Thursday, October 21, 2010

About the Campaign

The Put America to Work Campaign is a national grassroots citizens' campaign to pass comprehensive federal job creation legislation, achieve full employment and secure the right to a living wage job for every person in the U.S. who wants one.  

Our current strategic focus to build national support for HR 870, the Humphrey Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act, introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI).   To mobilize support for the bill, we will be conducting a national program of community forums and teach-ins to educate policymakers and citizens about the jobs crisis and the need for massive public investment to improve our infrastructure, human services and social safety net.  

We seek to put a human face on unemployment, underemployment, financial insecurity and economic distress.  Our goal is to build a powerful national social movement that harnesses the voices of ordinary Americans and community organizations to permanently improve the economic rights for people who live in this country, including the right to a job, the right to a decent education, the right to health care and the right to income and retirement security. 

In taking on this challenge, we want to create a more compassionate and solidaristic economy, where the public interest and the common welfare are valued, and people from all walks of life join together to reduce and eliminate poverty and chronic unemployment.   Whether we have a good job or we are unemployed, we have a huge stake in each other's well-being.  The problems of unemployment, poor wages and poverty are not just the problems of the unemployed and the poor -- they are the problems of all of us.  We have all seen corporations abruptly eliminate and shed jobs of highly-paid workers when it suits them to do so.  The economic security of workers-at-large will be greatly improved by ensuring that everyone who wants to work has the right and opportunity to do so. 

To that end, we seek to inspire a much high level of public awareness and civic engagement about solving the serious, long-standing and chronic problems of unemployment, underemployment and poverty in the U.S.  Even in relatively good times, tens of millions of Americans have continued to suffer with inadequate job opportunities and low wages.   The fight for full employment and economic justice must go to the top of the national agenda, and stay there until all Americans have the economic right to a decent job and livelihood.

The campaign is a project of the National Jobs for All Coalition, a national organization based in New York that advocates for full employment and living wage jobs for all.  Contributions to NJFAC are tax-deductible and we welcome financial and volunteer contributions in support of the campaign.

To join the campaign and endorse HR 870, or request more information, please fill out our contact form.

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