On the first Friday of each month the Labor Department releases the previous month’s unemployment numbers, and the issue of unemployment and joblessness gets attention from the news media. The National Jobs for All Coalition is urging groups and unemployed workers to hold news conferences, vigils and pickets at unemployment offices, and to take other creative action to demand jobs and an effective safety net.
Participate in a month of local actions and news conferences calling for a national jobs for all program and a safety net to protect the people from the impact of the economic crisis. Build strong local coalitions and pick a date for your action, then let us know so we can post it here. Questions, suggestions contact Logan at 937-275-7259 / loganmartinez2u[at]yahoo.com
Pittsburgh based Mon-Valley Unemployed Committee has endorsed the call for First Friday Actions and is planning monthly actions. Mon-Valley Unemployed Committee is the long time leader of the struggles of unemployed workers and poor people in western PA.
Pittsburgh / Homestead PA Paul Lodico Mon-Valley Unemployed Committee mvuc@msn.com 800-334-7888 412-462-9962
Ohio endorsers of THE DRIVE FOR DECENT WORK.
These six Ohio organizations endorsed THE DRIVE FOR DECENT WORK.
STOP Targeting Ohio’s Poor / Cleveland Miami Valley Full Employment Council / Dayton
The Advocacy/Education Committee of the Community Action Partnership of the Greater Dayton Area
The Community Organizing Center / Columbus
Statewide:
Organize! Ohio
The Green Party of Ohio
NATIONAL CALL FOR “FIRST FRIDAY†ACTIONS
TO DEMAND GOOD JOBS FOR ALL NOW!!
Organize Local Press Conferences and Demonstrations to Protest Growing Unemployment, and Devastating Impacts on Workers and Communities
We, the undersigned, call for regular local press conferences and demonstrations on the First Friday of each month, to 1) demand decent, living wage jobs for everyone who wants to work; 2) ensure there is adequate income and support for all unemployed, underemployed and underpaid workers; and 3) call attention to priority public needs that can be addressed through new programs of public and private job creation.
Unemployment, underemployment and inadequate wages devastate the people who are denied adequate work and a decent living, and disrupts family and community life. The chronic shortage of decent jobs contributes directly to increased marital and family breakup, increased evictions and homelessness, rising crime and community abandonment.
Rising unemployment not only causes hardships for job losers but reduces tax revenues by billions of dollars—dollars that could finance vital social programs and create more jobs. Unemployment literally throws away billions of dollars of potential national output—schools and housing not built, child and elder care not provided.
As the economy continues its lagging “recovery”, workers and representatives of community, labor and religious organizations must organize and speak out, and call attention to the growing unemployment crisis.
Why the First Friday? On the first Friday of each month the Labor Dept. releases the previous month’s unemployment numbers, and the issue of unemployment and joblessness gets regular attention from the news media. This is an excellent time to call attention to rising job loss and its devastating human and financial consequences.
The National Jobs for All Coalition urges activist groups and unemployed workers to hold news conferences, vigils, pickets at unemployment offices, and to take other creative action to demand jobs and an effective safety net to protect the unemployed and others hurt by this economic crisis.
The National Jobs For All Coalition is calling for a Drive for Decent Work — a package of additional federal bills to improve our society and create millions of needed jobs. The federal economic stimulus bill is a good start, but much more needs to be done to stem the employment crisis.
The U.S. has a huge backlog of needs for fixing our physical infrastructure and increasing public services such as education, health care, and child care. We propose to link the movement for good jobs for all to grassroots movements to meet unmet needs for clean energy, better schools and housing, mass transportation, education and other public services. Shared Prosperity and the Drive for Decent Work is our blueprint for job creation, but we welcome your ideas and suggestions.
We are also asking groups to consider organizing town meetings or forums on the economic crisis and its impact in their communities. The country needs a lively public debate on the directions we might take to deal with the recession/depression. We face both a difficult time and a time of great opportunity to build a grassroots movement for change.
These actions, modest though they may be at the outset, will require work to coordinate and then build upon. We believe that these actions — and the community dialogue and activism they generate – can become a driving force for a much more powerful movement for jobs and economic justice.
Through the First Friday movement, we will work to build up a national network of community, labor, religious and civic organizations concerned about rising unemployment and lasting solutions to the economic crisis. We will also work to gather organizational endorsements and target key cities and towns for endorsing resolutions supporting the Drive for Decent Work, and calling for passage of additional job creation and economic stimulus measures.
For Jobs & Peace.
Endorse the call to action by emailing Logan at: loganmartinez2u [at] yahoo.com
Logan Martinez, Outreach Coordinator
937-275-7259 / cell 937-609-3701
Email: loganmartinez2u [at] yahoo.com
Web: http://www.NJFAC.org
Blog: www.DriveForDecentWork.org
YES! I want to endorse the National Call for First Friday Actions to Demand Good Jobs for All Now!
Name:___________________________________
Affiliation, if any:_______________________
Address:________________________________________
City/State/ZIP:___________________
Telephone:______________________________________
E-mail:________________________
__ This is an organizational endorsement
__ This is a personal endorsement (organization listed for affiliation only.
National Jobs for All Coalition (NJFAC) P.O. Box 96, Lynbrook NY 11563
Blog: http://www.DriveForDecentWork.org • Email: njfac[AT]njfac.org