One Nation Rally, this Saturday: Sign up by 5 pm tomorrow, and get a free seat down from Center City!

Awesome update: Thanks to the good folks at 1199c and Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, we are now offering seating from both Sam Fels High School up in North Philly, and from 1199c's headquarters in Center City at 1319 Locust Street. John Hundzynski of 1199c also mentioned that they'll have free boxed lunches on their bus. And some of those great looking t-shirts that they had at the city Labor Day parade.

If you want to join JwJ activists taking the 1199c bus from 1319 Locust, you MUST sign up BEFORE 5 PM tomorrow (Thursday), so that they'll have a headcount. Register using our form over at SurveyMonkey. The bus will be leaving at 6 a.m. sharp from 1319 Locust street; please be sure to be on time.

There is also still room available for JwJers on the PFT bus from Sam Fels High School, which you can register for here. My apologies for any confusion about the other two PFT bus locations--PFT is only able to offer free transportation for non-PFT members going from Sam Fels.

This is a rally you want to be at. We need full employment and fair jobs, and Washington needs to hear that from us. Between Glenn Beck's Tea Party rally last month and the noise the Stewart/Colbert folks are making with their parody events, the press is suddenly interested in talking about rallies. We have a crucial message, and we have a tremendous opportunity to deliver it not just to Washington, but to the entire country.

Saturday, 10/2. Get excited!

Phila. Federation of Teachers providing FREE bus seating to 'One Nation' Rally in Washington on Oct. 2

New information about the historic ONE NATION March, Oct. 2, Washington, DC. Reserve a seat on a free bus to Washington Today:
9/3/2010

It's time to put America back to work and pull America together.

That's why the PFT is sponsoring free buses to Washington , D.C., on Saturday, October 2, where we will join tens of thousands of Americans for a massive rally at the Lincoln Memorial.

Reserve your seat below to ride with your friends, family and colleagues to the One Nation March. (It just takes a minute to register, and you can register yourself, as well as family members and friends at the same time.)

You will receive an Email Confirmation, which you must print out and present as your boarding pass.

Register to board the bus at Samuel Fels High School here.

For complete information, visit the PFT site here!

With Persistent Unemployment & Record Numbers in Poverty, Protesters Declare a Jobs Emergency

On September 15, Jobs with Justice coalitions and allies in more than 100 cities nationwide brought the voices of workers, community members, and the unemployed into the debate on how to move forward on a jobs plan that would put people back to work immediately.  With 15 million people out of work and one in seven  Americans living below the official poverty line, the time is now for Congress to take bold action to move the country towards full and fair employment and to ensure that Wall Street pays their fair share.

Jobs with Justice coalitions organized a wide range of events to send a message:  If Congress won't act to create jobs, then maybe they don't deserve to have jobs.  JwJ activists were in the streets to demand that Congress create and save jobs through legislation like the Local Jobs for America Act, extension of the TANF emergency fund, and action on President Obama's call to invest in the country's infrastructure as well as to extend unemployment insurance and pass legislation that ensures Wall Street paytheir fair share. 

Philadelphia Jobs with Justice held a rally for fair jobs, full employment, and funding for public services in front of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and in view of City Hall. A group of approximately 100 activists rallied to demand an end to local tax breaks for big business, protection of public services in the city, and adoption of national, pro-worker legislation, especially the Local Jobs for America Act.

Here are some photos of the Philly scene graciously provided by JwJ activist Jesse W. Brown. (Click on an image to enlarge.)

Join Philly JwJ tomorrow, 9/15/10, at noon to rally for jobs!

Could you imagine a Philadelphia without libraries, firefighters, trash collection, or even basic after school activities for our children?

Could you imagine a city that serves only its billionaires, and taxes only its poor?

Could you imagine a city without livable jobs?

That's the Philadelphia that C.E.O.'s at big businesses like Comcast, Verizon, and Sunoco would love to make a reality.

Tomorrow, with our neighbors, our co-workers, we fight back.
Tomorrow, we take our fight for jobs and a fair economy to the streets.
Tomorrow, we tell big business: pay your fair share.

Join us in part of a nationwide Emergency Day of Action for jobs.

When:: 12 pm - 1 pm, Wednesday, 9/15/2010
Where: : Corner of Broad and Walnut Sts., Philadelphia
What:: SOS Jobs: A Rally for Jobs

Don't let City Council forget that this is a city of people, not corporations. Let's remind them what a fair city economy looks like: funding for city services, fair employment, and an end to tax breaks for millionaire and billionaire corporations.

Endorsed by AFSCME District 47, Philadelphia NAACP, Philadelphia One Nation Organizing Committee, Coalition for Labor Union Women, Media Mobilization Project, Philadelphia Unemployment Project, Coalition for Essential Services, Act Up Philadelphia, National Jobs with Justice, and Progressive Democrats for America.

Corporate America isn't going to know what hit 'em.

RSVP on Facebook now!

If we could only share this video up to the 1:48 mark, we would.

We kind of have mixed feelings about "Bed Intruder Song," which has now broken the Billboard 100. But the Gregory Brothers, who masterminded that super-catchy work of questionable gender politics, have another piece we can definitely get behind: "Banker's Song." For your viewing pleasure:




Oh, hindsight.

Link: Banker's Song (we didn't see it coming) (Autotune The News)

Link: How Wall Street made the crisis worse (NPR and ProPublica)

We need you: help us help workers!

This fall is going to be an exciting one for Philly JwJ, with a full slate of direct action and organizing work that will build power for workers and their communities, and win battles for full employment, fair jobs, and funded public services. As we mobilize for our September 15th SOS Jobs Rally, we are asking anyone who is able to join as a sustaining member to help us win these fights. We need your help to step up and help us reach our goal of signing up 99 new sustainers this fall in protest of the 99 week gap on unemployment benefits. Sign up to sustain, and get into our October 16th Sustainer Soiree for free!

Here's what sustainers will help us accomplish this fall:

• Kick off an exciting campaign to win rights for local workers and community members up in the area around Temple;
  
  
• work alongside city residents and public service workers in a fierce direct action campaign to keep city workers fairly employed, and keep essential services like libraries, pools, after-school programming, and more free and open;
  
  
• fight alongside workers and unions in solidarity during contract fights and other workplace disputes;
  
  
• connect faith leaders and labor with our September Labor in the Pulpits program in coordination with Philadelphia AFL-CIO, Interfaith Workers' Justice, and dozens of congregations in and around the city;
  
  
• build student leadership and training the next generation of organizers through our Student Labor Action Project;
  
  
• push for local, state and national legislation to guarantee full employment, fair jobs, and funded public services in coordination with National Jobs with Justice; and
  
  
• mobilize for direct actions on 9/15, 10/2, and more to force big business to pay its fair share.
  

We have an amazing movement full of excited volunteers, staff, interns, and allies, all ready to launch this full slate of programming. Help make our vision for Fall 2010 a reality by signing up as a monthly sustainer with Philadelphia Jobs with Justice.

Thank you for your support--you are what makes this movement happen.

-Gwen