The Missouri Supreme Court, in a 6-1 opinion, affirmed the decision of Cole County Circuit Court Judge Richard Callahan that the law is unconstitutional. The court held that the law burdened the fundamental right to vote and violated the equal protection provisions of the Missouri Constitution.

The decision means that registered voters will NOT be required to present one of the four forms of photo ID outlined in SB1014 this November.

Voters will be able to show up at the polls this November and vote upon presenting one of the many types of identification spelled out in Section 115.427 of the Missouri Revised Statutes (including an out-of-state driver’s license, university ID, utility bill or bank statement, or personal knowledge of two election judges if the person lacks any ID).

However, JwJ and other area organizations are still organizing to be sure every Missouri vote counts.  To volunteer to be a poll monitor, call or email JwJ Organizer Aaron Burnett.

Special thanks to Denise Lieberman from the Stetin Center for Law and Social Change for educating JwJ and other grassroots organizations on the Voter ID bill and other voter protection efforts.

Click here for more information about the Voter ID ruling and your right to vote

St. Louis Area Jobs with Justice is one of a coalition of organizations united to “Give Missourians a Raise” by placing an initative on the November 2006 ballot to raise Missouri’s Minimum Wage.  Voters will have the chance to raise the Minimum Wage from $5.15 per hour to $6.50 per hour with annual increases linked to the Consumer Price Index.

You can be an important part of the campaign to “Give Missourians a Raise”.  See the link below to sign up for the many important pieces of this campaign.

• Donate to Jobs with Justice to support its work on the Minimum Wage Campaign,
• I or someone I know makes less than $6.50 an hour and we want to tell voters why we need a raise,
• Download endorsement forms for Congregations, Businesses or Organizations,
• Sign up a congregation to participate in Labor in the Pulpits on Labor Day weekend,
• Sign up to help canvass door-to-door to educate voters about increasing the minimum wage.

St. Louis Janitors Demand Respect on Justice For Janitors Day

On June 15th, over a hundred and twenty St. Louis Janitors and allies rallied and marched through downtown Clayton demanding respect for their hard work an justice in their fight for their basic workers’ rights. Jobs with Justice and the Service Employees International Union helped mobilize representatives from the broader labor movement, community and religious activists, and fellow workers to their demands to the streets.

Marchers stopped outside corporate buildings along the route who subcontract cleaning work to non-union cleaning companies and called for responsible business practices towards workers who make little more than minimum wage and enjoy minimal benefits. A letter was delivered to the offices of Enterprise Leasing asking that they also ask for responsible business practices of their cleaning subcontractor, Boldt Brothers Contracting.

This rally was just the beginning of this year’s campaign to organize and improve the working conditions of area janitors. By the end of the year, representatives of more than 3,000 area janitors will be at the bargaining table demanding progress towards living wages, health care for families, and dignity for all on the job. Stay tuned…

Thanks to the work of hundreds of Jobs with Justice Volunteers and the unified efforts of the religious community, the labor movement and community groups, the Give Missourians a Raise Campaign turned in over 200,000 signatures on May 9th!

To appear on the November ballot as a ballot initiative, the Sectretary of State’s office required 93,000 valid signatures in 6 of Missouri’s 9 Congressional districts. As the Secretary’s office validates the signatures, we can confidently say that we succeeded in getting this initiative on the November ballot!

Stay tuned to hear more about how you can help with this campaign as we move into the summer months.  Congratulations to everyone who was a part of this campaign. Be sure to vote yes on this initiative in November!

Much progress, but still no Living Wage

A Community Panel organized by JwJ’s Workers’ Rights Board has issued a report on the progress on workers’ issues at Washington University in the last year.  The report, “Making Real the Promise”, notes that although much progress has been made, most sub-contracted service workers still don’t have access to health care or a living wage.

• Download the Full Report (7 MB)
• See an Executive Summary (10 KB)
• Check out the press coverage: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, KWMU, Student Life (Wash U Student Newspaper)

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