Friday, May 6, 2011

JWJ Update!

Follow Jobs with Justice on twitter, 
Jobs with Justice Solidarity Calendar – May 2011 and forward The idea is to list all the information that is shared at monthly JWJ Steering Committee—all here in one place for folks to use in union newsletters, church bulletins, email lists, or just to stick up on the fridge.

Jobs with Justice Solidarity Calendar – May 2011

(Apologies in advance for any accidental omissions; please check with event organizers to confirm any details, or call JwJ 503-236-5573.) For more information or to make an online
donation please visit http://www.jwjpdx.org

Also, follow us on twitter and facebook if you’re into that kind of thing!
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JwJpdx,
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Portland-Jobs-with-Justice/134450800882
JwJ is hiring! See below

Saturday May 14, 6pm, JwJ 20th Anniversary Dinner, We invite your participation and attendance at “20 Years: A Generation of Resistance and Visionary Action” a dinner and celebration. This event will be held Saturday May 14, 2011 at the Portland Hilton Downtown. For the last 20 years, Portland Jobs with Justice has made it a priority to stand with working people and their struggles. Right now, as workers and their allies around the country stand together to fight for collective bargaining rights in Wisconsin, Indiana and elsewhere, the solidarity that we have built in our community is more important than ever.  Throughout the years, we have accomplished many things, faced obstacles, and found ways to unite and continue to fight for the working class. It is time to come together to celebrate, reflect on our past, and to envision the future for the next 20 years of resistance and visionary action. Buy tickets here: https://afl.salsalabs.com/o/4023/c/202/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=1261

Full Mobilization for May: MHCC Strike!

Wednesday, May 11, 5pm Mt. Hood Community College Rally (College Board meeting at 6 p.m.) JwJ Carpool at 4:30pm. If no settlement is reached, the strike begins on May 12th, pickets start at 5 a.m. and will extend until the evening each day of the strike. Mt. Hood Community College, 26000 SE Stark Street, Gresham OR 97030. Strike hotline: 503-465-6608

Upcoming Actions:

Monday, May 16, 6pm AFSCME 88 Contract Rally Join Local 88 for a rally in solidarity with our bargaining team! Multnomah Building, 501 Hawthorne, Our contract is up in less than two months, and we need visible support to have enough strength at the bargaining table to win basic worker rights in the next contract. Seniority, bumping rights, COLA, and over time are at stake based on new proposals from Management. By standing together and empowering ourselves we can get a fair contract, but we need you to raise your voice!
Thursday, May 19, 4pm Informational Picket, March, and Rally Outside Association of Building Contractors event at Jimmy Mak's jazz bar (221 NW 10th Ave) in downtown Portland (gather at ILWU local 5 – 917 SW Oak St). Come join local labor unions and the community to tell ABC that we don't want their anti-union organization in our town! Organized by Portland Cross-Trade Solidarity
Friday, May 20, 11:30am, Salem Rally for a Better Way for Oregon, on the steps of the State Capitol building. Politicians are proposing drastic cuts to services that SEIU members provide, at the same time as they are considering cuts to our wages and benefits and letting wall street bankers and corporate executives who created the problem off the hook. There is a better way to protect children, seniors, and middle-class families trying to make ends meet! http://www.seiu503.org/Rally_for_a_Better_Way_for_Oregon.aspx

Friday-Saturday, June 10-11, Pitch A Tent for The Right 2 Survive!!!
Our social safety net has been gutted, affordable housing slashed, and the number of homeless folks in our city continues to grow.  There are not enough shelters, people are dying on the streets, and yet, it is ILLEGAL to pitch a tent.  As the city pours money into the annual Rose Festival activities, they will buy a permit so that people can legally camp for one night.  Right 2 Survive invites you to camp with our homeless and formerly homeless community members on the Rose Parade route, for a fun filled protest camp which will educate and mobilize Portlanders in support of housing as a human right. Exact location on the route to be announced.   Contact Right 2 Survive at r2spdx@gmail.com  or look on our blog here: www.right2survive.wordpress.com or call 503-839-9992 for more information
(See below for other events)
Upcoming JwJ Committee Meetings:
Wednesday, May 11, 3pm, Economic Crisis Committee 6025 E. Burnside
Monday, May 16, 5:30pm Executive Committee 6025 E. Burnside
Tuesday, May 17, 6pm, Health Care Committee 6025 E. Burnside

Tuesday May 24, 5:30pm Jobs with Justice and Voz Solidarity Salsa party Planning Committee at the Voz office, 1131 SE Oak-Join a committee of Jobs with Justice pledgers/activists and day laborers from Voz and and the MLK Worker Center to help plan this years Solidarity Salsa Party.  For more information contact Eliana at 503-236-5573
Wednesday, May 25, 12pm, Faith-Labor Committee 6025 E. Burnside
Wednesday, May 25, 6pm, Global Justice Committee 6025 E. Burnside
Monday, June 7, 5:30pm, Steering Committee 6025 E. Burnside


Other Events:

Saturday, May 7, 7pm, MRG Justice Within Reach Annual Party, p:ear, 338 NW 6th Ave, Portland, OR (wheelchair accessible), Cost: $25-$75 ($35 and up at the door)  http://www.mrgfoundation.org/event/justice-within-reach-2011

Sunday, May 8, 2pm Winning the Two-Sided Class War: Resistance After Wisconsin! SE Uplift, 3534 SE Main, Sponsored by the ISO

Monday, May 9, 6pm KBOO Labor Radio 2-hour special on Fair Trade and Free Trade, tune in to 90.7 fm!

Friday-Saturday, May 13-14, Rethinking Psychiatry Symposium featuring Robert Whitaker - Author of Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America,First Unitarian Church, 1211 SW Main. http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=138437579559635

Mark your calendar: Friday, June 17, VOZ Annual Dinner
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JwJ is hiring:  Application deadline:  June 1, 2011. Position begins July 1, 2011. For application or info. contact
PDX Jobs with Justice at 503-236-5573, margaret@jwjpdx.org , or 6025 E Burnside, Portland, OR 97215.
Jobs with Justice Worker Power Organizer Job Description

Jobs with Justice, a labor/community coalition of over 90 member organizations, two thirds of whom are unions, is seeking a full-time Organizer. Women and people of color are encouraged to apply. Applicants must have a demonstrated commitment to building a social justice movement in a labor, community or student setting. This may include volunteer experience. This position reports to the Director of Portland Jobs with Justice. Job duties will include:   Organizational Development and Program Work:
Base Building
·                     Initiate, develop, and deepen relationships with member organizations and leadership, both unions and community groups, through campaigns and strategic support.
·                     Staff the steering committee; gather requests and manage agenda and relationships at steering committee level
·                     Develop leaders to ensure JwJ presence at actions including membership recruitment, signage, sign ins, speakers, connecting struggles
·                     Volunteer recruitment and development
·                     Lead and bottom line major events related to worker and community struggles
·                     Develop and implement communications with base using electronic tools including an email management system and social media as well non-electronic means – postcards, letters etc
·                     Initiate, develop and deepen relationships with community and faith leaders
·                     staff the Workers' Rights Board Committee
·                     staff the Faith Labor Committee
Campaigns
·                     Lead JwJ strategic engagement in campaigns: recruit key volunteers to help think and build the JwJ piece of member organizations' campaigns
·                     Coordinate with committees and engage them where appropriate in member organizations' campaigns
 Fundraising
·                     Lead on organization based fundraising:
·                     Work with Executive Director on member organization contributions
 Required qualifications and skills
·                     Two years of organizing experience in the labor movement (can be as a rank and file organizer)
·                     Demonstrated commitment to building a social justice movement
·                     Written and oral communication skills
·                     Computer and database skills
·                     Demonstrated cultural competency
·                     Desire and ability to promote and advance an anti-racist agenda within the organization
·                     Ability to work collaboratively within an organization
·                     Commitment to developing rank and file leadership
·                     Capacity for creative and strategic thinking
·                     Ability to motivate and inspire coalition members and rank and file workers
·                     
Additional qualifications and skills desired
·                     Teaching or training experience
·                     Experience working in coalitions
·                     Bi-lingual in Spanish and English
·                     Experience with network technology
·                     
Benefits
·                     Medical and dental benefits
·                     Three weeks vacation
·                     Paid holidays
·                     401 K with employer contribution based on budget year
·                     Some schedule flexibility and comp time
 Salary range
·                     $33,000 to $38,000 depending on experience
Who we are. Now in its twenty-first year, Portland Jobs with Justice is a coalition of over 90 labor organizations and community groups dedicated to protecting the rights of working people and supporting community struggles to build a more just society. We are committed to the creation of family wage jobs, support for organizing both here and abroad, and employment security for our communities. In our work JwJ gives priority to struggles involving the most vulnerable workers in our community, low wage workers, immigrants, people of color, women and youth. Jobs with Justice mobilizes support for labor and community struggles at rallies, on picket lines, in educational settings and at hearings. JwJ believes that direct action is an important part of supporting these campaigns. We are committed to creating an organization that is fully inclusive and welcoming to everyone.

(Apologies in advance for any accidental omissions; please check with event organizers to confirm any details, or call JwJ 503-236-5573.)
For more information or to make online donations please visit
http://www.jwjpdx.org

Also, follow us on twitter and facebook if you’re into that kind of thing! 
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/JwJpdx,Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Portland-Jobs-with-Justice/134450800882

Big News: The Korea Free Trade Agreement has been defeated, at least for now
. It's still not clear exactly what happened, but we know that Senator Wyden has been complaining about our pressure. News story here: http://bit.ly/bPOsD0