religious Perspectives on Work: Joy Heine • Organizing Fellow: Will Tanzman
National Religious Outreach Coordinator: Jessica Vazquez Torres • National Organizer: Kristin Kumpf
Public Policy Director: Ted Smukler • Senior Policy Analyst: Elisabeth Solomon
Public Policy & Organizing Advocate: Hollen Reischer
Communications Director: Cynthia Brooke • Graphic Designer: Jana Winch
Webmaster: Greg Mount • Communications Fellow: Vernal Coleman
Bookkeeper: Liz Stake
Faith Works
Editors: Cynthia Brooke, Vernal Coleman • Design and Layout: Jana Winch • Printer: Doyle Printing, Landover, MD
Interfaith Worker Justice
1020 West Bryn Mawr, 4th Floor, Chicago, IL 60660
Phone: (773) 728-8400 • Fax: (773) 728-8409
E-mail: info@iwj.org • Website: www.iwj.org
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Giving for the
Greater Good
W
hat happens when a congregation’s members decide they really
want their faith community to make a
difference? One particular church
resolved to find the answer, halving their
Christmas spending and donating the
difference to charity. Congregants at First
Unitarian Church in Rochester, New
York this past December collected more
than $65,000 to benefit two charitable
projects aimed at supporting the economically vulnerable.
According to Tim Wilson, First
Unitarian’s social justice coordinator and
IWJ 2006 Religion-Labor Organizing
Training attendee, this is just one of the
church’s first steps toward linking
Rochester’s religious community together in support of the community’s workers. Says Wilson, “Unitarian Universalism
is a denomination based on deeds not
creeds, and the congregation saw this
effort as a way to put its faith in action
during the holiday season.”
“We want workers in low-wage jobs
here in Rochester to have somewhere to
turn when they are in need,” he continues.
First Unitarian’s involvement in the
charitable projects was inspired by a
group of local clergy’s support of UNITE
HERE’s “Hotel Workers Rising” campaign. Over the summer Reverend Karen
Anderson, co-parish minister at First
Unitarian, and Reverend Marlowe V.N.
Washington of Baber A.M.E. Church in
Rochester presented the owners of
Rochester’s Crowne Plaza Hotel with a
set of principles to help guide theirs and
the union’s behavior during the hotel
workers effort to make the Crowne Plaza
Rochester’s first unionized hotel.
Plans for creating an economic task
force at the church are currently in the
works.
What’s Happening With
Workers in your Area?
Have a story about a worker justice
effort in your neck of the woods?
E-mail us at vcoleman@iwj.org.
Faith Works • May 2007
Making it Plain
A
By Kim Bobo
E-mails Offer Insights and Challenges
nyone who knows me well knows I am not a fan of email. In the interest of time-management, I recently
sorted and deleted many of the 6,000 e-mails that
were in my inbox. In addition to the Viagra spam that routinely finds its way into my inbox, I occasionally get hate email from people disgruntled with our work.
Recently, I’ve received some e-mail because I’m listed as a
key contact person for the New Sanctuary Movement.
Although it’s best to ignore some, such as those that make fun
of my last name or the ones filled with curse words, there are
others that offer insights into the issues people are concerned
about and the challenges we must address if we are going to
build national support for a rational immigration program.
The second greatest commandment – love thy neighbor
as thyself
How should American parents teach their children about
the values embodied in the Ten Commandments if an
organization such as IWJ, which purports to have ‘religious
values,’ openly condones lying and stealing?
When Jesus was forced to explain what the most important
laws were, he was quite clear: “Love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second
is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.”
The Ten Commandments do command us not to steal and
not to lie, but biblical texts tell us over and over again to welcome the immigrant and love our neighbor as ourselves.
Do not mistreat an immigrant or oppress him, for you
were once immigrants in Egypt
As a Christian minister, I DO NOT AGREE with your
comments on minimum wage for illegal immigrants. Many
godly people are against illegals having ANY rights.
These people are sneaks, plain and simple. They want to
gain something which they are not entitled to. Jesus evens
mentions in scripture for people to obey the laws of the
land...which again, I don’t feel I need to explain.
Hebrew, Christian and Muslim Scriptures urge us repeatedly
to welcome immigrants, but we are also supposed to care for
the poor among us. What if these things conflict?
One important misperception about immigration is that it
is better for U.S. citizens if we deny rights to undocumented
immigrants. In fact, if immigrant workers don’t have the same
protections as other workers, like a minimum wage, conditions are lowered for all workers because unethical employers
Faith Works • May 2007
will seek those who can be paid the
least and who are the least likely to
complain. This undercuts prices for
ethical employers, forcing them to lower wages.
Although some immigrants would just like to earn
money and return to their home countries, many would love
to stay here with their citizen spouses, children and other
family members. Unfortunately, many immigrants who
would like to become citizens have no way to do that.
Currently, there is no path to citizenship that doesn’t require
years of separation for children and families.
Are people of faith ever called to challenge unjust laws?
Many of the e-mails suggest unqualified obedience to laws:
First Peter 2:13 says ‘submit yourselves to all the ordinances of man, for the Lords sake...’ If you can’t do that, you
shouldn’t be in the ministry of Jesus Christ. Obeying the
law is a moral issue. Protecting criminals is against the law.
You may not know God has commanded that you obey the
laws of man. How do you expect any country to avoid mass
uprisings without laws? How is it that you feel you are
above the law?
Although the New Sanctuary Movement is not proposing
breaking any laws, advocating a more just immigration policy and strong work standards for immigrants brings a slew
of e-mails about the importance of obeying the law. All major
religious traditions in the U.S. encourage people to obey
most laws, but there is a strong belief among many people of
faith that if laws are unjust, there may be times and situations
in which laws should be broken.
The Assemblies of God explain civil disobedience clearly,
saying, “Christians are called to unqualified obedience to God
(John 14:15). When the civil government forbids our doing the
things God has commanded us to do, or orders us to do things
God has commanded that we not do, we have solid scriptural
grounds for peacefully disobeying the government.”
As we enter the next phase of a national debate on what
constitutes a just immigration policy, it is clear we will have
many conversations about faith and the nature of religious life.
Are there laws that can be broken? What does it mean to love
our neighbor as ourselves? Does this apply to immigrants?
How might “welcome the immigrant” play out in U.S. immigration policy? These and dozens of other questions will be on
the table. The answers are not simple, but they are deeply theological. They reflect our view of God, our view of neighbor
and our view of love. I could do without hate e-mails, but they
offer insights into the conversations we must have as a nation.
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Border-ing on
Justice
This winter, 12 seminarians from across
the country participated in “Pastoral
Care and Economics: Immigration and
Work,” a January-term course organized
by Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ),
Borderlinks and Garrett-Evangelical
Theological Seminary.
Led by Garrett-Evangelical faculty
members Dr. James Poling, Dr. Osvaldo
Vena and Director of IWJ’s Religious
Perspectives on Work Project, Joy Heine,
the students traveled to the ArizonaMexico border where they interacted
with both migrant workers and the
groups doing advocacy work on their
behalf.
“The juxtaposition of these two disparate realities (between Nogales,
Arizona and Nogales, Mexico) helped
me to see the undeniable cause-andeffect relationship of U.S. policies on the
Mexican economy and way of life,”
reflected Brit Holmbert, a junior at
Garrett-Evangelical.
The course was designed to help give
students a greater understanding of
immigration issues and the deplorable
conditions that motivate many Mexican
workers to migrate, says Heine.
To learn more about how to develop
your own January-term course, go to
www.iwj.org/rpw/faculty_resources.html.
ICE Raids
Continued from page 1
Quaker affiliated American Friends
Service Committee in San Diego.
According to observers, armed ICE
agents have been conducting house by
house searches, demanding documentation from any residents in sight and, in
some cases, entering residents’ homes
without presenting the court order allowing them to do so. “In one instance they
locked out a teenaged boy,” said Rios.
“He could not enter his home because
both of his uncles were detained.”
Officials estimate that within the first
three weeks of “Operation Return to
Sender,” ICE agents made over 350
arrests. “People are seemingly being targeted and detained indiscriminately,”
said Rios. “It’s creating a sense of fear
within the community.”
In response to the increased frequency of the raids nationwide, religious congregations in cities across the U.S. are
joining together to highlight the injustices suffered by undocumented workers
under current immigration law.
After ICE agents detained 361 workers at a U.S. military contractor’s factory
in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the congregants at St. James Church sprang into
action, opening their doors to house
affected families and helping provide
legal assistance, child care and advice on
how to locate missing family members.
The raid, one of the largest in a
decade, sparked an outpouring of support from local clergy and community
groups. On Saturday, March 17, more
than 800 immigrants and their allies
gathered for a rally outside Greater New
Bedford Vocational High School to decry
the humanitarian hardships brought on
by the raids.
“Families are being broken apart,”
said Kim Bobo. According to some officials, the New Bedford raid left some 100
children separated from their parents.
“IWJ stands with the religious leaders in
California, Massachusetts and all across
the country in calling for a moratorium
on raids until we have a rational and
humane immigration program.”
In April, interfaith and community
leaders in San Diego organized a rally in
protest of ICE’s tactics. Later, they were
joined by hundreds of members of the
community for a march through Barrio
Logan, the site of one of the March raids.
Days before, faith leaders from northern California stood on the steps of a
Catholic Mission in San Rafael to call for
the suspension of the sweeps and comprehensive immigration reform.
Reading from a statement prepared
by a group of northern California
Catholic Bishops and other clergy, San
Francisco Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius
Wang pledged support for those families
affected by the raids. “We stand with
communities that seek justice for immigrants and, as in the past, we are prepared to organize for just immigration
reform,” he said. “We implore all people
of good will to treat all those in our midst
with dignity.”
Added Father Jon Pedigo of the
Catholic Campaign for Immigration
Reform, “It would be morally repugnant
not to speak out.”
For more information on how you
can get engaged in the effort to reform
immigration law, visit www.iwj.org.
Father Brendan Curran of St. Pius Catholic
Church addresses a crowd of neighborhood
residents and local activists who gathered in
the aftermath of an April ICE raid of the Little
Village Discount Mall on Chicago’s Southwest
side. According to witnesses, some 150
shoppers and workers were detained as
armed agents stormed the complex.
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Faith Works • May 2007
An Invitation to Join
The New
Sanctuary Movement
In the early 1980s, thousands of Central American
refugees poured into the United States, fleeing lifethreatening repression and extensive human rights violations by their governments. At the time, federal
immigration policy would have denied the majority
political asylum simply because their governments
were allies of the U.S. Many of these refugees had
actively participated in the liberation theology movement and naturally sought protection from congregations. Many Catholic, Protestant and Jewish congregations and temples responded positively – offering these
refugees social services and advocacy support as well
as engaging actively in efforts to change federal immigration policy. These congregations, united under the
banner of the Sanctuary Movement, also pledged that
they would not reveal the identities of these refugees,
even if they were arrested or jailed for doing so.
The Sanctuary Movement was ultimately successful
both in changing national policy and in protecting tens
of thousands of individuals and families, enabling
them to start a new life in the U.S.
Now, over 25 years later, religious leaders across a
broad spectrum of denominations from ten states are
coming together to begin a New Sanctuary Movement
to accompany and protect immigrant families who are
facing the violation of their human rights in the form of
hatred, workplace discrimination and unjust deportation. We welcome religious leaders, congregations and
faith-based organizations of all denominations to join
us in this effort.
Building on a Powerful Tradition
Faith Works • May 2007
Changing the Terms of the Debate:
Need and Opportunity
At this historic moment, federal legislators are
poised to decide on legislation that will bring
badly needed reform to our immigration system.
However, experts in the field have raised serious
questions about whether the political will exists to
pass legislation that is both effective and humane.
The tide of anti-immigrant sentiment, evident in
local punitive legislation efforts, is negatively
impacting legislators’ commitment and capacity to
achieve truly comprehensive and rational reform.
In order for this to change, leaders and sectors
that recognize the valuable contributions of immigrants, the importance of respecting their human
rights, and the complex dynamics of immigration
need to communicate their insights effectively and
broadly. The general public needs to see immigrant
workers and their families with new eyes; we need
to change the terms of the debate.
Interfaith leaders have the capacity to make a
unique contribution to the struggle for the human
rights of immigrant workers and families. Faith
leaders are important guardians of the values and
visions of our society. They have the capacity, with
effective media support, to significantly influence
public opinion. They are also trusted authorities for
millions of average Americans. With the right strategy, faith leaders can change the terms of the
debate and create the conditions for comprehensive
immigration reform.
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The New Sanctuary Movement is fundamentally an interfaith movement.
Secular immigrant and allied organizations will be invited to partner with
the New Sanctuary Movement as
needed, but the movement will be
independent and faith-based. The
National Day Laborers’ Organizing
Network (NDLON) and the Coalition
for Human Immigration Reform of Los
Angeles (CHIRLA) have been active
participants in the creation of the plan.
The New Sanctuary Movement is
coordinated by CLUE-CA, IWJ and the
New York Sanctuary Coalition. There
will be working groups of representatives from participating cities and
denominational/interdenominational
institutions that will participate in the
coordination until a national steering
committee is formed.
Structure
CLUE-CA (Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice-California) is
an alliance of interfaith worker justice organizations dedicated to building a
faith-based movement for economic justice throughout California. CLUECA has recently emerged as a leading organization in coordinating the
interfaith contribution to the struggle for immigrant rights both in California
and nationally.
About the Coordinating Organizations
Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ), the national network of interfaith worker
justice groups, is providing coordination and leadership in many states,
drawing upon the breadth of its connections in the religious community,
as well as engaging national religious leadership in the effort. IWJ is coordinating production and distribution of congregational resources on
immigration and sanctuary.
The New York Sanctuary Coalition/Asociación Tepayac is coordinating
the outreach and recruitment of congregations in New York and surrounding states.
Although these three organizations are providing national coordination
and outreach, the New Sanctuary Movement is a democratic alliance with
principles and strategies determined by the participants. Each participating
interfaith network will have the room to tailor its activities to its context.
Prophetic Hospitality: Strategy For A New Movement
As an act of public witness, the New Sanctuary
Movement will enable congregations to publicly
provide hospitality and protection to a limited
number of immigrant families whose cases clearly
reveal the contradictions and moral injustice of our
current immigration system while working to support legislation that would change their situation.
These families will be in the deportation
process, include citizen children, have adults
with good work records and have a potential case
under current law. The Center for Constitutional
Rights is working with a broad network of
lawyers across the country to provide expert legal
counsel and support to each family. Each participating congregation will offer a family hospitality
for up to three months; the family will rotate
from one congregation to another as needed until
their case is resolved. Because the family’s identity will be public, the congregations will not be
violating federal law.
Host congregations will sign onto a Sanctuary
Pledge (following). Other religious leaders and
congregations will also sign onto the Pledge. They
will also accompany the host congregations, providing spiritual and material support as needed.
Overview
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What does a place of worship have to do in order to participate and become
a sanctuary for immigrant families?
1. Agree to host an immigrant family that meets the following criteria:
• Be in the legal process and under an order of deportation
• Have American citizen children
• Have a good work record
• Have a viable case under current law
2. Host the family for an initial three month commitment. The family will use the congregation as their mailing address and will be
able to spend time as needed at the site. They may need actual
hospitality (a place to live) in the congregation, in real estate
owned by the congregation or in the home of a family that
belongs to the congregation.
3. Help with material and spiritual support for the family. There
will be a larger network of individuals and congregations who
will not be hosting families but will be providing material and
spiritual support for families. Expert immigration lawyers will be
handling their case.
4. Participate in a public press conference with congregations all
over the country who are hosting families. All of the host and
allied congregations are joining in an interfaith statement of
accompaniment/solidarity lifting up the human rights of immigrant families as children of God.
5. Be available for press interviews.
Role and Expectations for Potential Host Congregations
Faith Works • May 2007
Faith Communities Statement of Support and Involvement
Moved by our faith to participate in the New Sanctuary Movement,
this faith community commits to the following:
Education
• We will educate ourselves about issues facing immigrants in our society, and about
the current status of immigration-related
legislation.
• We will avail ourselves of resources from
the New Sanctuary Movement, and will
welcome the first-hand stories of immigrants themselves who have experienced
injustice.
• We will renew our study of the sacred stories of migration and hospitality, injustice
and hope, which already exist in our own
faith tradition.
• Seeking also to educate our greater community, we will offer public forums on
immigration.
Advocacy
We understand that education alone brings no
change if it does not lead to action. Therefore:
• We will actively and publicly work for
comprehensive immigration reform in the
United States.
• We call for an immediate moratorium on
all raids and unjust deportations that cause
the separation of families, until such time
as the broken system of immigration laws
is fixed.
• We agree to include our names, our voices
and our selves (or representative members)
in public events, various forms of media,
and other appropriate venues.
• We will be a compassionate and persistent
voice for justice for our immigrant brothers
and sisters.
In addition, we commit to one or more of the following:
Legal Triage — The need for competent and free or low-cost legal
advice to the immigrant community far outstrips the capacity of
the movements “prophetic hospitality.” Therefore, faith communities are called upon to host legal clinics, provide legal
referrals and to identify families in need of such assistance.
Prophetic Hospitality — Faith communities will “host” a family
seeking sanctuary for a period of three months, and serve as a
tangible support system for them during that period. Based on
the needs of the family in question, such support might include
(a) meals for the family, (b) transportation to and from work,
school or other events, (c) housing at the faith community itself,
should such emergency housing be required, and (d) financial
support and/or job referral (particularly in the case of job loss
due to publicity of the case). Although this form of very public
hospitality is entirely legal, faith communities involved in this
aspect will have access to first-rate pro-bono legal services.
Material Support — Faith communities will provide financial
support toward either (a) the New Sanctuary Movement itself,
or (b) a pool of money to be used to assist specific families in
the local community seeking sanctuary and in need of the support. Depending upon storage and distribution capacity, other
forms of donations could also be given, including food, bedding, clothing and other material goods. Cultural, musical and
other educational events are encouraged to raise both money
for and awareness of the movement.
Worker Justice — Despite society’s ongoing desire for the services of day laborers and immigrant domestics, the climate of
racism and harassment has reached a fever pitch. Faith communities are called to offer support through: (a) being publicly
present at existing day labor pick-up sites as a peaceful presence in the face of racist and hateful demonstrators; (b) serving
as an alternative labor/employer match site; and/or (c) being
advocates for worker issues.
Please return to: IWJ, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, 4th Fl., Chicago, IL 60660 or Fax: (773) 728-8409
Signed: ________________________________________________________________ (leader) on behalf
of ______________________________________________________________ (congregation, temple, mosque)
Date: ___________________Contact Phone: ___________________________________E-mail: ____________________________
New Sanctuary Movement Commitment
The New Sanctuary Movement is a coalition
of interfaith religious leaders and their participating congregations who feel called by
our faith to respond actively and publicly to
serious injustice currently suffered by our
undocumented brothers and sisters residing
in the United States. We acknowledge that
the large-scale immigration of workers and
their families to the United States is a complex, historical, global and economic phenomenon that has many causes and does
not lend itself to simplistic or purely reactive public policy solutions.
Nevertheless, we stand together in
believing that every person, regardless of
national origin, has basic rights which must
be safeguarded, including but not limited to:
1) the right to earn a livelihood; 2) the right
to family unity; and 3) the right to physical
and emotional safety. We judge that these
rights are being violated under current
immigration law, as we see and refuse to
ignore the suffering of children, many of
whom are U.S. citizens, being separated
from their undocumented parents through
unjust deportation. We also witness intolerable exploitation of the immigrant workforce.
Rooted in these principles, we commit ourselves to:
• Take a public, moral stand for immigrants’ rights
• Reveal, through education and advocacy, the impact current
and proposed legislation has on immigrant workers and their
families
• Advocate for the protection of immigrants against hate, workplace discrimination and unjust deportation
Legal justification for the legal status of congregations participating in
this sanctuary per the Center for Constitutional Rights
“Immigration and Nationality Act 274(a)(1)(1)(iii), 8 U.S.C.
1324(a)(1)(A)(iii)(1988) states that a person is guilty of a felony who with
knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that an alien has come to, entered
or remains in the U.S. in violation of the law conceals, harbors or shields from
detection or attempts to conceal, harbor or shield from detection, such alien in
any place, including any building or means of transportation....
All cases decided under 1324(a) involve defendants who simply kept
silent about the aliens’ presence, rather than individuals who have reported
the aliens’ presence to the INS but who have continued to shelter them.
Accordingly, a congregation that houses undocumented migrants will likely
not be prosecuted unless they are attempting to conceal such alien from
Immigration and Custom Enforcement detection...
In addition, Senate Bill 2611, Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of
2006, passed the Senate 62-36 in May 2006 provides a specific exception from
liability for individuals or organizations who encourage a person to reside in
the United States or harbors an illegal alien from detention with knowing or
reckless disregard of their illegal status. The exemption applies to individuals
or organizations, not previously convicted of a violation of this section, who
provide an alien who is present in the United States with humanitarian assistance, including medical care, housing, counseling, victim services and food,
or to transport the alien to a location where such assistance can be rendered.
New Sanctuary Movement Pledge
As a religious community, ____________________________________________ (name of Congregation, Temple,
Mosque) affirms the right of every person to earn a livelihood; to family unity; and to physical and emotional safety. Informed by these beliefs, we determine current U.S. immigration law disregards these
rights for millions, many of whom are U.S. citizens, resulting in serious workplace abuse of undocumented immigrants, harmful family separation, and widespread fear within the immigrant community.
We also affirm the right and responsibility of the religious community to extend sanctuary to those whose legal status
causes them to fear for their safety and the safety of their family, to lose their livelihood and to be unjustly deported.
Rooted in these principles, we commit ourselves to:
1. Support the religious communities extending sanctuary
2. Advocate for the protection of immigrants against hate, workplace discrimination and unjust deportation
3. Reveal, through education and advocacy, the impact current and proposed legislation has on immigrant workers
and their families
4. Take a public, moral stand for just and comprehensive immigration reform
Signed: ___________________________________________________ on behalf of ______________________________________
(leader)
(congregation, temple, mosque)
Date: ___________________Contact Phone: ___________________________________E-mail: ____________________________
Please return to: IWJ, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr, 4th Fl., Chicago, IL 60660 or Fax: (773) 728-8409
Why
T
he U.S. House of Representatives passed the
Employee Free Choice Act, 241 to 185, on
March 1, 2007. The bill will now be debated
and voted upon in the U.S. Senate. Interfaith Worker
Justice strongly supports the Employee Free Choice
Act (EFCA).
The bill does three things:
1. Allows workers to choose to be represented by a
union if more than 50 percent of workers in a
workplace sign cards indicating their desire to be
represented by a particular union. This process is
often referred to as card check.
2. Requires mediation and then binding arbitration
for first contracts when the union and management can’t reach agreement within a reasonable
time period.
3. Increases penalties for employers that violate
labor laws.
What’s in the Employee Free Choice Act?
For the last decade, Interfaith Worker Justice and its
allies have supported workers, especially workers in
low-wage jobs, who are trying to improve their
wages, benefits and working conditions by organizing a union. For many U.S. workers, organizing a
union is one of the best ways to raise their families
out of poverty because unions enable workers to
advocate for a fairer share of wages, family benefits
and better working conditions. Given the widening
disparity in wages and wealth in society, unions are
critical for ensuring that working families share in
the continuing productivity and prosperity generated by workers.
Why is EFCA important?
the Employee
Free Choice Act
Matters
Even though unions are desperately needed in society as a vehicle for sharing wealth and power, it has
become increasingly difficult for workers to organize
in the workplace. Beginning in the 1970s, a whole
generation of union-busting consulting and law
firms emerged that advise companies on how to bust
unions, or as their literature says, how to remain
“union-free.” These advisors, combined with the
almost complete control many employers have over
the worksite, have created environments in which
the so-called “right to organize” is meaningless.
Those who have supported workers’ efforts to
raise wages, benefits and working conditions have
been appalled to watch thousands of courageous
union leaders fired, harassed or penalized by
employers, with few or no consequences. In theory,
workers may have the right to organize, but in reality,
there is no such thing in most workplaces. Ask your
friends and neighbors what they think would happen
to them if they tried to organize a union in their
workplace. Most will respond that they would be
fired. Unfortunately, it is the common understanding
of workers that it is dangerous to your job security to
organize a union. More than half of U.S. workers say
they would like to have a union, but only 12 percent
are represented by unions, in large part because of
how difficult it is to get a union recognized.
1
The first provision of the bill would allow
workers to sign cards authorizing a union. If
more than half the workers signed such
cards, the company would have to negotiate with
the union. This process would make it much easier
and safer for workers to join unions.
2
The second provision of the bill requires that
first contracts be subject to mediation and then
binding arbitration if workers and management cannot reach an agreement within a reasonable
time period. This provision is designed to assure that
workers get a contract. Unfortunately, some employers decide to thwart collective bargaining by just
refusing to negotiate in good faith with workers or
dragging out appeals to the election results for
years. Even after winning an election,
a union might never win a
first contract. After one year,
employers can claim an
impasse after stalling at the
bargaining table and are legally free to withdraw recognition
of the union.
Take for example the largely
Guatemalan immigrant workforce
at Case Farms chicken processing
plant in Morganton, North
Carolina. The workers first began
organizing in 1991. They voted to be
represented by a union in 1995 and
staged a hunger strike in 1996. Because
of delays and appeals, the workers
never got a union contract. For full details
of the struggle, read The Maya of Morganton: Work and
Community in the Nuevo New South by historian Leon
Fink. Or consider Walker Methodist Health Center,
where nearly 500 workers voted on May 30, 2003 to
be represented by the American Federation of State,
County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Union.
Nursing home administrators appealed the vote,
claiming that licensed practical nurses were “supervisory staff” and shouldn’t have been included in the
vote. Although a 2006 NLRB ruling finally validated
the election, the workers still have no contract.
The most controversial aspect of the Employee Free
Choice Act is the provision allowing workers to
choose union representation simply by signing a card
indicating their choice, instead of going through a
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)-supervised
secret ballot election process. Currently, when workers sign cards indicating that they would
like to be represented by a union, the
cards are presented to an employer.
The employer can then recognize the
union and negotiate a contract (which
is what would be required under
this new law) or the employer can
require an NLRB-supervised election, which is usually scheduled
several months away.
Although some employers
do agree to recognize a union
and negotiate a contract when
the majority of their workers
sign union cards, many more
actively thwart workers’
desires. During the period
between when workers have signed cards
and the election, many employers wage a war against
the union that feels to workers like a war against
them. Because most workers can be fired “at will,”
there is little open and democratic debate at the
workplace about the values of having or not having a
union. Rather, workers are harassed about their support for unions, barraged with anti-union literature
and videos, threatened either individually (many
union supporters are fired) or collectively (employers
threaten to close companies if they become union)
and penalized in subtle and not-so-subtle ways.
A decade ago, the emerging religion-labor groups
around the country didn’t understand the importance of card check in ensuring that workers really
have a right to organize. Today, all 60 religion-labor
groups affiliated with Interfaith Worker Justice have
hands-on experience with the inadequacies of the
NLRB election process. The groups have heard workers describe horrendous abuse in the workplace and
have come to believe that card check would be a better and fairer alternative.
Why card check instead of secret ballot?
N
O
I
UN
ES
Y
3
The third provision of the bill increases penalties for violating labor laws. When employers
violate the law by firing workers for their
union activity or threatening to close a company if the
workers vote for a union (common practices in U.S.
workplaces), the penalties are insignificant and thus
are no deterrent to the behavior.
Interfaith Worker Justice • Why EFCA Matters
The opponents to the card check process, led by
the Chamber of Commerce and supported by U.S.
Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, are known for their
total hostility to unions and opposition to most reasonable efforts to improve wages, such as increasing
the minimum wage and setting baseline standards
for benefits. Thus, when either the Chamber of
Commerce or Secretary of Labor espouse their desire
to protect workers’ “rights to privacy” through continuation of the existing process for workers to
choose to be represented by a union, one must question whether the concern is for workers’ rights or
rather another effort to squash unions.
Yes. Card check was used a great deal before the Taft
Hartley Act, is used in many Canadian provinces
and is recognized by many ethical U.S. employers.
Is card check really a possibility?
Card check recognition was often used in the
United States up until 1939, when the Taft-Hartley
Act took away the National Labor Relations Board’s
ability to decide which method of determining
majority status was most appropriate and allowed
employers to insist on NLRB-certified elections.
Half of the ten Canadian provinces allow workers to
form unions simply by a majority signing cards.
And today, hundreds of employers decide on their
own to recognize a union when a majority of workers have signed cards indicating their support for a
union. Some of these employers recognize card
check on their own because they believe it is fair
and right to allow workers the choice whether or
not to have a union. Others decide to do so after
being convinced (and often pressured) by unions
and religious allies.
Resources
Why Unions Matter (2007 updated version), a simple eightpage introduction to unions and the role they play in society.
Download for free at www.iwj.org.
Unfair Advantage: Workers’ Freedom of Association in the United
States under International Human Rights Standards, by Lance
Compa, published in 2000 by Human Rights Watch.
This is an excellent overview of the inadequacies of U.S.
labor law protections with clear and compelling examples of
what happens to workers in the process. Order for $16.95
from Cornell University Press or download free from Human
Rights Watch at www.hrw.org/reports/2000/uslabor.
Justice on the Job: Perspectives on the Erosion of Collective
Bargaining in the United States, edited by Richard N. Block,
Sheldon Friedman, Michelle Kaminski and Andy Levin, published in 2006 by W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment
Research. This compilation of articles makes a strong case for
the provisions in the Employee Free Choice Act.
What You Can Do
1. Contact your two Senators and urge
them to support the Employee Free
Choice Act.
• Send a letter to:
Senator___________
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
• Call the Capitol switchboard at (202)
224-3121, or send an e-mail from
www.iwj.org/actnow/efca.html.
2. Use the Moses bulletin insert (see following page) to inform members of your
congregation about the Employee Free
Choice Act.
The American Rights at Work website, www.americanrightsatwork.org, offers the best
fact sheets and up-to-date information on the Employee Free Choice Act. Visit it and
learn about the struggles workers face when they try to organize.
Interfaith Worker Justice • Why EFCA Matters
T
back to Egypt because the
Israelites cried out to God for
help.
Although Moses was reluctant
to go back to Egypt and begged
God to send someone else, God
chose Moses to organize the people and challenge the Pharaoh.
After meeting with the Israelite
leadership, the first demand to
Pharaoh was a three-day holiday.
Pharaoh and the slave-masters
refused and made the working
conditions worse – the people
had to make bricks without being
given straw. Thus begins the escalating set of problems for Pharaoh
and the leadership in Egypt.
Although the primary story is
about God’s power and deliverance, it is also a story about how
God hears and answers the cries
of those who are oppressed, and
the need to treat workers fairly.
Interfaith Worker Justice, 1020 West Bryn Mawr, 4th Fl., Chicago, IL 60660-4627
Phone: (773) 728-8400 • Fax: (773) 728-8409 • Website: www.iwj.org
he story of Moses and the
struggle to liberate the
Israelites from the Egyptian slavemasters is one of the foundations
of the Hebrew Scriptures. It has
inspired the world’s great freedom struggles, including the U.S.
Civil Rights Movement. Those
who look to Scripture for how to
treat immigrants are constantly
reminded of the captivity in Egypt
through the phrases “do not mistreat an immigrant, for you were
once immigrants in Egypt.”
Moses was indeed a civil
rights leader and an immigrants’
rights leader, but he was also the
Bible’s first labor leader. Exodus
chapter one says that Pharaoh
placed slave-masters over the
Israelites and worked them ruthlessly. Even though Moses was
raised in Pharaoh’s court and ran
away from Egypt and its problems, God wanted Moses to go
Moses — The First Labor Organizer
Call (202) 224-3121 and ask the
switchboard operator to connect you directly with the
Senate office you request.
1. Pray for all workers who seek
to improve conditions in their
workplaces.
2. Pray for all employers, that
they might seek to reflect God
in their business decisions.
3. Write or call your two Senators
to ask them to support the
Employee Free Choice Act.
Send a letter to:
Office of Senator________
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Employee Free Choice Act.
Interfaith Worker Justice, the
nation’s leading religious organization supporting improved
wages, benefits and working conditions for workers in low-wage
jobs, strongly supports this legislation and invites you to:
Interfaith Worker Justice, 1020 West Bryn Mawr, 4th Fl., Chicago, IL 60660-4627
Phone: (773) 728-8400 • Fax: (773) 728-8409 • Website: www.iwj.org
lthough workers aren’t
expected to make bricks
without straw, too many U.S.
workers are employed in jobs that
pay inadequate wages, deny
workers access to health care and
retirement savings, expose workers to hazardous working conditions and disregard families’
needs for flexible schedules and
sick days. Workers, especially
those in low-wage jobs, seek to
improve their conditions by
organizing unions to help them
stand up for their rights.
Unfortunately, many workers
who choose to organize a union
find themselves penalized, like the
Israelites who were punished for
seeking a holiday. Thousands of
workers each year are fired,
harassed or penalized for seeking
to organize a union.
In response to this Pharaohlike intimidation, the U.S. House
of Representatives passed the
A
Workplace Conditions in 2007
2006
2006 Highlights
Interfaith Worker Justice
We Are Ready
We are ready to hear.
We are ready to share.
We are ready the Spirit is near, for we are hearing
each voice, and we are sharing each choice.
Oh we are ready; we wait upon God’s word.
against raids on immigrant employees
and
advocated for rational immigration
– Copyright 1999 Noelle Damico Publishing Co.
reform; and religious leaders provided a
n 2006, Interfaith Worker Justice was moral voice in raising the minimum
ready. The organization and its 60 wage.
In the past year, Interfaith Worker
local affiliates and 14 workers’ centers were at the forefront in engaging the Justice had many victories at the national
religious community in worker justice and local levels, and is excited by the
issues. And their accomplishments were new opportunities for strong religiongreat in a difficult political climate for labor partnerships and public policies
workers. Affiliates stood with hotel that support working people. There is a
workers, laundry workers and security new Congress, and worker-friendly legguards who were seeking a voice in the islation that could make it easier for
workplace; workers’ centers spoke out workers to organize into unions. People
of faith are speaking out in favor of
immigration reform, raising the mini-
I
mum wage and are beginning a discussion about healthcare. Workers seeking a
voice in the workplace are organizing
unions to protect their rights and secure
living wages and fair benefits. And religious leaders are working with government agencies to ensure that employers
are abiding by labor laws.
None of this work is possible without
the faithful support of many friends,
foundations, congregations, denominations and unions. In partnership with
you, IWJ and its affiliates continue to
support workers for dignity and respect
on the job. With you, we are ready for the
opportunities and challenges ahead to
improve wages, benefits and working
conditions for workers in low-wage jobs.
Expenses
Other
6%
Total: $1,835,459
Individuals
8%
Religious
Organizations
11%
Foundations
56%
Unions
19%
Management
& General
11%
Fundraising
11%
Program
78%
Income
Total: $1,874,540
Faith Works • May 2007
9
Interfaith Worker
FOUNDATIONS
$100,000 to $200,000
Ford Foundation – Education,
Sexuality, Religion Division
(multi-year)
Ford Foundation –
Governance and Civil
Society Division (multiyear)
Marguerite Casey
Foundation (multi-year)
Nathan Cummings
Foundation (multi-year)
Rockefeller Foundation
(multi-year)
The Annie E. Casey
Foundation
$50,000 to $99,999
Arca Foundation
Bernard and Audre Rapoport
Foundation
French American Charitable
Trust
Houston Endowment, Inc.
Public Welfare Foundation
$25,000 to $49,999
Oxfam America
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Wallace Foundation of
Arizona
$10,000 to $24,999
21st Century ILGWU
Heritage Fund
Arizona Community
Foundation
Discount Foundation
New Prospect Foundation
Rockefeller Philanthropy
Advisors
$2,500 to 9,999
Fund for Southern
Communities
Greensboro Justice Fund
RELIGIOUS
ORGANIZATIONS
$50,000 to $99,999
Unitarian Universalist
Association of
Congregations
Unitarian Universalist Service
Committee
Unitarian Universalist Veatch
Program at Shelter Rock
$25,000 to $49,999
Church World Service
$10,000 to $24,999
Catholic Campaign for
Human Development
National Council of
Churches
$2,500 to 9,999
Church of the Beatitudes
Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America
Interdenominational
Theological Center
Presbyterian Church USA
Urban Ministries Office
Presbyterian Hunger
Program
School Sisters of Notre
Dame (Baltimore, MD)
United Methodist Church
Division on Ministries with
Young People
UNIONS/LABOR
$100,000 to $200,000
Service Employees
International Union
$50,000 to $99,999
American Federation of
Labor and Congress of
Industrial Organizations
$25,000 to $49,999
UNITE HERE!
United Food and
Commercial Workers
International Union
$2,500 to 9,999
Arizona State Council
Communications Workers
of America
National Association of
Letter Carriers
INDIVIDUALS
$10,000 to $25,000
Landau Family Foundation
Fran Ansley and Jim Sessions
Fran and Monroe Sullivan
$2,500 to $9,999
Beth Janus and Seth
Lieberman
Sunflower Foundation
BUSINESSES &
ORGANIZATIONS
$10,000 to $24,999
Amalgamated Life Insurance
Company
Center for Community
Change
Entrust Capital, Inc.
JP Morgan Chase
$2,500 to 9,999
Community Shares of Illinois
Wal-Mart Watch
SIGNIFICANT IN-KIND
Edgewater Presbyterian
Church (office space)
2006 Donors
Inner Drive Technology (computer monitors)
Ruzicka & Associates, Ltd
(auditing service)
School Sisters of Notre Dame
(furniture)
St. Andrew Greek Orthodox
Church (parking)
TRAVEL AND EXPENSES
RELATED TO BOARD
MEETINGS
AFL-CIO (Ms. Linda ChavezThompson and Ms.
Rosalyn Pelles)
African Methodist Episcopal
Church (Rev. Daryl Ingram)
American Baptist ChurchesUSA (Rev. Dr. Aidsand
Wright-Riggins III)
Catholic Committee of the
South (Sr. Mary Priniski)
Council on American-Islamic
Relations – Southern
California (Mr. Hussam
Ayloush)
Rev. Darren Cushman-Wood
Mr. Robert De Rose
Rev. T. Eugene Fisher
General Board of Church
and Society, United
Methodist Church (Mr.
John Hill)
General Board of Global
Ministries, United
Methodist Church (Ms.
Joanne Reich)
Dr. Mary Heidkamp
Ms. Karen McLean Hessel
Jewish FundS for Justice
(Rabbi Mordechai Liebling)
Rev. Nelson Johnson
Rabbi Robert Marx
National Pastoral Life Center
(Mr. Jeffry Korgen)
Rev. J. Herbert Nelson
Presbyterian Church, USA
(Rev. Phil Tom)
Mr. Bill Quigley
Mr. Chris Sanders
Rev. Jim Sessions
Rev. Dr. Paul Sherry
Ms. Evely Laser-Shlensky
Mr. Monroe Sullivan
United Church of Christ (Ms.
Edie Rasell and Rev. Ron
Stief)
Unitarian Universalist
Association of
Congregations (Ms. Susan
Leslie)
U.S. Conference of Catholic
Bishops (Rev. Clete Kiley
and Mr. Thom
Shellabarger)
Dr. Charles Whitaker
Rev. Bennie Whiten, Jr.
INTERNSHIP SUPPORT
Seminary Summer
AFL-CIO
Change To Win Unions
Interfaith Worker Justice
Summer and Catholic
Social Teaching
Karen and Tharwat
Abouraya
Elizabeth Alvis
James Autenrith
Karen Briscoe
Anita Krichmar and Sam
Brooks
Maryanne Brown
Frank J. Corbishley
Creighton University
Dusten Crichton
Kathleen Denne
DePaul University
Joanna Marie Diem
Michael Doan
Frank Falco
Susan and Lawrence Frank
Amy and Steven Groff
Donovan Hudson
Julie and Jeff Jamison
Elizabeth Lopez
Loras College
Margaret Mcconnaughay
Janet Murphy
Patrick Quinn
Sheila Quinn Lucey
Jaime Rapaport
Louis Schloderback
Servite Community
The Shadow Group LLC
Robert Skelly
Michele Sotka
St. John’s Roman Catholic
Church
Jane and William Sutton
Temple Beth Israel of
Maywood
Pam and Greg Thielmann
University of Notre Dame
University of St. Thomas
Jane and John Yanagida
VOLUNTEERS
Joseph Achura
Lilian Agasie
Valentina Angelova
Daniel Antunez
Miriam Antunez
Miguel Beltran
Kathryn Bole
Margaret Champlin
Yunjin Chung
Luz Cuartas
Tobias Fisher
Carmona Francisco
Renee Grogg
Terrion Keys
Jeong-Hyun Kim
Ju-Young Lee
Jenny Lew
Sylvia Lynch
George Mandsnukov
Fallen Michel
Sila Miesi
Luz Prieto
Adam Ragab
Martin Rangel
Mary Reyes
Jorge Rios
Jose Sanchez
Teresa Segura
McKenzie Smith
Kyle Stitch
Mary Kay Wright
CONTRIBUTIONS OF LESS
THAN $2,500
8th Day Center for Justice
Deedra Abboud
Sam Ackerman
Alice and Aaron Adler
AFL-CIO of Champaign
County
African Methodist Episcopal
Church
AFSCME
Margaret Ahmann
Roula Alakiotou
Anita Alcantara
Karen Allen
Allotta, Farley & Widman
CO., L.P.A
Joseph Allotta
Albert Alschuler
Amalgamated Transit Union
– Local 308
Judy Ancel
Jami Anderson
Joanna and David Anderson
Barbara Andolsen
Anonymous
Marilyn and Joe Antonik
Archdiocese of Milwaukee –
Office for World Mission
Melanie Aron
Richard Aronson*
Mary Aufmann
James Autenrith
Dennis Bade
Doug Bailey
Bakery, Confectionery,
Tobacco Workers and
Grain Millers Int’l Union
Virginia and Clement
Balanoff
Jennifer Barger*
Paula and Hal Baron
Jeanette Bartz
Howard Basler*
John Beaty
Judith Beck*
Lawrence Becker
Jane Beckett*
Mike Beckman
Tom Beer
Raymond Behrendt*
Don Beisswenger
Albert Belanger
10
IWJ regrets any errors or omissions from this list. Please contact IWJ at (773) 728-8400 to notify staff of changes.
Martin Bennett
Elizabeth Benson
Pamela and Terry Bergdall
Robert and Sheila Berner
Charles Bernhardt
Linda Lipsett and Jules
Bernstein
Barbara and Alan Bisno
Walter Bissell
George Black
Doris Blake
Kennith Blan
Louise Bobo
Kim Bobo*
Marvin Boes
William Bole
Eric Boria
Regina Botterill*
Clarita Bourque
Daniel Boyarin*
Marge Boyle
Eugene Boyle
Tom Brady
Grace Brame
Mary Ann Litwiller and Fred
Brancel
H. Kurt Brandenburg
Bob Breving
Bricklayers Local 21
Bridge Structural and
Reinforcing-Ironworkers
Local Union #1
Thomas Broden
Cynthia Brooks
Edward and Joyce Brown
Joanna Brown
Pamela Brubaker
Walter Brueggemann
John Budwick
Larry Bueno
Eugene Buhr
Susan Bulba Carvulto
Mary Catherine Bunting
Ed and Nancy Burke*
Guerino Calemine
California School Employees
Association
JoAn Pfau Callahan
Mary Jean and Gene
Callahan
John Cardiff
Bill Carey
Helen Carlock
Dosia Carlson
Roger Carlson
Eliza Carney*
Ellen and Stephen Casey
Catholic Charities –
Archdiocese of NY
Catholic Diocese of Tucson
Social Mission
John Cawley
Central Oklahoma
Community Forum
Karla and Ronald Chew
Chicago Theological
Seminary
Susan Chinn
Norine Chip
Lynda Choate
Christ the King Roman
Catholic Church
Church of Our Saviour
Church Women United in
Madison Wisconsin, Inc.
Jose Cisneros
H. Jean Bryan and Thom
Clark
Bill Clower
Robert and Pat Coats
Celia Cody
Catherine Cody
John Colborn
Maury Collins
Neil Comess-Daniels
Community of Reconciliation
Church
Joan Compton
Congregation of the Sisters
of St. Francis
Ernst Conrad
Nancy Lee Conrad
Consolata Missionary Sisters
Convent of Mary Reparatrix,
Inc.
Laurie Coskey
Norman Cram
Mary Crimmin
Patricia Crowley
Robin Curras
Jim Cusack
Susan Dahlberg
Peter Dahlen
Elizabeth Dale
David and Elsie Damcke
Walter Davis
Irene DeMeulenaere
Robert DeRose*
Kathleen Desmet-Kulka
Detroit Province of the
Society of Jesus
Steven Deutsch
Tim Dewane
Jesse and Annamary DeWitt
Margaret Peggy Dickson
Diocese of Salt Lake City
Minna Morse and Fred Dobb
Rachel Abramson and
William Dolnick
Dominican Sisters
Dominican Sisters of Hope
Thomas Donahue
John Donnell
Nancy and Joe Donnelly
Sally and Randall Doubet
King
Lenore Dowling
Bill Droel
Jim DuPont
John Dwyer*
Melvin Hoover and Rose
Edington
Frank and Rebecca
Eichenlaub
Lauren Ekdahl
Bruce Elder
Phyllis and John Eldridge
Eleanor Humes Haney Fund
Elite on Jarvis
Betty and Norman Elkin
Janet Essley
Victor Farah
Norman Faramelli
Jean and Joseph Faulkner
Ron Faust
Tim Fay
Margaret Feit-Clarke
Cindy Fennelly
Katherine Ferguson
Mary Faith and Marc
Ferretto
First Congregational Church
T. Eugene Fisher
Robert Fitzgerald
Miriam and Richard Flacks
Dolores and Roger Flaherty
Joan Flanagan
Gretchen Focke
Forest Printing
Franciscan Justice, Peace and
Integrity of Creation Office
Judith and Jim Francois
Alan Fredian
Patricia Friend
Hannah Frisch
Lucille and Frank Fuchs
Kathryn and Elliott Fudd
Marcia and Richard Fung
Helen Gagel
William Gainer
Tracy Gallo
Nina and Doug Gamble
Joe Gann
Martha Garcia
Garrett Evangelical
Theological Seminary –
Faith Passage
R.H. Garrett-Goodyear
Eric Geist
Miriam Geraghty
Josef Germaine
Tess and Frank Gerould
Louise Clark and Jill
Ginsberg
Lilly Gioia
Jonathon Glassman
Tom Glennon
The Gober Law Firm
Athena and Jean Francois
Godet-Calogeras
Laurence Gold
Iain Gold*
Edwin Goldberg
Ruth Weisman Goldboss
W. Evan Golder
Joanne Goldstein
Mario Gonzalez
Bambi Good
Bill and Mary Good
Good Shepherd – United
Church of Christ
Good Shepherd Lutheran
Church
Annica Gorham*
Charlotte and Charles
Gosselink
Dorothy Gosting
Jean and Harry Gottlieb
Denis Goulet
Thomas Gradel
Margaret Gradl
Sid Gradman
Jill Graham
Kenneth Greening
Virginia Greenwald
Maureen Gregg
Nancy and David Griffith
Al Gross
Cheryl Grossman
Antoinette Guerrero
Sue Gunter
Aina Gutierrez and Doug
Sondgeroth*
Bruce Hall
Benjamin Hall*
Jean Hardisty
Marienetta Harenza
Emily Harry
Thelma Harry
Chuck Harry*
Harriet Hausman
Ellen and Thomas Hefner
Carole and Marty Hegarty
Richard Heidkamp
Sula Bloore and David Heine
Cynthia and Richard Heine
Joy Heine*
Janice Hendrix
Walter Henry*
Bruce Herman
Stewart Herman
Tina and David Herpe
Karen Herrling
Milton Herst
Julie Dorfman and Jerry
Herst
Karen McLean Hessel
LaVerne Hickey
Donna Hicks
Brenda Hicks
Connie and David Higgins
Mary Pat Hill
Audrey and George Hinger
Mary Jo Hoag
Nora Hochman
Phyllis and Leonard Hockley
Charles Hogan
Larry Hollar
Judy Holmes
Liza Jean Holt
Aimee Horton
Robert Horwitz
Irma and Robert Howarth
Howard Hubbard
Sharon Hyson
IF/W.H.E.N.
J. David Ivers
Luther Jackson
Shirley James
Carol Frances Jegen
Trudi Jenny
John Jerger
Sandhya Jha
Kermit and Lynn Johnson
Leon Johnson
Michaela Johnson
Karla Johnston-Krase
Austin and Marion Jones
Charese Jordan*
Rebekah Jordan
Linda and James Joyce
Eva and Anjo Jurek
Andrew Kafel
Maurice Kammerer
Michael Kane
Rose Karasti
Hubert Kealy
Kirsten and Michael Keefe
Lucinda Keils
Tom Kelly
Dana Marie Kennedy
Glenda Struss-Keys and
Marcus Keys
Karrie Kimble
Karen King
Daniel Klawitter
Michael Klein
Sharon Kleinbaum
Thomas Kluzak
Paul Knauer
Steven Knight
Kathryn and Thomas Kochan
Patricia Kollmer
Jeff Korgen
Chaim Koritzinsky
Marguerite and Ed
Kowaleski
Ingrid Christiansen and Jody
Kretzmann
Kermit Krueger
John Kruse
Robert Krzewinski
Michael Kuhn
Richard Kulick
Alexia Kulwiec
The Labor Guild-Archdiocese
of Boston
Laborers’ International
Union of North America
John Lackey
Mary Pat Lambke
Jeannette Lampron
Ruth and Alfred Landsberg
Thomas Lanigan
Sayuri and Darrin LaPoint
Cindy Larson
Eugene Lauer
Diane and David LaVoy
Law Offices of Jim Green
Law Offices of Jonathan
Schlack
Law Offices of Kurt M.
Young, LLC
Thomas Leahy
Marilyn Sneiderman and
Stephen Lerner
Susan Leslie
Tom Levinson*
Kent Lewandowski
Mil Lieberthal
Mordechai Liebling
Trent Lierman
Spence Limbocker
Barbara Hickey and David
Linge
Lois and Lowell Livezey
Sue and Art Lloyd
Joann Lo
Mary LoPresti
Joan and Richard Luecke
Mary Heidkamp and Jim
Lund
Sylvia Lynch*
Jessie MacDonald
Nancy MacLean
Michele Magner
Deloris and Donald
Mahoney
Pamela Burnley and Russell
Malchow
Alma Manney
James Manoussoff
Kathy Brazda and Therese
Marczyk
Eliezer Margolis
Catherine Markey
Joe Marlin
Robert Marx
Thomas Massaro
11
IWJ regrets any errors or omissions from this list. Please contact IWJ at (773) 728-8400 to notify staff of changes.
Michael Matejka
Mary Jo Matheny
Alan and Kathy Mays
Pat and Charlaine McAnany
Pat and Don McCabe
Joseph McCartin
James McClure
Pat McCormick
Nancy McCormick*
Marie Therese McDermott
Ann and Isaac McDonald
Jack Metzgar
Jamie McGowan
Regina McGraw*
Clifton McIntosh
John McKnight
Kathleen McNally
Ann McNeary
Ambryn Melius
Pauline and Andrew
Michaud
Linda and Joseph Michon
Rita and Richard Middendorf
Claire and Bob Miller
Bill Miller
Mary Jane and Peter Milne
Missionary Sisters Servants
of the Holy Spirit
Lisa Mitchell
Teresa Mithen*
Nancy and Nicholas Mohr
Monastery of St. Gertrude
Nina Polcyn Moore
Mary Morollo
Calvin Morris
Christopher Morton
Daniel Moss
Mount Tabor Benedictines
Greg Mount
Craig Mousin
Eileen Murphy
Carol Murphy
Susan Greene and Pat
Murray
Lucia and Jack Murtaugh
Mary Myers
Myron M. Cherry &
Associates, LLC
David Nack
Cynthia Nance*
Mark Needle
Carla and Enrique Neufeld
New World Foundation
New York City Central Labor
Council
Amy Newell
Doug Niehouse
Janet and Donald Niemeyer
Anne Nolan*
Notre Dame de Chicago
Anne Novak*
Jackie Nowell
Joyce and Bill O’Connell
Mary O’Connell Williams
Beth O’Connor
Jane O’Grady
Paula and Quentin Ogren
Jack O’Malley
Joan Polacheck and Jonah
Orlofsky
Sean O’Sullivan
Sinclair Oubre*
Susan Ozuk
12
Marilyn Pagan-Banks*
Ronald Pagnucco
Charles Paidock
Barbara Paleczny
Joan Panaro
Arlene Paolicchi
Julie Keleman and Toby
Paone
Pete Paraskevoulakos
Segene Park
Marjorie and George Parker
Carol Parker
Lindsey Parker
Paul McAndrew Law Firm
Erwin Pauly
Rosalyn Pelles
Kathleen Perry
May and Winston Persaud
Barbara Pfarr
Hermine and Leo Philippe
Maxine Phillips
Kathy Phillips
Sheila and John Pigott
Daniel Pisony
Deborah Stone and Timothy
Pitzer
Pat Plant
Judith Plaskow
James Ploeser
Richard Poethig
Pointers, Cleaners &
Caulkers – Local 52
David Polich
Joan and Bob Pope
Luz Maria Prieto
Mary Priniski*
Kenneth Purcell
Erma Purnell
Bill Quigley
Annie Quinn
Kathryn Radinovsky
Abe Raich
Edith Rasell
Barbara Ravid
M. Elizabeth Eason and Brad
Rayson
Margaret and David Read
Mary Rehmann
Joanne Reich
Patricia Reichart
Joy Reis
Sheila Reynolds
William Rhines
David Rhoads
Lynn Rhodes
Ridgeview Baptist Church
Ann Riggs
Meg Riley
Rivier College, Religious
Studies Faculty
Erika Robers
Ralph Robers
Julie Roberts
Philip Roberts*
Michael Robinson
Lawrence Robinson
Deborah and Bob Rodecker
Maureen Rodgers
Sharon Roedl
Jen Roitman
Raymundo Eli Rojas
Charles Romstad
Roofers Local Union 96
Diane Roseman Baer
Carl Rosen
Joel Rosenblit
Manuel Rosiles
David Russell
Cindi Saguibo*
Beverly and Steven Salituro
Edward Salmon
Saint John’s Abbey
San Diego Imperial Labor
Council
Barbara and Hugh Sanborn
Florence Scala
Gail Schechter
Michelle Schiffgens
Andrew Schleicher
Maralee Gordon and Leo
Schlosberg
Patty and John Schmidt
School Sisters of Notre Dame
Martha Schultz
A.J. Schumacher
Jo Ann Schwartz*
Jeremy Schwartz
Dorothy Schwendinger
SEIU Illinois Council
Seminary Consortium for
Urban Pastoral Education
Erika Poethig and Ray
Sendejas
Servite Fathers Assumption
Church
Fatih Shakir
Catherine Shannon
Sidney Shapiro
Polly Murphy and H. Todd
Shelton
Francele Sherburne
Paul Sherry
Evely Laser Shlensky
Chuck Shuford
Beth Shulman
Sisters of Charity of
Cincinnati
Sisters of Charity of
Cincinnati
Sisters of Charity of the
Blessed Virgin Mary
Sisters of Divine Providence
Sisters of Saint Dominic –
Congregation of the Most
Holy Name
Sisters of Saint DominicRacine Dominicans
Sisters of Saint Francis of the
Holy Cross
Sisters of Saint Joseph of
Carondelet
Sisters of St. Francis
Sisters of St. Joseph
Sisters, Servants of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary
Nancy and John Slais
David Smith
Joseph Smith
Frank and Isabelle Smith
Rosemary Sokas
Harriet and Rav Soloff
Betty Solomon
Elisabeth Solomon
Daniel Solomon
Scott Sommer
Nathan Sooy
Joanne Kalnitz and Marshall
Sorkin
Nicholas Spilotro
Toba Spitzer
Sara Spoonheim
Elizabeth and Theodore St.
Antoine
St. Augustine University
Parish
St. Catherine of Siena – St.
Lucy
St. Hilary Church
St. Joseph Church Glenmary
Commission on Justice
St. Kevins Catholic Church
St. Nicholas Church
St. Norbert College
St. Patrick’s Parish
St. Paul Catholic Center
St. Scholastica Monastery
St. Thomas the Apostle
Church
St. Timothy Community
Church
Jim Stahler
Elizabeth Stake
Marilyn Steenwyk
Brian Stefan-Szittai
Tom Stephens
Joshua Steward
Josephine Stewart
Milton Stohs
Suzanne and Earl
Strassberger
Marlies Carruth and Paul
Strauss
Bonita Strauss
Nancy J. and Charles D.
Striffler
Donald Stumpf
Margie Jean and Douglas
Sturm
Bernadette Sullivan
Jack Sullivan
Edward Sunshine
Andrew Susman
Christopher James Swanson
Mary Sweetland Laver
Mary and Michael
Swiontoniowski
Phillip Tabbita
Robin Talbert
Ellen Partridge and Ed
Tanzman
Allan Taylor
Temple Beth Israel
Temple Emunah Inc.
Noelle Tennis Gulden
Bert Thelen
F. William Thetford
Ethel Thiery
Maria Timoney
Phil Tom
Martha Tonn
Elizabeth Traube
Fran and Claudia Travis
Samuel Trickey
J. William Troy
Megan and Bob TschannenMoran
Don and Bernadette Turner
Margaret Tweet*
UFCW Local 1116
UFCW Local 789 AFL-CIO
UFCW, Local 2008
Masood Ul-Hasan
Tom and Cathy Ulrich
UNITE HERE-Chicago and
Midwest Regional Joint
Board
United Church of Christ
Justice and Witness
Ministries
University of Florida
University United Methodist
Church
Urban Equities – Real Estate
Consultants, Inc.
Terry and Marsha Uselton
Michael and Janet Valder
Caryl Vande Voort
Beth Vande Voort
Sarah Vanderwicken
Barbara and Richard
Vanecko
Laura Cheifetz and Jessica
Vazquez Torres*
Verderaime & DuBois, P.A.
Miguel Villanueva
Pauline Villapando
Kay Vlahos
Theodore Von Der Ahe
Roger Waha
Michael Wallace
Marjorie Wallin
Scott Walters
Jennifer Ward
Phyllis Berman and Arthur
Waskow
Patricia Watkins
Burton Wax
Molly Dula and Alex Weber
Sue Weishar
Arnie Welber
Herbert Ziegeldorf and Carol
Westerlund
Sondra Wheeler
James White, Jr.
Evelyn and James Whitehead
Sue Sporte and Bennie
Whiten
Donald Wiener
Dick Wiesenhahn
Betty Willhoite
Charles Williams
Susan Williams
Bob Williamson
Wilmette Lutheran Church
Tim Wilson
Jeanne Wingenter
Albert Winn
Pauline Wohlford
Doris Wojtala
Alice Woldt
Kenneth Wolfe
Muriel Wolff
Brad Wood
Harold and Sylvia Woods
Celine and Don Woznica
Janet Yocum
Donald Zampa
Helen Zandler
Marianne and Ted Zelewsky*
Zion Lutheran Church
Mary Zopf
* Monthly Pledger
IWJ regrets any errors or omissions from this list. Please contact IWJ at (773) 728-8400 to notify staff of changes.
I
East Bay Clergy Rides Shotgun with Truckers
n February, three dozen Faith leaders,
lay leaders and coalition members
joined members of the East Bay Interfaith
Committee for Worker Justice (ICWJ) for
the “Drive For Justice” bus tour.
The clergy were escorted around the
sprawling Port of Oakland for a look at
what is one of Northern California’s
most productive economic engines. The
port generates $300 million in annual
revenue, yet many of the approximately
2,500 truck drivers that service the Port of
Oakland earn less than $7 per hour.
Highlighting the tour, clergy formed a
circle of prayer around several truck
drivers who shared testimony of their
struggle.
Most people think truck drivers work
tough hours, enjoy decent pay and are
union protected. The truck drivers at the
Port of Oakland do work hard and
endure long hours, but a decent wage
and respect on the job couldn’t be further
from reality.
In this broken system, the companies
that hire these workers do not recognize
them as employees. Instead, drivers are
listed as independent operators. Because
of this, only one out of ten has health
insurance. And only five percent have
retirement benefits.
The Port of Oakland’s maritime seaport is nestled in the heart of the West
Oakland community. Consisting of thousands of residents, West Oakland was
once a thriving epicenter of industry.
Today, however, it is an area plagued by
poverty and illness resulting from environmental degradation. The asthma rates
for this community are substantially
higher than the rest of the Bay Area. In
addition, this area has some of the highest rates of cancer in the region.
In response to the plight of truck drivers and their families, the ICWJ has
joined the Coalition for Clean & Safe
Ports, a partnership of faith-based, community, environmental and labor groups
intent on restoring the port’s partnership
with the community. By reducing the
port’s harmful environmental impact,
the Coalition hopes to create sustainable
economic development for residents in
port communities.
In March, the Coalition convened a
Town Hall meeting in West Oakland
attended by 300 residents and truck drivers who shared testimony of their struggle. Many Port of Oakland commissioners were on hand to voice support for
these issues that are so important to the
community at large. “There is definitely
a wave of momentum taking place in the
East Bay for this worthy campaign,” says
Pastor Ricky Jenkins of East Bay
Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice.
“As clergy, we all bear the deep conviction that a job should keep you out of
poverty, not keep you in it.”
Celebrating the sacred link between faith, work and justice
Each Labor Day weekend, religious congregations across
the country host union members, labor leaders and
workers in low-wage jobs to reflect on faith, work, justice
and the meaning of Labor Day. All faith traditions
strongly support the principles of justice in the workplace and share these values with the labor movement:
• All people deserve to be treated with respect and dignity.
• The economy should work for human beings, not the other
way around.
• All workers contribute to society’s productive efforts and
deserve to share in society’s prosperity.
• All workers should earn enough for life’s basic necessities.
For more information, go to www.iwj.org.
Labor
Sponsored by Interfaith Worker Justice and the AFL-CIO
in the Pulpits/on the Bimah/in the Minbar
Faith Works • May 2007
13
News From the Network
Just days before its scheduled protest
outside
McDonald’s
corporate
Headquarters,
the
Coalition
of
Immokalee Workers (CIW) announced
an agreement with the company to
address wages and working conditions
for the farm workers who pick the fastfood giant’s tomatoes.
Beginning in the 2007 growing season, McDonald’s USA, through its produce suppliers, will pay an additional
penny per pound for tomatoes supplied
to its U.S. restaurants. The increase will
be paid directly to the workers harvesting tomatoes purchased by McDonald’s.
The CIW and McDonald’s produce
suppliers will also work together to
develop a new code of conduct for
Florida tomato growers.
Says CIW co-director Lucas Benitez,
“We have taken another major step
toward a world where we as farm workers can enjoy a fair wage and humane
working conditions in
exchange for the
hard and essential work we do
every day.”
FLORIDA
The New York
Labor-Religion
Coalition convened its 12th annual FAST
this March, inviting residents to go without solid food for 40 hours. In conjunction with the fast, the coalition organized
events in cities across the state, calling
upon all New Yorkers to stand in solidarity with those who “hunger for justice.”
In Ithaca, participants gathered in
support of the Tompkins County Living
Wage Employer Certification Program,
an initiative that provides incentives to
employers to pay a living wage. More
than 30 businesses in the city have
already been living wage-certified.
Participants in Buffalo collected signatures for a petition demanding of the
city “a full and sincere commitment to
living wages.”
And in New York City the coalition
held a vigil in support of the building
security workers currently struggling for
a living wage.
NEW YORK
14
TENNESSEE
Memphis
After a hard fought three-year campaign,
the Mid-South Interfaith Network for
Economic Justice and a coalition of 41
other faith, labor and community organizations won a historic victory last
November when the Memphis City
Council passed an ordinance requiring
the city’s service contractors to pay their
workers a living wage.
As city contracts come up for renegotiation, the wages of hundreds Memphis’
janitors, security guards and landscapers
will increase to a minimum of $10 per
hour if their employer offers health
insurance, or $12 per hour if they do not.
Two days after the initial vote, the
Council voted to require that the city’s
part-time and temporary workers be
paid at least $10 an hour.
Nashville
A living wage push by students at
Vanderbilt University gained momentum earlier this year when religious leaders from a cross section of Nashville’s
faith traditions called upon the university to increase its minimum wage.
Living Income for Vanderbilt
Employees, or LIVE, has a history of
engaging the city’s religious communities in the fight for justice. In 2005, the
group joined with local clergy and a
coalition of university employees, faculty
members and labor organizations in a
successful effort to increase the university’s minimum wage from $6.50 per hour
to the current $7.55.
In January, the group partnered with
clergy members from Baptist, Catholic,
Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian and
Unitarian congregations in pressuring
University Chancellor, E. Gordon Gee, to
increase the minimum wage from $7.55 to
$10.18 per hour. For more information on
how you can support Vanderbilt workers
visit http://studentorgs.vanderbilt.edu/
students4livingwage.
The struggle for justice at the Toledo
Blade took a turn last January when the
National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
issued complaints of widespread labor
law violations against the newspaper,
charging that its August lockout of over
200 production workers was illegal.
The NLRB also charged newspaper
management with various illegal acts
including coercive surveillance of workers and threats to fire workers engaged in
activities protected by the National
Labor Relations Act.
Toledo Jobs With Justice, one of IWJ’s
three Ohio-based affiliates, continues to
support workers in their dealings with
the Blade and urges that both sides
return to the bargaining table.
OHIO
Come
Come
walk with us
Online
registration
is now
available.
www.iwj.org
Welcoming, Struggling and Organizing for Worker Justice
June 16-19
IWJ National Conference
This summer, join hundreds of clergy, labor activists, seminarians and faculty on June
16-19 in Chicago for IWJ’s National Conference. Pre-conferences begin Saturday, June 16.
See the following page for sample workshop offerings. The complete list of workshops,
daily schedule, registration and lodging information is available online at www.iwj.org.
Faith Works • May 2007
Come
Come
walk with us
June 16-19
IWJ National Conference
Conference Workshops (visit www.iwj.org for a complete list)
Unions 101: The Culture and Structure of America’s Middle-Class Factory
Religion 101: A Nuanced Exploration of the Power of the Religious Community
in the United States
From SNCC to Immokalee: Challenges and Opportunities for Student Organizing
The Triad of Misery: Globalization, Immigration, Bad Working Conditions
Employee Free Choice Act: Right to Bargain for Better Wages and Benefits
Building and Strengthening a Religion-Labor Organization
Confronting the Giant: Transforming the Soul of Wal-Mart
What Have the Media Done for You Lately?
Integrating the Sacred into Interfaith Organizing
Rebuilding the Gulf Coast: A High Wage - High Road Strategy
Best Practices for Effective and Creative Religion-Labor Partnerships
Immigration Reform: Legislative Prospects
Foundation Fundraising: A Funder and Fundraiser Talk About Tricks of the Trade
Grassroots Fundraising from Individuals
Red, Yellow, Black and Brown: Building Coalitions to Win Civil Rights for All
Workers
Building Bridges to Union Employment
Workers’Centers: A Grassroots Response to Workplace Injustice
Stop! You Stole My Wages!: The Crisis of Wage Theft
The Challenges and Opportunities of Interfaith Organizing
Ending Health Care Insecurity: An Issue to Unite All Workers
Can My Boss Really Do That?: Workers' Rights Education as a Tool of Change
Beyond Borders: Challenges and Opportunities of Today’s Labor Movement
Immigration and the New Sanctuary Movement
Walking One-on-One: Developing Leaders for the Journey
Fundraising Events that Lead to Big Cash!
Using Technology to Enhance Organizing Capacity
How to include IWJ
in your will
Why do you plant a tree that
will not bear fruit for 70 years?
I plant for the children who
will come after me.
~from the Jewish teaching, Ta’nit 23a
A simple way to continue your
support of IWJ is to designate the organization as a
beneficiary in your will. IWJ
has materials and sample
language that you can use
to make the process as simple
as possible. Check the box in
the form below and mail it to us to
begin this process.
Your gift will help to ensure the future of IWJ
in its efforts to organize and mobilize faith
communities around the country to further the cause of worker justice. By including IWJ in your will, the fruit tree planted
today will bear fruit for generations to come.
For more information, please contact Aina Gutierrez, development director, at (773) 728-8400 ext. 11 or e-mail
aina@iwj.org.
If you have already designated IWJ in your will, please let us know.
We would love to acknowledge you and your gift!
Yes, I want to support the work of Interfaith Worker Justice!
____ I would like to make a monthly pledge of:
$5
$10 $15 $25 other______________
Please contact me to arrange for automatic deductions.
____ Enclosed is my gift of:
$35 $50 $100 $250 other____________
If this is a tribute gift, please include:
Name (please print)____________________________________________________
Congregation/Organization____________________________________________
Address____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
City________________________________________________________________
Name of person being honored or memorialized:
State/Zip____________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
Day Phone__________________________________________________________
Name and address of person to be notified:
Fax________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
E-mail______________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________
Denominational /Faith Body Affiliation___________________________________
____ Please mail me materials on how to include IWJ in my will.
___________________________________________________________________
Please make all checks payable to Interfaith Worker Justice.
Sow the seeds of justice with a gift today!
NL 507
Network of Local Interfaith Groups Concerned with Labor Issues
ARIZONA Interfaith Worker Justice
of Arizona, Tempe; (480) 522-4707;
Rev. Trina Zelle
ARKANSAS Interfaith Committee for
Worker Justice, Little Rock; (501) 8881943; Melba Collins
CALIFORNIA CLUE – California,
Oakland; (831) 239-1254; Rev. Carol
Been
Clergy and Laity United for Economic
Justice, Los Angeles; (213) 481-3740;
Rev. Alexia Salvatierra
Interfaith
MASSACHUSETTS
Committee for Worker Justice,
Boston; (617) 840-5860; Rev. Manikka
Bowman
MICHIGAN
Detroit
Metropolitan
Interfaith Committee on Worker
Issues, Oak Park; (248) 336-8419;
Lucinda Keils
MINNESOTA Duluth – Labor and
Religion Network, Duluth; (218) 7249111; Patrice Critchley-Menor
Contra Costa Faith Works!, Martinez;
(510) 232-2583; Maria Alegria
Interfaith
Network,
Workers
Minneapolis; (612) 332-2055; Matt
Gladue
Marin Interfaith Committee for
Worker Justice, Oakland; (510) 8937106 x18; Rev. Pamela Griffith Pond
NEW YORK Capital District Labor
Religion Coalition, Albany; (518) 4825595; Laura Sharp
East Bay Interfaith Committee for
Worker Justice, Oakland; (510) 8937106 x18; Rev. Richard Jenkins
Interfaith Committee for Worker
Justice in San Diego, San Diego; (619)
584-5744 x 22; Rabbi Laurie Coskey
Interfaith Council on Race, Religion,
Economic & Social Justice, Santa
Clara; (408) 269-7872; Rev. Carol Been
Sonoma Interfaith Committee for
Worker Justice, Santa Rosa; (707)
935-1642; Ben Boyce
COLORADO Front Range Economic
Strategy Center, Denver; (303) 4776111; Leslie Moody
CONNECTICUT
New
Haven
Community and Labor Coalition, New
Haven;
(203)
624-5161; Andrea
Vandenheever
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Jobs with
Justice – Interfaith Worker Justice of
Greater Washington, Washington
D.C.; (202) 756-4174; Mackenzie Barris
FLORIDA
Interfaith
Action
of
Southwest Florida, Immokalee; (239)
986-0688; Brigitte Gynther
South Florida Interfaith Worker
Justice, Miami; (305) 785-2923; Sara
Shapiro
GEORGIA Georgia Poultry Justice
Alliance, Atlanta; (404) 323-1884;
Rosalynn Evans
ILLINOIS
Chicago
Interfaith
Committee on Worker Issues,
Chicago; (773) 728-8400 x 23; Rev.
Mark Wendorf
MISSOURI Interfaith Worker Justice –
Greater Kansas City, Kansas City;
(816) 924-1800; Daniel Romero
Long Island – Labor Religion
Coalition, West Sayville; (631) 5893576; Candice Wetherell
New York City – Labor-Religion
Coalition, New York; (212) 406-2156
x 4637; Rabbi Michael Feinberg;
labrelig@aol.com
New York State – Labor-Religion
Coalition, Latham; (518) 213-6000
x 6294; Brian O’Shaughnessy
Southern Tier – Labor-Religion
Coalition, Elmira; (607) 734-9784 x135;
Kathy Dubel
Central New York Labor-Religion
Coalition, East Syracuse; (315) 4462380; Patricia Rector
NORTH
CAROLINA
Beloved
Community Center, Greensboro; (336)
230-0001; Rev. Nelson Johnson
OHIO Cincinnati Interfaith Committee
on Worker Justice, Cincinnati; (513)
621-4336; Sister Monica McGloin
Greater Columbus Jobs with Justice,
Columbus; (614) 314-3297; Jim Tackett
Toledo Area Jobs with Justice,
Toledo; (419) 475-8380; Karen Krause
OKLAHOMA
Central
Oklahoma
Community Forum, Oklahoma City;
(405) 634-4030; Tim O’Connor
Eastern Oklahoma Labor Religion
Council, Tulsa; (918) 832-8128; John
Gaines
DuPage Interfaith Worker Justice,
Naperville; (630) 236-8633; Tom Cordaro
INDIANA Central Indiana – St.
Joseph Valley Project, South Bend;
(574) 229-6536; Jim McConnell
Community,
Faith,
and
Labor
Coalition, Indianapolis; (317) 509-7453;
Nancy Holle
Interfaith Committee on Work &
Community, Bloomington; (812) 3321710; Rev. C.J. Hawking
Northwest Indiana – Calumet Project,
Hammond; (219) 845-5008; Bessie Dent
Interfaith Worker Justice
1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., 4th Fl.
Chicago, IL 60660-4627
(773) 728-8400 • www.iwj.org
OREGON
Springfield
Solidarity
Network/JwJ, Eugene; (541) 736-9041;
Claire Syrett
Portland JwJ – Religious Outreach
Committee, Portland; (503) 236-5573;
Margaret Butler
PENNSYLVANIA Jobs with JusticePhiladelphia Interfaith Committee for
Worker Justice, Philadelphia; (215)
735-3615; Fabricio Rodriguez
Labor-Religion Coalition of Western
Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh; (412) 3614793; Fr. Jack O’Malley
TENNESSEE Interfaith Worker Justice
of East Tennessee, Knoxville; (865)
573-0655; Rev. Jim Sessions
Mid-South Interfaith Network for
Economic Justice, Memphis; (901)
332-3570; Rev. Rebekah Jordan
Middle Tennessee Jobs with Justice,
Nashville; (615) 481-3520; Eric Brown
TEXAS Religion and Labor Network
of Austin, Austin; (512) 472-2850; Carla
Cheatham
WISCONSIN Faith Community for
Worker Justice, Milwaukee; (414) 8550188; Rev. David Heckenlively
Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice
of South Central Wisconsin, Madison;
(608) 255-0376; Patrick Hickey
SEMINARIANS FOR
WORKER JUSTICE GROUPS
San
Francisco
Bay
Area
–
Seminarians for Worker Justice,
Mike Beckman, (510) 893-7106 x 24,
beckman.mike@gmail.com
Southern California – Young Leaders
Project, Bridie Roberts, (515) 229-7149,
bridieroberts@yahoo.com
Chicago Area – Seminarians for
Worker Justice, Katie McKay, (225)
936-6125, katiemac2@gmail.com
Boston – Seminarians for Worker
Justice, Margie Klein, (646) 408-6160,
margie.klein@aya.yale.edu
Columbus – Seminarians for Worker
Justice, David Soliday, (740) 362-3841,
dsoliday@mtso.edu
WORKERS’ CENTERS
Arkansas
Workers’
Northwest
Justice Center, Springdale, AR; (479)
750-8015; Julie Tolleson
Chicago Interfaith Worker Rights
Center, Chicago, IL; (773) 728-8400;
Adam Kader
St. Joseph Valley Project – Workers’
Rights Center, South Bend, IN; (574)
287-3834; Juan Hernandez
Interfaith Worker Justice Center of
New Orleans, New Orleans, LA; (504)
309-1776 x1710; Abigail Thornton
Washtenaw County Workers’ Center,
Ann Arbor, MI; (734) 474-7107; Julia
Malette
Twin Cities Interfaith Center for
Worker Justice, Minneapolis, MN;
(612) 332-2055; Matt Gladue
MPOWER, Morton, MS; (601) 7321898; Nikita Williams
New Labor, New Brunswick, NJ; (732)
246-2900; Rich Cunningham
Capital District Workers’ Center,
Albany, NY; (518) 482-5595; Gene
Rodriguez
Central Carolina Workers’ Center,
Greensboro, NC; (336) 230-0001;
Marilyn Baird
Western
NC
Workers’
Center,
Morganton, NC; (828) 432-5080;
Francisco Risso
Cincinnati Workers’ Center, Cincinnati,
OH; (513) 621-5991; Don Sherman
Workers Defense Project/Proyecto
Defensa Laboral, Austin, TX; (512)
391-2305; Cristina Tzintzún
Houston Interfaith Worker Justice
Center, Houston; (713) 862-8222;
Annica Gorham
Madison Workers’ Rights Center,
Madison, WI; (608) 255-0376; Patrick
Hickey
Voces de la Frontera Workers’
Center, Milwaukee, WI; (414) 643-1620;
Cristina Neumann-Ortiz