Servers at Lobby Day: (Top L to R)Louie Reinoso, Liz Zerr, Joe Thomas, JJ Loy, Stacey Amico, Courtney Jackson, Annie Shields, Mike McLaughlin (Bottom L to R) Megan Dougherty, Shannon Barrett, Joe Wicks, Dana Dreher, Ashli Bolden.

The waiters and waitresses in Missouri will NOT have to deal with a paycut during this economic crisis.  Despite the best efforts of some Missouri legislators, the waiters and waitresses in Missouri united with their allies through Jobs with Justice and defeated Rep. Tim Jones’ (R-Eureka) bill to weaken the minimum wage for tipped employees.

In 2006, 76.4% of Missouri voters passed Proposition B which increased the wage for tipped employees. The ballot initiative passed in every single Missouri county by 16 points or more. Since then, business interests and their allies in the legislators have tried to chip away at the minimum wage continually.

During the last  4 months of the legislative session you sent thousands of emails, made calls, and lobbied your legislators and they heard you loud and clear. Thanks to tremendous pressure the bill died in the Senate as the legislative session came to a close on May 15.

THEY’LL BE BACK AND WE’LL BE READY!
The restaurant industry and its lobbyists were clear that they are not done trying to pick the pockets of their waiters and waitresses.  We expect to see another bill to undermine the tipped employee minimum wage next session so JwJ and its leaders will continue to strengthen our network of waiters, waitresses and supporters of working people throughout the state to protect FAIR WAGES FOR SERVERS.

Go HERE to learn more about leaders that gave key support to this campaign.

On Friday, January 23, We Told Congress—

To Pass Economic Recovery and protect state health programs and jobs! 

Thanks to CWA 6355-the Missouri State Workers Union, Missouri Jobs with Justice, the Campaign for Jobs and Economic Recovery, and community groups we sent a strong message to Congress to act now.  Almost 150 Jobs with Justice activists and allies demanded a federal bailout that puts people first and increases funding for state health programs, food stamps, our safety net and our public jobs!

See press coverage of the event here.

There will be three sessions this year.

Spring session will be Friday, March 13 at 10 am through Sunday, March 15 at 1 pm in St. Louis.

The summer session will be June 12-14, in Kansas City, and the fall session will be October 23-25 in Jefferson City.

Missouri’s Building Jobs with Justice Leadership Development Program provides leaders insight into organizing’s key concepts and skills. Community organizing principles, as first articulated and carried out by Saul Alinsky in Chicago, encouraged leaders to act together to create powerful organizations and win on issues they care about.

Registration deadline for the spring session is February 13, 2009. Registration forms can be found in the brochure, here.

On Tuesday, January 6th – Congress went back into session, and we took to the streets! 

Missouri Jobs with Justice, along with Missouri ProVote, ACORN and countless unions, community groups, activists and elected officials rallied on Jan. 6th and called on Congress to quickly pass an Economic Recovery Package that will put people to work and lay the foundation for sustainable growth.

Almost 150 JwJ activists and allies  gathered and sent a clear message to our elected officials in Congress. Stay tuned for more actions in the coming weeks as we fight to ensure that Congress puts the priorities of working families first as they address the economic crisis.

Find out more about this campaign

This campaign launched with Kansas City JwJ on January 7

Each Labor Day weekend, in cities across the country, thousands of congregations participate in Labor in the Pulpits / on the Bimah / in the Minbar. 

The 2008 Labor in the Pulpits/ on the Bimah/ in the Minbar program concentrated on how the realities of the health care system are impacting thousands of working families in Missouri and on a growing movement of faith and community leaders seeking meaningful healthcare reform called Missouri Healthcare for All.  No Missouri worker should lack access to health care, and this year’s program will focus on opportunities to guarantee quality, affordable health care for everyone in Missouri.  Jobs with Justice supports the faith and community leaders who founded the Missouri Health Care for All movement, and we encourage all Missourians to join 65 faith, community and labor groups and thousands of individuals by  endorsing the principles .  Each endorsement makes this movement stronger.

To view a list of the 2008 participating congregations, CLICK HERE

For more information on Labor in the Pulpits, or to involve your congregation in 2009, contact Katrina Molnar at katrina@stl-jwj.org, 314.644.0466 x13.

Labor in the Pulpits / on the Bimah / in the Minbar is coordinated nationally by Interfaith Worker Justice, www.iwj.org.

Hundreds of A-B/InBev workers from our community, Brazil, Belgium and Canada and their community supporters rallied Saturday, in Kiener Plaza in Downtown St. Louis.

St Louis has cherished the tradition of Anheuser-Busch as a quality employer and important member of our economic community. InBev has been quick to provide assurances about its ongoing commitment to St Louis and at this rally the community let InBev know we’re watching, that we do hope we’re beginning a new tradition with InBev.

We won’t have to wait long to see if InBev will really "walk the walk". Monday, August 18, 2008 A-B/InBev begins talks with 8,000 workers through their union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Their agreements on job security, pensions and health care coverage for workers, retirees and their families will send a signal to St Louis and 12 other communities throughout the country where InBev will take ownerhip of A-B breweries. For more information on the Rally See coverage from KSDK Channel 5 .

Missouri Jobs with Justice, working as part of the broader WE CAN coalition, won a tremendous victory when the so-called Missouri Civil Rights Initiative failed to turn in signatures which would have placed a constitutional ban on affirmative action on the November ballot.

Missouri Jobs with Justice coordinated a three-month, volunteer crew of voter educators including Cathy Goldstein and Palmer Alexander pictured here. These voter educators combed the streets of their communities day in and day out to find petitioners. Once they found petitioners, educators stood alongside them and made sure voters knew exactly what the deceptively-named "Missouri Civil Rights Initiative" would do to Missouri.

Volunteers logged well over a thousand hours next to petitioners, who usually gave up signature gathering on a site when they encountered an educator.

Jobs with Justice worked in coalition with Missouri ACORN whose voter educators also worked throughout the state to complement the volunteer crews. Other WE CAN Coalition partners spearheaded community education efforts such as public forums, a speakers bureau and press conferences throughout the campaign.

Health Care for 54,000 Uninsured Missouri Workers.
Status: not dead yet, but stuck in "Emergency" room.

Last week, Missouri lawmakers forfeited an opportunity to insure 54,000 uninsured minimum wage and low income workers through a Medicaid expansion that is phase 1 of "Insure Missouri." Despite federal approval and federal money available for the program, Rep. Rob Schaaf and his Special Committee on Healthcare Transformation held up the emergency rule, saying that insuring 54,000 uninsured Missourians was not "an emergency or compelling state interest."

But Phase One of Insure Missouri is not dead yet! The 54,000 working parents eligible for this insurance may be covered in July of this year at the earliest—but only if legislators on both sides of the aisle support the program and make sure it is funded for FY09.

Some legislators want to cut this Medicaid program even before families are enrolled, and we can’t let them! Despite the fact that money is available to expand coverage to 54,000 uninsured Missourians this year, some legislators in both parties continue to attack this program. Some oppose providing Medicaid to more people; others feel the program doesn’t go far enough or help enough people. They need to hear from you!

In addition to helping the 54,000 parents to get coverage under phase 1, this years Social Services budget must include money to restore coverage for seniors and people with disabilities to the income limits they had before Gov. Blunt’s 2005 Medicaid cuts.

Click to write members of the House Budget Committee and the Special Committee on Healthcare Transformation. Also make sure you contact your Representative and Senator.

Tell them you insist they take this immediate opportunity to provide healthcare to 54,000 uninsured Missouri workers and every opportunity to expand coverage this year. Look up your legislators here.

KANSAS CITY
Monday, February 11, 2008
at 7 pm at Community Christian Church, 4601 Main, 64112.
See the growing list of KC participants

ST LOUIS
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
at 6:30 pm at Harris Stowe State University Auditorium, 3026 Laclede Ave, 63103.
See the growing list of St Louis participants

Organized By Missouri Jobs with Justice and the St Louis Workers’ Rights Board with allies in the WE CAN Coalition, ACLU of Eastern Missouri and Western Missouri/Kansas, FOCUS St. Louis, Greater Kansas City AFL-CIO, Metropolitan Congregations United – St. Louis, Missouri Association for Social Welfare, National Conference for Community and Justice of Metropolitan St. Louis, Metropolitan Organization for Racial and Economic Equality, Service Employees International Union

Yes, I will attend a public hearing