Faith WORKS Newsletter of Interfaith Worker Justice Spring 2013 Immigration Reform is NOT Optional he debate around immigra- immigrant brothers and sisters, we • Start a postcard drive in your con- grant” banner outside your place tion reform can be divisive, have an opportunity to help make gregation: download immigration of worship. Email [email protected] controversial and emotional. comprehensive immigration reform reform postcards at www.iwj.org, for more information. But if we boil it down to the finally happen. collect signatures and mail the • Plan to participate in May Day Tbasics and ask ourselves what we as Over the last few months, IWJ cards to your representatives. rallies and actions on May 1. a nation, gain from: along with the Interfaith Immigration • Educate people in your congrega- • Organize a prayer vigil. Resourc- • uprooting hardworking individu- Coalition, Alliance for Citizenship, tion or community group about es available at www.iwj.org. als from their jobs and commu- United Workers Congress, and other the importance of immigration • Subscribe to IWJ’s action alerts nities, tearing them away from allies, has been working to bring reform. Check out IWJ’s state- and find out when emergency their families? together people of faith in support ment of principles on immigra- actions, events and delegations • a system that forces millions of of immigration reform. IWJ affiliates tion reform. are planned in your area. around the country have been busy • Encourage your congregation to workers into an underground For questions and additional infor- organizing prayer vigils, leading display a “Welcome the Immi- economy, making them vulner- mation, email [email protected]. able to exploitation, wage theft delegations to their representatives and obscene underpayment by and facilitating immigration reform unscrupulous employers? discussions within congregations and • denying millions of workers – community groups. who are consumers and taxpay- It’s going to be a very busy ers – an immigration status that summer. We have a small window could mean higher wages, more of opportunity to let our elected taxes and a greater contribution officials know that passing real and to the economy? humane immigration reform is not optional. It must be done and it must The answer is nothing. We gain noth- be done now. So, if we want to win ing by maintaining the status quo. If fair and humane immigration reform anything, we lose: families are ripped this time around, we must all pitch apart, communities disrupted, work- in to make it happen! Here’s what place standards and wages plummet you can do: Thousands rally for immigration reform. Join us on May 1. for all workers, and we miss out on a potential billion-dollar revenue source. (Check out the recent report from the Center for American Prog- Moving Forward to ress: The Economic Effects of Grant- We’ve Got the ing Legal Status and Citizenship to End Wage Theft Undocumented Immigrants) Goods The time to overhaul our broken ur affiliate network is knee deep in work to end wage theft, pushing and inhumane immigration system Thanks to the good work of IWJ board members, interns, faith Ofor state and local legislation that is tough on employers who steal is now. As people of faith who rec- from their workers. ognize and honor the social and leaders and allies on the ground, economic contributions made by our we continue to broaden our Great News in Chicago! resource offerings that highlight In January, the City Council in Chicago unanimously passed an anti-wage the sacred intersection of faith theft ordinance (one of strongest in the country.) ARISE Chicago, an IWJ /interfaithworkerjustice and labor. In the last six months, affiliate, worked with Alderman Pawar (47th Ward) to develop the ordinance. we’ve introduced a series of sea- Chicago is now the largest city in the country with such an ordinance. sonal reflections that we hope The new ordinance could revoke business licenses for employers found @iwjnational you found useful. We’ve also guilty of wage theft. Worker advocates say the new ordinance will protect developed toolkits and guides to vulnerable workers and promote ethical business practices across the city. help congregations and individu- /iwjnational “Now we have to work on enforcement,” ARISE organizer Jorge Mujica als understand important issues told IWJ staff after the ordinance passed. that impact working families. According to a report from the University of Illinois-Chicago’s Center Issues like immigration reform, for Urban Economic Development, employers steal an estimated $7.3 mil- Interfaith wage theft and minimum wage. lion of workers’ wages every week in Cook County alone. For prayers, bulletin inserts, bible Winning campaigns like those in Chicago, Broward and Miami-Dade studies, organizing toolkits, visit counties in Florida, and the state of Texas, pave the way for ordinances www.iwj.org/resources. If you in other communities that are working toward building awareness and would like to see a particular urgency around solving a problem that affects so many people. Worker Justice resource developed, please 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave., 4th Fl. email [email protected]. Working hard to push for strong laws across the country Chicago, IL 60660 After spending the year researching data and gathering worker stories, the (773) 728-8400 • www.iwj.org Continued on p. 4 IWJ Board Justice for Retired Miners President: The Rev. Dr. Paul Sherry Vice-President: Ms. Ros Pelles nterfaith Worker Justice joins faith most dangerous jobs in the country, Board Development Chair: Ms. Kathy Saile communities across the country in and they rely on the good healthcare Communications Chair: Mr. Naeem Baig Icalling on Patriot Coal executives benefits in their union contract. Min- Finance Chair: Mr. John Howard to protect the healthcare benefits and ers like William Rogers, who needs a Fundraising Chair: Mr. Jules Bernstein pensions of retired Peabody Energy constant stream of oxygen to survive Organizing Chair: The Rev. Troy Jackson union coal miners. after contracting black lung working Public Policy Chair: Dr. Edith Rasell In 2007, Peabody Energy cre- for Peabody, are at risk. Dr. Charles Amjad-Ali ated Patriot Coal to take over most People of faith and labor advo- Ms. Arlene Holt Baker of Peabody’s healthcare and pension cates are organizing to support these Mr. Steven Birnbaum obligations. workers. Rabbi Laurie Coskey Now, Patriot is seeking to reor- More than 90 faith leaders and Mr. Tom Costanza ganize under Chapter 11 bankruptcy. people of faith signed an open letter Mr. Phil Cubeta The Rev. Dr. Lillian Daniel As a part of their restructuring, lead- urging the corporation’s leaders to Imam Taha Hassane ers from Patriot seek to terminate protect the pensions and healthcare Mr. John Hill benefits in the union contract for benefits promised in the Peabody The Rev. Daryl Ingram more than 20,000 retired Peabody contract. Rabbi Jill Jacobs mineworkers who never worked a Over the last couple of months, IWJ Executive Director Kim Bobo was The Rev. Chris Johnson day at Patriot Coal. mineworkers, labor activists and arrested, March 19, along with retired The Rev. Dr. Ken Brooker Langston “It’s awful that these workers people of faith in St. Louis (where and active mineworkers who took Ms. Susan Leslie might lose their healthcare benefits Peabody and Patriot are headquar- over the street outside the St. Louis Federal Courthouse where Patriot’s The Rev. Dr. Leonard Lovett after working all their life for Pea- tered) have supported retired miners Dr. Joseph A. McCartin bankruptcy case was being heard. The Rev. Aaron McEmrys body,” said IWJ’s Kim Bobo. “It’s real- at actions and marches during the Mr. Todd O’Malley ly unimaginable the suffering some bankruptcy proceedings. Many min- Patriot campaign on the web! Sign The Rev. Doug Mork of these miners would experience ers have been arrested at peaceful an open letter to Peabody executives Sr. Mary Priniski, OP without their healthcare.” demonstrations in St. Louis. (http://bit.ly/MinersJustice) and keep The Rev. Frank Raines III Mineworkers have one of the Learn more about the Fairness at the workers in your prayers. Rabbi Elizabeth Richman Ms. Elena Segura The Rev. Jim Sessions The Rev. Bill Somplatsky-Jarman Testing...1,2,3 The Rev. Bennie Whiten Jr. IWJ recently launched a new pilot program, the The Rev. David Wildman VITA Wage Theft project. It is a joint initiative with Special Advisors the Center for Economic Progress, which coordi- Bishop Jesse DeWitt* nates the Volunteers in Tax Assistance (VITA) pro- The Rev. Jim Lawson gram in Chicago, the Illinois Department of Labor, The Rev. Joseph Echols Lowery the National Lawyers Guild and Interfaith Worker Rabbi Robert Marx* Justice. Volunteers interview tax filers to identify * Former Board President cases of wage theft and help them file Department Labor Advisory Board of Labor claims or connect them to a lawyer to Tim Beaty, Teamsters recover their stolen wages. IWJ hopes to expand Tom Chabolla, SEIU the program to the thousands of VITA sites across the nation. To learn more about the program, Alan Freeman, IBEW Volunteers like Nieves Bolanos of Robin Potter & Associates and James Gibbs, UMWA email [email protected]. Gia Arizpe a Kent Law School student interview tax filers. The Rev. Clete Kiley, UNITE HERE Charles Lester, ATU Esther Lopez, UFCW Donna McDaniel, LIUNA Onward & Upward! Building Rosalyn Pelles, AFL-CIO Fred Redmond, United Steelworkers Power for Today’s Workers Foster Stringer, AFT Kenneth Zinn, National Nurses United The IWJ Worker Center Network is proud to welcome its 27th member, the Center for Worker Justice of Eastern Iowa (CWJEI). For detailed Board and Staff information CWJEI aims to unite low-wage workers in Eastern Iowa across Raise your voice visit: www.iwj.org/about/board or race and immigration status to achieve social and economic www.iwj.org/about/staff justice through education, organizing, direct services and com- for a Living Wage! munity alliances.