Jobs with Justice

Jobs with Justice
Name	Jobs with Justice
Formation	1987
Type	Nonprofit coalition
Headquarters	United States
Region served	United States

Jobs with Justice is a U.S.-based coalition linking labor unions, community organizations, faith groups, and student activists to advance workers' rights and labor standards. Founded in 1987 amid disputes over trade policy and labor law, it has engaged in organizing, litigation support, public campaigns, and coalition building across multiple sectors and regions. Its work intersects with major labor battles, public policy debates, and high-profile campaigns involving corporations, elected officials, and civil society organizations.

History

Jobs with Justice emerged in 1987 during debates over the North American Free Trade Agreement and the aftermath of the PATCO strike, with founding activists drawing on networks associated with the AFL–CIO, Service Employees International Union, United Auto Workers, and the Industrial Areas Foundation. Early activity connected to campaigns around the 1988 United States presidential election, the 1990s World Trade Organization protests, and city-level living wage fights linked to municipal authorities like the Chicago City Council and the Los Angeles City Council. Through the 2000s it participated in coalition responses to the September 11 attacks, the 2008 financial crisis, and legislative debates such as the Affordable Care Act and the Dodd–Frank Act, coordinating with groups like the NAACP, SEIU, AFSCME, and AFL–CIO. In the 2010s and 2020s it became visible in campaigns against corporations including Wal-Mart, Amazon, McDonald’s, and Target, and in solidarity with movements such as Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, and Fight for $15.

Mission and Activities

Jobs with Justice frames its mission around workplace rights, collective bargaining, and equitable labor standards, working alongside public figures and institutions such as labor leaders, mayors, governors, and members of Congress. Activities include worker center organizing, legal referrals that intersect with the National Labor Relations Board, strikes and pickets that reference precedents like the 1936–1937 Flint sit-down strike and the 1968 Memphis sanitation strike, and public education campaigns drawing on research from think tanks and academic institutions such as the Brookings Institution, Columbia University, and Harvard Kennedy School. It supports electoral engagement, voter registration drives linked to the Brennan Center for Justice, and policy advocacy before bodies including the U.S. Congress, state legislatures, and city councils.

Campaigns and Advocacy

Notable campaigns have targeted corporate labor practices at Amazon, Walmart, McDonald’s, Starbucks, and UPS while also advocating for policies like the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, minimum wage increases championed by figures like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and paid family leave proposals associated with state initiatives in California and New York. Campaign tactics have included public demonstrations at locations such as Times Square, union organizing drives linked to the Communications Workers of America and Teamsters, and solidarity actions with campaigns led by the National Domestic Workers Alliance and United Auto Workers. Jobs with Justice has also engaged in international labor solidarity alongside groups like the International Trade Union Confederation, and in campaigns related to immigration policy involving organizations such as United We Dream and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Organizational Structure and Funding

The organization operates as a federation of local coalitions and national staff, with chapters organized in metropolitan areas and states that collaborate with unions such as SEIU, AFSCME, IBEW, and the United Food and Commercial Workers. Governance has involved a board of directors drawn from labor leaders, community organizers, clergy, and academics affiliated with institutions like Georgetown University, Rutgers University, and the University of California system. Funding sources have included foundation grants from entities like the Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, donor contributions tied to philanthropic networks, and earned revenue through training programs and events attended by activists from the Labor Notes network and the Roosevelt Institute.

Partnerships and Coalitions

Jobs with Justice has formed strategic alliances with national and local organizations including the AFL–CIO, Change to Win, the National Employment Law Project, the Service Employees International Union, the American Federation of Teachers, and community groups such as the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and faith-based partners like the Catholic Labor Network. It has collaborated on joint campaigns with advocacy groups like the Center for Popular Democracy, MoveOn.org, and the Sunrise Movement, and participated in coalition efforts around labor law reform alongside legal organizations such as the National Lawyers Guild and the Economic Policy Institute.

Controversies and Criticism

Critics have questioned Jobs with Justice’s relationships with major unions including SEIU and the AFL–CIO, alleging influence by large labor donors and tensions comparable to disputes between the Change to Win Federation and the AFL–CIO. Some business groups and corporate law firms such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Baker McKenzie have criticized its campaign tactics as disruptive, while commentators in outlets tied to conservative institutions like the Heritage Foundation and the Cato Institute have attacked its policy positions. Internal debates have mirrored broader labor movement disputes over electoral strategy, rank-and-file organizing exemplified by comparisons to the Industrial Workers of the World and reform efforts within the Teamsters, and periodic scrutiny over funding transparency similar to controversies faced by other nonprofits like the Sierra Club.

Category:Labor movement in the United States