ICWJ Newsletter

Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice
of South Central Wisconsin
P.O. Box 1104
Madison, WI 53701-1104
Phone: 608-255-0376

January/February 2003

Volume 1 Issue 4

Contributors to ICWJ Newsletter include: Sue Vilbrandt, Sarah Shatz, Doug Keillor and Rebecca Hartman
Newsletter Layout and Design by Doug Keillor. Memphis Strike pictures courtesy of AFSCME.

In This Issue:

• Honoring MLK
• Workers Rights Center Opens
• New ICWJ Staff Hired
• ICWJ Service Provider Training
• 2nd Annual Clergy/Labor Luncheon
• Kim Bobo Comes to Town
• ICWJ Calendar of Events

Celebrating the Labor Legacy of Martin Luther King

    On January 20, people across the country will honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by celebrating his birth. Most of us know of King's leadership in the Civil Rights struggles in the South- the Birmingham bus boycott, the march in Montogomery, and, of course, his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Far fewer are familar with King's opposition to the Vietnam war, his calls for economic justice, and his alliance with organized labor. In fact, at the time of his assasination, King was in Memphis in support of striking sanitation workers. The Memphis sanitation workers strike in 1968 still holds many lessons for us today.

    The Memphis saniation workers strike began on February 12, 1968 as 1,100 public employees walked off the job over unresolved grievances. Two weeks earlier, all employees had been sent home, without pay, due to heavy rains. The next day, two sanitation workers were killed in an accident on a city truck. The strikers were nearly all African-American, and were fed up with their poor treatment by the city and their poverty level wages. Their strike slogan became "I Am a Man".

    During the first week of their strike, the mayor delivered a "back-to-work" ultimatum. Union leaders asked the the city council to intervene but the council supported the mayor. The local NAACP, on the other hand, endorsed the strikers. Jerry Wurf, International President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), said the strike would not end until the the workers demands were met. The next day, the local Ministerial Association arranged a meeting between the mayor and union leaders moderated by a Memphis rabbi that lasted until 5:00 in the morning but no agreement was reached. The following week, the NAACP and the union staged all-night vigils, picketed city hall and called for a boycott of downtown merchants. Black leaders and ministers formed a citywide organization to suport the strike and boycott.

    On March 28, Dr. King came to Memphis to lead a march in support of the strikers. The peaceful march was interupted, however, when some in the crowd began breaking windows. In response, the police moved in with nightsticks, mace, tear gas and gunfire. A 16 year-old boy, Larry Payne was shot to death. Police arrested 280 and about 60 were reported injured, mostly blacks. The State immediately imposed a 7 p.m. curfew and sent in 4,000 National Guardsman. And still the strike conntinued.

    Shaken by the violence at the March rally, Dr. King cancelled a trip to Africa to lead a peaceful march in support of the strikers. On April 3, 1968, King retrurned to Memphis and gave his prophetic "I Have Been to the Mountaintop" speech. The next day, King was gunned down by a sniper as he stood on the balcony outside the Lorraine Hotel. The following day, President Johnson directed his Undersecretary of Labor to take charge of mediating the strike talks. Less than two weeks later, AFSCME announced that an agreement was reached. The strikers voted to accept it and the strike was over.

    While organized labor was not always an ally of the Civil Rights movement (many southern unions practiced segregation among their own members), the Memphis sanitation workers strike represented a true coalition of ministers and labor leaders, churches and unions, black and white, working together on behalf of worker justice and diginity. Such a coalition was as necessary then as it is today and it is our hope that the ICWJ will help keep this legacy alive. Solidarity!
You are demanding that this city will respect the dignity of labor. So often we overlook the work and the significance of those who are not in professional jobs, of those who are not in the so-called big jobs. But let me say to you tonight that whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity and it has worth.

Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., AFSCME Memphis Sanitation Strike, April 3, 1968

Worker's Rights Center Opens and Provides Immediate Assistance

   More than a hundred Madison community members from a diversity of backgrounds joined the Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice to celebrate the opening and dedication of its new Workers' Rights Center, November 13.

    Located in the Villager Mall on Madison's South Side, the center is staffed by a team of trained volunteer advocates and staff, many bilingual, who provide information about labor laws, legal referrals and enforcement agencies. Advocates confer with workers about their options in defending their rights in the workplace. Leaders in the faith community made the following comments at the center's dedication:

The scriptures tell us, 'If a stranger should live in your country, do not oppress him.' With great power comes great responsibility and employers have a keen responsibility to understand the needs of their workers. - Rabbi Kenneth Katz, Beth Israel Center

Madison with its charms makes it easy to overlook the nursing home workers, the restaurant and hotel workers, the store clerks, the care givers, the landscapers and others who receive the lowest wages and benefits. The right to organize is not assured. Otherwise progressive and enlightened employers will fight long and hard against union organizing in their businesses. The media too will render invisible the lives of ordinary workers. - Michael Schuler, First Unitarian Society

We are seeing Madison here at its best. When the African American population started to come to Madison, the service system wasn't prepared. But the faith community responded in welcoming those who were different from us. Bless us with persistence, determination and help us to remain resilient. - Imam Larry Pasha, American Muslim Society

This is the work of God. - Pastor Pedro Suarez, Bethel Lutheran

Like the settlers who were warned by the Lakota Indians that it would be a hard winter, our neighbors who don't look like us or speak like us need someone to stand with them through the hard winter. I know God is here in the face of our neighbors. - Rev. Calvin Harfst, Parkside Presbyterian

For the people who cannot be here today, who work in the backs of kitchens, this center is a gift. For them we say a word of thanks for this home, giving honor and dignity to the workers of this city. - Amanda Stein, Trinity United Methodist

This is truly a dream come true. The Carpenters District Council will do whatever we can to help insure its success. -James Greer, Carpenters Apprenticeship Coord.

As different waves of immigrants have come to this country, organized labor has helped them take their places in society. In the short term we must fight discrimination and in the long term we must fight for immigration reform so they can contribute and not have to live in fear. - Randy Brink, AFSCME Local 171

The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission will continue to work with the Workers' Right Center to transform powerless workers into workers with power. - Maria Flores, Milwaukee District EEOC

Our task today is to look back and thank those who made this center a reality, and to look forward. Power is either organized people or organized money. Good wishes are not enough, we have to match those wishes with checks. In 2003, we hope we can talk about other faith and labor organizations who will continue to support this effort. - Mark Brinkmoeller, Office for Peace and Justice, Catholic Diocese of Madison

Reflections From a Volunteer: Alisha Steele

    The grand opening was an exciting day for everyone but I think it was the first day that I worked my regular hours as a volunteer advocate that I really felt really good about what we were all involved in. Although most problems workers face do not have simple or easy solutions I can tell that this Center will have a cumulative effect on the situation of working people here in the area. At the Center we are taking concrete actions together with the workers, to stop the violations of the rights of working people and especially of immigrants who are often taken advantage of. I am glad to be involved and I believe that this is only beginning and that what has started here at the center with direct help to individual and small groups of workers will grow to have even more far reaching implications for the wider working community in the Madison area.

The labor movement was the principal force that transformed misery and despair into hope and progress. Out of its bold struggles, economic and social reform gave birth to unemployment insurance, old age pensions, government relief for the destitute, and above all new wage levels that meant not mere survival, but a tolerable life. --  Martin Luther King, Illinois AFL-CIO Convention, October 1965

Welcome ICWJ Staffer Rebecca Hartman

    We bid a big welcome to Rebecca Hartman, our new half-time Administrative Assistant. Rebecca hails originally from Ivyland, Pennsylvania, which is in the northern suburbs of Philadelphia. She first came to Madison in 1999, as a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin. Although initially planning to become a nurse-midwife or a community health practitioner, she switched to liberal arts and graduated with a degree in history and a religious studies certificate.

    After graduation, Rebecca spent a year traveling. Last October and November, she spent 5 and a half weeks biking through Cuba. She spent the winter in Pennsylvania, and then moved to Boston to help her sister and brother-in-law with their new baby. In June, she returned to Madison with the intention of staying for summer. By August, in typical UW-alumni style, she decided to stay in Madison, and began working for the Interfaith Coalition at the end of October.

    Rebecca is interested in a variety of social justice issues, and is very exited to be involved at ICWJ. She is actively involved at the Beth Israel Center where she attends services and teaches Jewish Studies. She has been instrumental in organizing the new office, and is a wonderful addition to the ICWJ and Worker Rights Center!

ICWJ Service Provider Training

    The ICWJ will conducted a Service Provider Training on Wednesday January 15 at the Anderson United Way Center, 2059 Atwood Avenue in Madison. The session was aimed at Service Providers with low-income/working class clients.

    The two-hour training informed service providers about basic workers' rights, how to enforce workplace rights, what responsibilities an employee has, and where to turn if there is a problem.

    Other service providers interested in receiving this information, or scheduling presentations in their work place should contact Rebecca at the Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice at either 608-255-0376 or rebecca@workerjustice.org.

The 2nd Annual ICWJ Clergy/Labor Luncheon and Annual Meeting

Faith at Work: How Local Faith Groups are Responding to Worker Issues
Wednesday, January 29, 2003 11:45am-1:45pm
Berean Church of Kingdom Believers (901 Femrite Drive, Madison)

Following the luncheon there will be an interfaith panel presentation moderated by Rev. Art Lloyd, featuring Imam Larry Pasha of the Muslim American Society, Rabbi AndreaLerner of the UW Hillel, Pastor Marque Duncan of the Berean Church, Rev. Mary Kay Baum of Madison-area Urban Ministry and a Catholic Representative.

*Reservations required. Call the office by January 15th to reserve your place. 608.255-0376*

Labor History with a Bite

Featuring Kim Bobo, Executive Director of the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice.

ICWJ Calendar of Events

• Board Meetings- third Tuesday of the month, 12 noon, United Way Building, 2059 Atwood Avenue
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Observance, January 18-20, various events throughout the city
• ICWJ's Annual Clergy-Labor Luncheon- Faith at Work: How Local Faith Groups are Responding to Worker Issues, Wednesday, January 29, 11:45 a.m.-1:45 p.m. Berean Church of Kingdom Believers, 901 Femrite Drive for more information call 255-0376
• Labor History With a Bite, featuring Kim Bobo, Executive Director, National Interfaith Committee on Worker Justice, Monday, February 17, 4:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. South Central Federation of Labor, Labor Temple, 1602 S. Park Street
• Worker Rights Advocate Training, February 22, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., ICWJ Worker Rights Center, Villager Mall, Park Street. Call the WRC to reserve a spot.