Harvard University Graduate Students Form a Union!

We are so excited that after months of hard work, Harvard Graduate students have voted to join a union.

The Boston Globe says "Harvard University graduate students have voted to join the United Auto Workers, part of a wave of teaching and research assistants on private college campuses embracing the labor movement." To read more about this victory, click HERE!

We are particularly happy to share in this victory with UAW organizer Jenna Grady, a former New England Jewish Labor Committee Program Associate.  We look forward to seeing the union grow and thrive!

JLC LABOR SEDER IN MEMPHIS FOR 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF SANITATION WORKERS STRIKE AND ASSASSINATION OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

In celebration of Dr. King Jr.'s Work and his commitment to bringing Civil Rights and Labor activists together,

the JLC, AFSCME and the I AM 2018 Coalition hosted a National Faith-Labor Leadership Passover Seder on Wednesday April 4th.

This year, the Jewish holiday of Passover falls at the same time as the anniversary of Dr. King, Jr.'s death. The Passover imagery and themes of the Exodus often imbued Dr. King, Jr.'s words. The National Faith-Labor Leadership Seder combined the traditional celebration of Passover with a rededication to the work, the words, and the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Fifty years ago, Dr. King, Jr. traveled to Memphis to lend his voice to the city sanitation workers' growing "I AM A MAN" strike, which began after two workers were crushed to death by faulty equipment. Dr. King, Jr. went to meet with strikers for a march on April 8, 1968 at the, Clayborn Temple at Hernando Street in Memphis, where the JLC Seder will be held.

The night before Dr. King, Jr.'s death, he told an overflow crowd at nearby Mason Temple that if he could travel through history, "I would watch God's children in their magnificent trek from the dark dungeons of Egypt...across the Red Sea, through the wilderness, on toward the Promised Land." Dr. King, Jr. also noted, that, like Moses, "I may not get there with you." Dr. King, Jr. had already accepted an invitation for less than two weeks later to celebrate that Passover with the renowned rabbi and civil rights advocate Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel.

The seder was timed to be an hour after what is known as the "6:01" ceremony at the Lorraine Motel, denoting the felling of Dr. King, Jr. by an assassin's bullet, and was held at the very meeting place where Dr. King and the Memphis sanitation workers gathered to secure the right to organize and bargain collectively.

Thank You for Coming to the 18th Annual Labor Seder

Thank you to everyone who participated in our 18th Annual Labor Seder!It was a great evening of celebration, new connection, and honoring the hard work of many in our communities this year. We heard from our special honorees, Frank Callahan of the Mass Building Trades Council, and Rabbi Toba Spitzer of Congregation Dorshei Tzedek, both of whom are incredible longtime defenders of workers rights.We took time to recognize the Nurses at Tufts Medical Center, who undertook a historic strike to fight for a fair contract, the first group of nurses to strike in Boston in over 30 years. Together, we also recognized the Massachusetts Coalition for Domestic Workers, who have been fighting tirelessly for law and action ensuring safe and fair working conditions for domestic workers through the D0mestic Workers' Bill of Right. The Coalition has supported the JLC to conduct employer education in synagogues to help implement these legal protections.A big thank you from the New England JLC to all who came and supported -- see you next year!

Rabbis Arrested in a Rally for Dreamers at U.S. Capitol

JLC Executive Director Jonathan D. Rosenblum and JLC New England Co-Chair Rabbi Barbara Penzner were arrested on January 17, 2018 in a rally for Dreamers at the U.S. Capitol. Rosenblum and Rabbi Penzner’s arrests—which occurred while they and more than 80 rabbis and other Jewish community activists sang “We Shall Not Be Moved”— were broadcast live by MSNBC, with commentary from reporter Andrew Rafferty. The noontime Capitol report has some half million daily viewers. http://www.msnbc.com/…/protesters-take-to-capitol-hill-to-f…

These and other rallies for Dreamers led to a three-day government shutdown, a short-term extension to February 8, and another likely showdown in Congress for a “clean” vote on Dreamers legislation.

Photo courtesy of Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

Delegation of Faith Leaders and Airport Workers Deliver a Letter to JetBlue

 On December 21, a delegation of faith leaders and airport workers delivered a letter to JetBlue at Boston Logan Airport. The letter from the faith delegation (including Imam Abdul-Malik Merchant from Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center; Pastor Dieufort Fleurissant of Voice of Gospel Tabernacle, Mattapan; Rabbi Michael Rothbaum of Congregation Beth Elohim, Acton; Reverend Norm Faramelli, Father Bob Kennedy, Alan Comeau and Sister Tess Browne from Massachusetts Interfaith Worker Justice; and xx from Catholic Labor Guild) read in part:

“We have heard that, as you are working to make our city one of your biggest travel hubs, you are also allowing your contracted FSS and ReadyJet to unjustly hurt working families in our city… We need an airline that will hire responsible contractors that respect people in your travel hubs, whether they are your passengers or the workers who keep your airport running."ReadyJet and FSS, the two biggest aviation service contractors for JetBlue at Logan Airport, both have a long record of wage theft, violations of labor laws, and health & safety violations. Employees like Sadia Mohammed are fighting for respect and a union at Logan Airport, and have even gone on strike to protest unfair labor practices.Thanks to faith allies for standing up for justice for workers at Logan!

Support a $15 Minimum Wage and Paid Leave!

This year, the New England Jewish Labor Committee is collecting signatures on two key legislative issues as a member of the Raise Up Massachusetts coalition:

• Raising the minimum wage to $15/hour
• Creating a statewide paid family and medical leave system to provide access to 12-16 weeks of paid leave for over 1 million workers in the Commonwealth

We are less than three weeks out from the end of the campaign, and we need your help to reach our goals. We have two major days coming up, and countless other opportunities if you can’t make it to these. If you’re interested in volunteering with us, email our Program Associate at elie.nejlc@gmail.com.Our first day is Sunday, November 5th will be an opportunity to collect signatures at locations across the Boston area. If you are interested in having fun collecting signatures with folks from Dorshei Tzedek at some shopping areas in Watertown or in Newton locations, contact Amy Mazur, at acmazur@comcast.net. If you want information on collecting signatures in other areas, click here.Our second major opportunity to collect signatures is on Tuesday, November 7th.  It is election day and therefore the most important day of the campaign!  If you can, join us in collecting signatures at a polling location near you.  We especially encourage you to collect from 7am to 9am, when many people are voting before work. To sign up to collect signatures, email our Program Associate Elie at elie.nejlc@gmail.com.