All posts by Murphy Institute

B&H: Labor Exploiter?

This past Sunday, dozens of B&H workers publicly aired their grievances against their employer, the largest non-chain photo retailer in the country. Employees marched into the NYC store to deliver a letter and launch a campaign calling for the business to “fix dangerous workplace conditions, end discrimination against Latino employees, and stop wage theft at their two Brooklyn warehouses.”

Laura Gottesdiener covered the action for Al Jazeera America (“Photo retailer B&H faces unwanted exposure over worker safety“), writing:

In the main B&H warehouse located in Brooklyn’s Navy Yard, the walls and ceilings are insulated with fiberglass that fills the air and flecks off onto the worker’s skin, causing rashes, respiration problems and daily nosebleeds, employees say. Inside a second warehouse, on Evergreen Avenue in Brooklyn, employees say they have worked amid asbestos-insulated tubing. “They would tell us to clean the tubes,” recalled maintenance worker Miguel Angel Muñoz Meneses, “but nobody wanted to touch them.” Continue reading B&H: Labor Exploiter?

Occupy Art Show: Call for Submissions

The Occupy Art Show invites you to create your own Occupy Art posters from posters and Occupy Art materials and supplies that will be provided as part of the 14th Annual Newark Open Doors Citywide Arts Festival October 15th -18th, 2015. The event space for the Occupy Art Show will be at 765 Broad Street, 5th Floor, Newark, New Jersey. Occupy Art participants are encouraged to talk about the Occupy artwork they have created through the Occupy Art open mic.

Occupy Art Show is inspired by the Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter movements to discuss, expand scope, perspective and inspiration towards an ongoing series of future culture jams and events around this theme and time.

Check Newark Arts Council’s website for updated details on schedules.

Open Doors is a citywide arts tour and community event that celebrates Newark’s unique and diverse contributions to the arts and to American culture.

Facebook event invite here: https://www.facebook.com/events/863883093726077/

Occupy Art. Black Lives Matter. Occupy Wall Street Worldwide.

http://www.newarkarts.org/
http://occupyart.blogspot.com/

Unprecedented? Unions and Community Unite to Halt Plans to Build Coal Export Terminal in Oakland, California

By Elena Mora for Trade Unions for Energy Democracy

A short but well-organized campaign to stop plans to build a coal export terminal in the Oakland Port resulted in a packed Oakland City Council meeting on September 21, and a vote requiring a public health impact study to guide the Council’s action, up to and including a moratorium on coal.

Screenshot 2015-09-26 10.47.56

The campaign, “Coal Free Oakland,” led by the Sierra Club and others, brought together a very broad coalition (more than 80 organizations), with significant union participation, including the Alameda Labor Council, which passed a resolution calling on the city to reject the coal export plan. Continue reading Unprecedented? Unions and Community Unite to Halt Plans to Build Coal Export Terminal in Oakland, California

From Sharing Economy to Shared Ownership

Want to go deeper on the world of sharing, cooperativism, and an internet economy that works for all of us? Head to the New School November 13-14th for Platform Cooperativism: a coming out party for the cooperative internet, co-sponsored by the Murphy Institute. Register here.

In a new article over at FastCoexist (“The People’s Uber: Why The Sharing Economy Must Share Ownership“), Nathan Schneider and Trebor Scholz lament the current state of the sharing economy:

For all the things that companies like Airbnb and TaskRabbit allow us to share with each other […] ownership and governance are not on offer. This is what the democratic promise of the Internet has come to: a democracy of access, of “collaborative consumption,” but not of control, real accountability, or ownership.

It’s a story that’s all too familiar for exploited workers subject to the micro-monitoring, low wages, and new forms of precarity that have opened up with the sharing economy. Yet, while Silicon Valley hails the new “freedoms” afforded by an internet that allows anyone to monetize any of their latent resources — time, bedrooms, cars and more — many workers are suffering from the gigification that has left them without benefits, stable wages, or any sort of certainty. From this, it’s easy for the future of work to look grim indeed.

Scholz and Schneider, however, take a bold step, opening up a new set of imaginative possibilities: What if, instead of being exploited by the “on-demand” economy, workers ran that economy themselves? Continue reading From Sharing Economy to Shared Ownership

Campaign for a Secure Future Coordinator, UA Local 393 (Silicon Valley)

Coordinator for a Labor/Community Campaign to address economic inequity and advocate for social justice in the dynamic Silicon Valley

WHO WE ARE

UA Local Union 393 is a construction trade union with over 2,200 members.  We have a long history of promoting social justice and worker rights issues in our community. We understand that if a diverse workforce gains more access to good middle class construction jobs through our Union, we will contribute to building a more powerful working class in our region.

WHAT WE ARE SEEKING

UA Local Union 393 is seeking a committed social justice advocate to join our team. This team member will support the internal organizing, community base building, social media program and project coordination needed to move our campaigns for quality jobs and equitable growth. This is a full-time, benefited position based in Silicon Valley.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Campaign for a Secure Future Coordinator will work under the direction of the UA Local Union 393 Business Manager and will act to support the Local’s leadership as they implement the Union’s programs.  This would include coordination of the Local’s social media program, assisting in the internal member organizing and mobilization program, assisting Member Leaders in community base building and conducting basic research on potential organizing targets.

Social Media Coordination

  • Assist the Local’s Social Media Consultant in preparing the bi-monthly newsletter and eLetter.Help maintain and write content for the Local’s website, Facebook page and Twitter account.
  • Collaborate with Local’s staff in using their social media platforms as tools to educate and mobilize the membership.
  • Monitor comments across all UA Local 393 platforms and insure response in timely manner.
  • Help generate more visits to our website, Facebook page and grow the Twitter Account
  • Coordinate with Local’s Social Media Consultant to review and keep up with social media trends and best practices.
  • Assist the Local’s Social Media Consultant in preparing regular reports that show engagements and growth in the Local’s social media platforms.  
  • Take photographs at work sites and worker actions to place within social media platforms.

Internal Organizing Support

  • Assist Business Representatives and Member Leaders in building community- based member organizing teams.
  • Develop and maintain tracking system of member participation in direct actions.
  • Responsible for the Member Recognition Program for members who participate in the Local’s direct actions to grow union density.
  • Assist Business Representatives in leadership development for Member Leaders.
  • Providing logistical support for actions, meetings and events, including scheduling, turnout, event staffing, compiling minutes, and other duties as needed

Campaign research and Support

  • Conducting web and media searches on possible targets of organizing campaigns
  • Assisting Member Leaders in the research of possible organizing targets in their communities
  • Coalition-building around specific policy issues, including outreach, meeting facilitation, mobilization, and conflict resolution

Required experience and qualifications

  • 3-5 years of prior work and demonstrated commitment to worker organizing, economic and social justice movements
  • Exceptional written and oral communication skills and use of social media
  • Coalition building and facilitation skills across a diverse set organizations and constituents
  • Experience working in multicultural settings
  • Valid driver’s license and access to a vehicle
  • Proficiency in basic qualitative research skills including internet and media searches and interviews
  • Strong command of basic Word programs such as Excel, Powerpoint, etc.
  • Willingness to work some evenings and weekends

Preferred qualifications

  • Experience in at least one of the following areas: local government policy, land use, Project Labor Agreements, living wage, workers’ rights, sectorial analysis, or strategic corporate research
  • Bilingual in Spanish or Vietnamese a plus, but not required

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The salary for this position will be a minimum of $70,000 a year and will be very competitive commensurate with candidates that have the breadth of experience UA Local 393 is seeking. It will have a generous benefits package, including full family health insurance and a retirement plan.  This is a full-time, exempt position.  

UA Local 393 is an equal opportunity employer that does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, disability, gender, nationality, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or any other prohibited category.  We strongly encourage women, people of color, LGBTQ, and all qualified persons to apply for this position

Email cover letter and resume to: Business Manager Bill Guthrie c/o Elaine Sakazaki at Elaine@local393.org. SUBJECT LINE SHOULD SAY “COORDINATOR APPLICANT:” followed by your full name.

Provide an example of your writing used in an organizing campaign.

Application deadline: November 20, 2015. The position will be open until filled and starts immediately.

Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE) Seeks Staff Rep. for NJ

Staff Representative for New Jersey

The Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE) is seeking a Staff Representative. The Staff Representative will work with Local officers, Representatives (shop stewards), and members to maintain strong, activist union locals. HPAE is a progressive health care union with a dynamic and successful organizing program; membership has tripled in the last 15 years. We currently represent 12,000 nurses and other health care professionals in 20 union locals.

Qualifications

Preference is for applicants who have experience in the full range of Staff Representative duties, including contract negotiations, grievances and arbitrations, internal organizing, and developing coalitions with other unions and community groups. HPAE will provide training as needed. Excellent communication, writing, and interpersonal skills are required. Commitment to a strong, democratic labor movement is a must.

Salary & Benefits

Excellent salary and benefits. Across-the-board increases and seniority increments are provided each year as provided by the staff union contract. There is an excellent benefit package, including health and pension benefits, a car allowance, and tuition reimbursement.

Resume and references can be emailed to fdeluca@hpae.org or faxed to:

Frederick De Luca, MA, RN
Director of Private Sector Membership Representation
Neptune, NJ 07753
Office – 732-774-9440 ext 211
Fax – 732-774-9447