Put America to Work Campaign: September 2011

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Saturday, Sept 10 -- NYC Labor Day Parade Information

A National Jobs for All Coalition contigent has been invited to march with CWA Local 1180 at the New York City Labor Day Parade, which takes place on Saturday September 10.

We will meet at 10:45 AM on Saturday, September 10 on 45th Street between 5th Avenue and Vanderbilt Avenue.

We understand that Rekindling Reform will also be marching with the CWA 1180 group.

PS If you are unemployed person and you want to get in touch with the Workers' Defense League, here is their contact information:

Workers Defense League

275 7th Avenue

New York, NY 10001-6708(212) 627-1931

Welcome WBAI "City Watch" Listeners!

If you're looking to get involved in organizing to end the jobs crisis, you've come to the right place!

Please endorse HR 870 here (either as an individual or an organization!) so we build momentum and keep in touch with you. See our fact sheet on HR 870. Please contact members of the House of Representatives that represent you and urge them to cosponsor the bill.

For information on Rep. Jan Schakowsky's Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act, click here. As of right now, there is no bill number for Rep. Schakowsky's bill, so check back on her web site after Labor Day. Click here to read more about HR 402, Rep. Rosa DeLauro's bill to create a National Infrastructure Bank

Our thanks to Mark Dunlea and Bich Ha Pham of WBAI City Watch for their efforts to inform the public about the jobs crisis and progressive solutions.

Help Organize A National Campaign to Enact HR 870,

The Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment & Training Act

Rep. John Conyers has proposed new legislation that would create a national jobs

program, funded by a financial speculation tax on Wall Street stock, bond and swaps

and derivative trading. The bill, HR 870, will be reintroduced in the next few weeks

with additional provisions emphasizing the right of all workers to a good job, and

calling for the federal government to “create living wage jobs for all at the earliest

practicable date.”

TAKE ACTION NOW FOR A NATIONAL JOBS PROGRAM & FULL EMPLOYMENT!!

1) Endorse HR 870 at www.PutAmericaToWork.net

2) Contact House Members and Urge Them to Cosponsor the Bill.

Urge Senators to Introduce a Companion Bill.

3) Pass a Local Resolution in your city or county or state or Labor Council about

the unemployment crisis and in support of HR 870 -- visit

www.PutAmericaToWork.net to download sample resolutions.

4) Hold a “First Friday” or “First Saturday” vigil or demonstration in your

community to protest the high unemployment rate, and demand a national

jobs program. (The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics releases new

unemployment statistics on the First Friday of every month, so you can

piggyback on local coverage of the unemployment crisis.) Develop a local

coalition/network in support of a national jobs program. Contact Logan

Martinez of NJFAC for more information. Loganmartinez2u@yahoo.com or

(937) 260-2591.

5) Organize a Local Community Forum or “Citizens’ Hearings about the

Unemployment Crisis.” Invite unemployed and underemployed workers to

speak about their experiences. Invite local & national experts to talk about

the human costs of unemployment, and the need for a national jobs program.

More info: www.PutAmericaToWork.net

Chuck Bell, Coordinator (914) 830-0639, cbell [at] igc.org

National Jobs For All Coalition, P.O Box 96, Lynbrook, NY 11563

Phone: 203-856-3877 • Web: www.njfac.org • E-mail: njfac [at] njfac.org

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Other Priority Federal Job Creation Legislation

In addition to HR 1000, there are several other very important job creation bills pending in Congress. Some of these bills may be reintroduced in the next legislative session. The Put America to Work Campaign thanks the sponsors of these bills for their vision and leadership.

HR 1617 – Emergency Jobs to Restore the American Dream Act

Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and 19 cosponsors have introduced HR 1617, which would create over 2 million jobs over two years. These jobs would include public service jobs to implement energy audit programs and retrofits, improve public parks, renovate schools and housing, and expand childcare and early education .HR 1617 would cost $227 billion over two years and is fully paid for through separate legislation that creates higher tax brackets for millionaires and billionaires, eliminates subsidies for Big Oil, and closes loopholes for corporations that ship American jobs overseas.

HR 2553 – National Infrastructure Bank Act

Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) has introduced the National Infrastructure Bank Act, with 103 cosponsors. The bill would create and fund a public bank to leverage private and public capital to support infrastructure projects of national and regional significance, including transportation, environment, energy, telecommunications and water projects.The bank would have a major emphasis in fundingenvironmental infrastructure projects such as enhancing clean water; energy and electric infrastructure projects, and is supported by the Blue-Green Alliance, the United Steelworkers and Utility Workers of America.

HR 188 -- The 21st Century Civilian Conservation Corps Act

Rep. Marcy Kaptur and 2 cosponsors have introduced HR 188, which would establish a Civilian Conservation Corps to employ unemployed or underemployed U.S. citizens in the construction, maintenance, and carrying on of works of a public nature, such as forestation of U.S. and state lands, prevention of forest fires, floods, and soil erosion, and construction and repair of National Park System paths and trails. The bill would be funded at a level of $16 billion a year from fiscal year 2014 through fiscal year 2017.

You can help!! Support these bills and urge others to do so.Pass a resolution supporting these bills in your union, Labor Council, community organization or city council. Visit www.PutAmericaToWork.net for more information about the bills, related federal legislation, and sample resolutions.

HR 1000: The Humphrey-Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act

HR 1000, a revised version of HR 870 and HR 4277 introduced in previous sessions of Congress, was reintroduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) on March 6, 2013. This transformative federal legislation would create a national public service jobs program to complement job creation efforts in the private and nonprofit sectors. Most notably, the bill "aims to provide a job to any American that seeks work, and to ultimately, create a full employment society."

HR 1000 creates a national "Full Employment and Training Trust Fund," funded by a small Financial Transactions Tax on stock, bond and derivatives transactions. This would create a major new national funding source large enough to create 2.5 to 4 million jobs in the first two years of the program. The bill would also provide much additional funding to support innovative job training programs, such as one-stop career centers, YouthBuild and Job Corps, among others.

Click here for more info

Pass a Local Resolution in Support of HR 1000!

Help build momentum for a national jobs program by passing a local resolution in your city, county or state legislature!

See here for a sample resolution:

Draft New York City Resolution in Support of HR 870/HR 4277 (previous version of HR 1000 -pending)

Recently Passed Resolutions

AFSCME 2012 Convention Amended Jobs Resolution -- passed at 40th International Convention, 6/18-22/12, Los Angeles, CA

Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) Resolution -- passed at National Confereence, 7/26-28/12, Orlando, FL

National Organization For Women (NOW) Resolution -- passed at National Conference, Baltimore, MD 7/1/12

Other resources for passing local jobs resolutions:

Local Jobs Resolution Toolkit, from Cities for Progress

Put America to Work!!

The Put America to Work Campaign seeks to organize a strong national social movement to guarantee a right to a living wage job for every person who wants one.

As part of our work, we strongly support the Humphrey Hawkins 21st Century Full Employment and Training Act (HR 870), which aims to create millions of jobs for unemployed workers and move the US towards a full employment society.

The bill establishes a National Full Employment Trust Fund to fund an innovative direct job creation program. The Trust Fund will pay for new jobs on Main Street by raising new revenue through a small, targeted tax on Wall Street stock, options, futures, swaps and credit default swap transactions.

This campaign is a project of the National Jobs For All Coalition, which is working to build a new movement for full employment at liveable wages. For more info, visit: www.NJFAC.org

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 1000, 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 Put America to Work 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 1000, or request more information, please fill out our contact form.