History & Accomplishments of DC JwJ

DC Jobs with Justice History and Accomplishments

The DC Jobs with Justice coalition formed during the summer of 2001 with the purpose of bringing together labor, community, faith-based, and student organizations to build power for working families in Washington, DC. The coalition initially came together in support of efforts by parking garage attendants, most of whom were Ethiopian immigrants, to organize a union. The primary issue we have sought to address is the existence of very low-wage jobs with inadequate or no benefits. The result of this situation is that many people who work hard remain poor, often relying on public resources to meet family needs or working multiple jobs to get by. We seek to address this situation by supporting the efforts of workers in these low-wage industries to form unions, thus gaining the power to negotiate with their employers for living wages and family-sustaining benefits. Over our six-year history, we have worked with D.C. residents, workers, and consumers to build power and win real improvements for working families in Washington, DC.

• Justice for Janitors: During Spring 2003, DC JwJ played a key role in winning health care benefits and higher wages for 4,000 janitors in DC office buildings. Contrasting the strength of DC’s commercial real estate market with the poverty wages of the men and women who clean office buildings, DC JwJ mobilized visible community support, expressed through public actions, a letter campaign to building owners, a full-page ad in the Washington Post expressing support from more than 60 clergy, and a children’s book reading.
• Parking Attendants Rights Committee: During the spring and summer of 2004, DC JwJ organized community support for parking workers in downtown office buildings seeking to form a union with UNITE HERE Local 27. DC JwJ engaged tenants and clergy in supporting workers through public actions such as leafleting and picketing, as well as through tenant meetings, letters and postcards from the religious community to property management companies, and delegations of clergy and tenants to meet with both the parking companies and the property management companies.
• Holding the Line for Healthcare: During 2004, DC JwJ coordinated community support for contract negotiations involving 3,500 hotel workers (UNITE HERE Local 25) and nearly 30,000 grocery workers at Safeway and Giant (UFCW Local 400). Both groups of workers were struggling to negotiate contracts that would maintain their affordable family health insurance. In both campaigns, DC JwJ engaged customers, clergy and community members directly in conversations both with the companies and with the workers. We were thus able both to strengthen the workers and send a message that the community would not cross picket lines in the event of a strike. As a result, both the grocery and hotel workers were able to maintain their health care benefits and win additional improvements.
• A Real Living Wage for DC: We convened a broad coalition of labor unions, grassroots community organizations, social service providers and faith leaders to pass a law that will ensure a base wage of $11.75 per hour for all direct DC employees, employees of DC contractors, and employees of businesses receiving Tax Increment Financing from the city. We expect this law to raise wages for approximately 4,000 DC workers. In addition, the campaign provided significant movement building opportunities. During the campaign, we held trainings for low-income people about the law and engaged low-income people in speaking directly to public officials and the media. We also engaged more than 50 volunteers from a wide range of ages, races, and income levels in a canvassing campaign during which they knocked on 500 doors in the NE section of DC, tabled at community festivals, and collected over 2,000 postcards in support of a “Working Families Agenda” for DC.

Through all of these campaigns, we were testing and improving strategies developed for consumers, community members, and faith leaders as allies for workers in seeking justice. Currently, we are involved in efforts to support 2,000 downtown security officers in forming a union and efforts to bargain a first contract at the State Plaza hotel. We are also working on a Working Families Legislative Agenda for 2007, which includes bills that would create a living wage for workers at Big Box stores, ensure that all DC workers get some paid sick days, and require that when city-owned land is developed it includes 30% affordable housing.