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Call for "First Friday" Actions
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
See the Coalition's monthly unemployment
update for current information.
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
Word version of call to action available at:
http://groups.google.com/group/drivefordecentwork
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
Website: http://www.NJFAC.org/
Blog: http://www.DriveForDecentWork.org • Email: njfac[AT]njfac.org
The National Jobs for All Coalition is a
project of the Council on International and Public Affairs.
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