Jobs with Justice: 25 Years, 25 Voices

The world today has no shortage of economic crises—or politicians and pundits who claim to have the vision that will get us out of the Great Recession. For 25 years, the labor-community coalition Jobs with Justice (JwJ) has endured the brutal vagaries of the global economy with a single alternative economic vision. By putting its ideas into practice, it has won powerful victories with working-class communities.

Through a series of interviews and essays, this book allows the community, labor, immigrant, student, and faith activists that have built Jobs with Justice to show us why their economic vision matters. They tell us why the organization’s core principle—the power of solidarity between unions, community groups, and immigrant, student, and faith organizations—continues to drive its victories at the local, national, and international levels. They tell us how the belief in solidarity leads not only to short-term alliances, but also to transformed relationships and permanent coalitions. They tell us how it has led—and will lead—to concrete victories for social and economic justice.

Though the book reflects on the last 25 years of the Jobs with Justice coalition, it’s very much directed at the next 25. It includes the perspectives of longtime national leaders like founder Larry Cohen, newcomers like Ai-Jen Poo of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, and the locally-based, working-class men and women who have built JwJ from the ground up.

Praise:

“Jobs with Justice: 25 Years, 25 Voices is a moving and insightful tribute to a project and movement that has represented the soul of organized labor in the USA. The stories contained in this volume reach beyond traditional organized labor and touch upon all those concerned with building a true movement for economic and social justice of which organized labor must be part. The determination that comes through in the stories, often in the face of significant challenges imposed on working people and their organizations, leads one to wish to shout: Yes, it can be done! Si se puede!”
—Bill Fletcher, Jr., co-author of Solidarity Divided; author of “They’re Bankrupting Us!” and 20 Other Myths about Unions

About Eric Larson (Editor):

Eric Larson is assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts–Dartmouth.

About Larry Cohen (Preface):

Larry Cohen is the president of the Communications Workers of America and the founder of Jobs with Justice.

About Rev. Calvin Morris, Ph.D. (Contributor):

Rev. Calvin Morris, Ph.D., is a member of the Jobs with Justice National Board of Directors and the former Executive Director of the Community Renewal Society in Chicago.

About Sarita Gupta (Contributor):

Sarita Gupta is the Executive Director of Jobs with Justice.

SKU: 9781604867466
Editor: Eric Larson • Preface by Larry Cohen and contributions by Rev. Calvin Morris, Ph.D. and Sarita Gupta
Publisher: PM Press
ISBN: 9781604867466
Published: 8/2013
Format: Paperback
Size: 5 x 8
Page count: 192
Subjects: Labor Studies, Politics-Activism