Monthly Actions: Our own events and our support in solidarity with our Member Groups and Allies.
April 2024
Dear JWJet Members:
We are four Knox County School custodians. We appreciate all the support we have gotten from Jobs With Justice over the last year. A year ago, we were worried about having our jobs outsourced and concerned about our low pay.
We four KCS Custodians recently met with Superintendent John Rysewyk to voice our concerns about pay and working conditions. The next week the School Board adopted a new pay plan that increases custodian staring pay to $14/hr. and provides substantial raises for all custodians. But this pay plan is part of the KCS budget that still has to be approved.
If you live in Knox County, would you help us achieve this victory by contacting your KCS Board Member and Board Chair Betsy Henderson before their 4/25 meeting to let them know you support the new pay plan for custodians and to be sure it stays part of the budget they send to the County Commission for its approval? Here is a link to help you locate and contact your School Board Member. https://www.knoxschools.org/Page/2094
Thanks again,
Roberta Dennis, Custodian Bearden HS
March, 2024 Solidarity
JwJet has been supporting teacher, parent and community activism around public schools for years. Several of our member groups are working hard to block Gov. Lee's voucher give-away of public education money to private schools. They've asked us to spread the word that we all need to contact our own state legislators now to urge them to vote no on the bills coming before them currently
Almost 60 local government bodies - mostly school boards - have now passed resolutions opposing Gov. Lee's voucher scam. Most communities in our state are saying NO to taking money out of our already underfunded school districts, where 90% of kids go, and diverting it to private schools.
Despite overwhelming bipartisan opposition, Governor Lee is still pressuring legislators to vote against the wishes of their constituents. Legislators need to hear from as many people as possible that we oppose this voucher scam and they need to focus on getting more resources into our public schools.
Here's a link to an automated system from TN4ALL to reach out to your individual legislators directly and oppose these bills. Please do it now.
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-lawmakers-to-stop-the-scam?clear_id=true
Thanks,
JwJet
February's Solidarity Action is an "Act Locally" one. We are joining with member groups like SOCM and UCW to support TN4ALL's campaign to abolish Tennessee's grocery tax. We're asking JwJet folks to join with volunteers across the state on Saturday, February 24 or Sunday, February 25 at grocery stores across Tennessee to collect petitions in support of ending the grocery tax in 2024.
We’re organizing to support Representative Aftyn Behn and Senator Charlane Oliver’s bill to end the grocery tax and close offshore tax loopholes to make corporations pay what they owe.
In Tennessee, we have one of the highest sales tax rates in the nation and we are just one of thirteen states that pays grocery taxes. Meanwhile, 60% of corporations in TN are paying ZERO dollars in the state corporate income tax. It’s time we offset the burden on working families who are struggling to make ends meet and push mega-corporations like FedEx and Amazon to pay their fair share.
We're asking JwJet members and supporters:
(1) Sign-up with TN4ALL here and say you're with JwJet.
(2) Pick a local grocery store, show up on 2/24 or 2/25 with a buddy, and spend a couple of hours greeting customers as they arrive or depart outside the store, asking them to sign the petition. Do your best to encourage legible information, don't interfere with the store's business and, if asked to leave by store management, move on to another store.
(3) Beforehand, you can download the petition (one page front and back) here, print out a few copies, grab a clipboard and some pens, and you're set.
(4) After you're done, please mail the signature pages to TN4ALL, 1000 Cooper Ave, Memphis TN, 38104 with a brief note saying your name and which county they are from. If you can, make a copy or take a clear photo of the signature sheets just in case the originals don't make it to Memphis.
Take action for working families, If you have questions or concerns, please respond to this email and we'll get back to you.
In Solidarity
JwJet
Jobs with Justice’s September Solidarity Action will be Sip-In’s at the union Starbucks stores on Labor Day Weekend!
We are joining in with others in the labor movement to stand with Starbucks Workers United in their fight to unionize and get a contract. We will Sip-In from 1 pm to 3 pm Saturday thru Monday at a different store each day. Wear a union t-shirt or hat, bring cash for generous tips, order a brewed coffee or a cup of water using a union name (Solidarity Forever, Union Made, Union Strong, etc.) and show your support!Below are three flyers with info about which store which day. Here is the link to a Googleform to sign up to Sip-In:
Saturday- Alcoa Starbucks at 121 Cusick Rd, Alcoa, TN 37701
Sunday- Merchants Starbucks: 116 Merchants Drive Knoxville, TN 37912
Monday- Montvue Starbucks: 7803 Montvue Center Way Knoxville, TN 37919
So sign up at the Google link or contact the person(s) on the flyer for the store(s) you will "Sip in" at, then show up one, two, or three times to support the workers. Please share this action via email with friends. PLEASE DO NOT PUT ON FACEBOOK OR OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA!!! We do not want to tip off management.See you Labor Day weekend!
JwJet
Jobs with Justice’s Solidarity Action for August will be to turn out for the Knoxville City Council meeting Tuesday, August 23rd at 6 pm.
On the agenda will be a resolution to increase the Tax Increment Financing areas around the baseball stadium. Projected construction and labor costs are up about 20%.
Randy Boyd said he would cover COST OVERRUNS for the baseball stadium. Now he and the city and county administrations are saying that is different from ANTICIPATED costs. Really?
Randy refused to negotiate and sign a community benefits agreement. So we want to turn out a crowd and speakers who will remind Boyd, the mayor and city council of the promises that the billionaire made about minority contractors, local hire and construction jobs for people from East Knoxville. We want to remind him of demands for health insurance and $15 hourly minimum wages for stadium workers.
If you live in the city and want to speak for 3 minutes when the resolution is considered at city council, Text, call or email 865-686-0553 junerostan@earthlink.net.
She will send you talking points and instructions on how to sign up to speak.
Please try to be there Tuesday night to support this effort!!
Let’s speak up for accountability and keeping promises!
Thanks,
June Rostan
Our Solidarity Action this month is a little different. We are urging folks to vote in the August 4 election, either on Election Day or during early voting July 15- July 30. You can get the info you need to locate early voting times & locations or your local polling place if you plan to vote on 8/4 here https://sos.tn.gov/govotetn.
There are many offices and candidates up for election, and part is a primary and part is a general election. We want to address one set of races in the latter category: local school boards. Most of you reading this are in Knox County, but all local counties have a final round school board election for several seats on the August ballot. You can find out who they are through the link above.
Our Co-Chair Dave Gorman has some words for us.
Please vote for and support school board candidates who support public education. Qualified candidates should make clear that they support public education by disavowing both charter schools and school vouchers, which provide public tax dollars to private schools.
Qualified candidates should also have made clear their opposition to comments made recently by Hillsdale College's Larry Arnn, in which he disparaged public school teachers and the university programs that prepare them. (https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/revealed/revealed-teachers-come-from-dumbest-parts-of-dumbest-colleges-tenn-governors-education-advisor-tells-him)
Finally, qualified candidates should have a history of supporting public educators and students, especially with regards to the mask mandate imposed in Knox County during the 2021-22 school year.
For Knox Countians, here's who's running:
District 1 Democrat John Butler v. Independent Breyauna Holloway v. Independent Reginald Jackson .
District 4 GOP Will Edwards v. Democrat Katherine Bike.
District 6 GOP Betsy Henderson v. Independent Phillip Sherman.
District 7 GOP Steve Triplett v. Independent Dominique Oakley.
District 9 GOP Kristi Kristy v. Democrat Annabel Henley.
JwJet does not support particular candidates, but you can!
Thanks.
JWJET
Jim spreads the word at the Juneteenth Parade in Knoxville. TN doesn’t need a Constitutional right to work for less. He takes up the rear of our JwJ/IWJ contingent. We are followed by a group from the Haley Farm’s Freedom School.
Thanks to the Knoxville Sunrise Movement, here’s the complete live video from the the May 31 Rally to support the Kingston workers. https://www.facebook.com/SunriseKnoxville/videos/689341748819546/
Our May, 22 Solidarity Event
Tues., May 31. Krutch Park, Knoxville. 6PM
Show your support in advance of a critical hearing at the Tennessee Supreme Court on June 1st.
Please join Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee, along with Sunrise Knoxville, SOCM, Knoxville DSA, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, Interfaith Worker Justice, Appalachian Voices, the Sierra Club Harvey Broome Group and other allies
We are gathering in a solidarity vigil to honor and remember the Kingston Coal Ash Workers who have lost their lives and their health due to unsafe working conditions while cleaning up the 2008 coal ash spill in Kingston, TN.
The Court\ hearing will determine standards for eligibility for medical compensation and support, and could set a precedent for how injury from coal ash is determined by courts across the country.
We will gather at Krutch Park in downtown Knoxville at 6pm on Tuesday, May 31st for remarks, prayer, and songs, and then march to TVA towers for continued remarks. We hope to see you there, and the event will also be livestreamed.
This event is in addition to the June 1 event in Nashville at the Supreme Court itself
Please sign on at the Facebook event for the solidarity vigil
Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee.
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Workers Memorial Day Observance
This annual event was held this year in the garden at St. James Episcopal Church, 1101 North Broadway on Saturday, April 23rd at 2 pm.
Knoxville Workers Memorial Day Committee, Interfaith Worker Justice, Jobs with Justice of East Tenneessee and Knoxville-Oak Ridge Area Central Labor Council sponsored the annual event which honored East Tenneessee workers who died at work.
Seth Black, a member of the Insulators Union who died in an accident at TVA’s Bull Run Fossil Plant, was one of the workers who was honored.
We also heard from essential workers and their unions about how they has demanded protection from Covid exposure and how we can help them fight for better health and safety.
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For February we are asking you to join virtually a national live support action for the nearly one thousand Warrior Met UMWA coal miners on strike in Brookwood, Alabama for over nine months. These striking coal miners - black and white, women and men - have been walking the picket line for health care, the end of 7-day work weeks, just wages and most of all, the right to be treated with the dignity that every worker deserves.
The event is Tuesday Feb. 22 at 8PM Eastern. Here's the link to the invitation.
You need to register to get the link to the event itself. There is also a JwJet Facebook event, if you prefer to register that way.
National Jobs with Justice is supporting this event, encouraging its affiliates to join and support as well.
Thanks!
Jobs With Justice of East TN
http://www.jwjet.org/
Our January, 2022 event was the MLK Day parade, which was cancelled due to bad weather
Come join us at JwJet's December Solidarity event : the 12/22 vigil at 3PM on Market Square to note the 13th anniversary of the largest coal ash spill ever, and to honor the workers who had to risk their health and lives to clean it up without proper personal protective equipment.
Join Kingston coal ash workers, their families, and their supporters for a downtown vigil to memorialize the workers who have lost their lives or their health since the 2008 ash spill. We will meet at Market Square in downtown Knoxville at 3pm on Wednesday, December 22nd for prayer, fellowship, and a brief ceremony to honor their sacrifice.
Facebook event page: https://facebook.com/events/s/13th-anniversary-kingston-coal/317269450303108/
Wednesday, December 22 at 3:00pm
Market Square, Downtown Knoxville
November 2021 : It is again time for the Jobs with Justice of East Tennessee’s Annual Meeting. This year’s annual meeting will include more than reports and board elections because it will feature food, music, and recognition of Fran Ansley, who is ending her term as co-chair after leading JWJET through a self-assessment and renewal process.
We’re scheduled for a face-to-face meeting with appropriate masking and social distancing on Saturday, November 13, starting at 12:00 Noon. It will take place at the outdoor covered pavilion at Westminster Presbyterian Church at 6500 S. Northshore Dr, Knoxville, TN 37919.
We will have a catered lunch (not a potluck), so please send an RSVP to itsdavegorman@gmail.com with your head count and vegetarian preference if you plan to attend. There will not be an option to participate virtually by Zoom, but a recording of the program will be available after the meeting.
This is also the time for organizations and individuals to renew their membership dues. You can pay your individual $35/ year dues atwww.jwjet.org. Click on the “Support our Work” button, top right. If you prefer to pay by check, just mail it to JwJet, 1415 Elm St., Knoxville, TN 37921. If you pay online, please consider increasing your total to $36.37 to cover the online charges. We also have a $10 level for students and the unemployed.
Organizations will need to pay by check and details are on the website under About<Dues. (but are negotiable, so please be in touch at jwjetn@gmail.comwith questions).
October 2021: It’s Time to Remember! It’s Time For Action.!
This coming Thursday afternoon Oct. 21 at 4:30 PM we will be gathering with members of SEIU Local 205 and others of their supporters in front of Methodist Medical Center in Oak Ridge.
We will remember workers who have died from COVID.
We will honor those who have been sickened by the virus while caring for our patients.
We will share stories of what working at MMC during the pandemic has done to our patients, our families, and us.
We will tell MMC and Jeremey Biggs to respect us, protect us, and pay us for our contributions during the pandemic.
