🎉We Made it to $20k!!!🎉 And What to Do Next!!

LIJWJ’s Spring Match Campaign Was a Huge Success!!

We did it! The last of our donations arrived in the mail (thank you to our postal workers!) and we are so grateful and excited to have met our goal and raised a total of $40,018!!  We’ll be sure to let every one of those $40,018 speak loudly for workers – growing our power with care, persistence, and the belief that together we can transform our lives, workplaces, communities, and our world.  

If you missed the match period but still want to support LIJWJ, don’t worry, we welcome donations all year round! Consider becoming a monthly sustainer and help build lasting power for workers on Long Island. Head to this link to start this month!

Your Services Are Under Attack – What You Can Do To Fight Back!

Speaking of building lasting power for workers on Long Island, there are actions we can all be taking right now to defend against the assaults on our local federal workers who do so much for our communities. LIJWJ, Hofstra University’s Labor Studies Program, Center for Civic Engagement, and the Hofstra Cultural Center and the Center for the Study of Labor and Democracy are hosting an event that will center federal workers, and share ways to support them at this critical moment.

This is a hybrid event! For in-person registration head to this link. If you’ll be attending via Zoom, this is the registration link for you.

Use one of the links above to register and please share with anyone you know who is in this fight with us!

Thank you and we’ll see you out there!

In Solidarity,

Long Island Jobs with Justice

Registration Now Open! Find Out Ways to Save Your Federal Services!

Before having a look at LIJWJ and Hofstra’s upcoming event, here’s a quick reminder that our Spring Match Campaign will be wrapping up on Monday April 14. That means the match period will end, and donations will no longer be doubled. We are very close to reaching our $20,000 goal, and you can help get us over the finish line!

If you are able to donate to keep LIJWJ going, but haven’t yet, this is the last call! Please head to our Givebutter page and chip in what you can!

Now, on to the event!

Our vital public services are under attack, and we must come together to protect them. The Postal Service, Social Security, Veterans’ care, Medicaid and other essential services are at risk – services that millions living in the US rely on every day. Without them, our communities would be torn apart.

Join community and labor advocates on April 30th for Your Services Are Under Attack – What You Can Do to Fight Back.  Your voice matters! Learn how to use it to save your services straight from impacted federal workers! The event is co-hosted by Long Island Jobs with Justice and Hofstra University’s Labor Studies Program, Center for Civic Engagement, Hofstra Cultural Center and the Center for the Study of Labor and Democracy.

Scan the QR code or head to this link to register! We hope to see you there!

In Solidarity,

Long Island Jobs with Justice

We’ve made it halfway to Montauk! Thank you so much to everyone who contributed and helped us raise $10k so far! This means so much to us at a time when the sources of our funding remain uncertain. We must keep fighting for workers’ rights, and every dollar donated will be doubled, ensuring we can continue defending workers and causing headaches for bad bosses!

The future we envision, free of injustice and where all workers are cared for, will likely look much different from the world we see today. To meet that future, we need creative and connective strategies that can strengthen and grow the spaces where it exists as a reality today. In this moment, when hope can feel scarce, these spaces—where our envisioned future can be lived—become beacons guiding us forward.

Artwork by Margaret Palmquist (IG: @swedishsummers)

Art has long served as a powerful tool for self-expression and storytelling, allowing the artist to communicate emotions, ideas, and struggles in ways that transcend our words. As many of us are left speechless by the injustices unfolding around us, we can turn to artful expression to hold space for our hope, joy, and courage.

This is why we created Unsung Voices, a traveling art exhibit originally designed to shed light on the experiences, struggles, and triumphs of workers who have been excluded from the unemployment safety net simply because of the work they do (ie. freelancing) or their classification (ie. cash earner). It’s not rocket science – all labor has value and all workers deserve the protection of a social safety net if they lose their job.

Since its inception, Unsung Voices has expanded to include art and advocacy created by and for a growing community of workers. Just as LIJWJ believes in democratizing our workplaces and society, we also believe in democratizing cultural expression. Through art, we offer a space where workers can share their experiences through self-expression and storytelling, linking individual experiences to a larger call for economic justice.

If you believe art can be used as a tool for social change and has the ability to move hearts and minds, grow public consciousness, shift perceptions and inspire people to act, then please consider making a donation to Long Island Jobs with Justice today.

We have one more week to get to Montauk. Help us put some gas in our tank!

In solidarity,

Long Island Jobs with Justice

P.S. – If you are an artist and would like to submit a piece to be shown at a future Unsung Voices exhibit, head to this link.

Help LIJWJ Make Sure Workers Are Heard in Albany!

Did you know only 9% of workers in the US are protected by a union? That means most workers face the risk of unfair treatment, injury and exploitation without any protection, because let’s face it, our labor enforcement agencies are falling short in holding bad employers responsible. That’s why it’s crucial for workers to organize and unite to push back against these injustices. We are halfway through our fundraiser but we still have $18,000 to raise to reach our goal. It’s no small feat but with your support and the power of community we know we can get there! Can we count on your support? Make a donation today and every dollar will be doubled!

Last week we shared two strategies we use to call out bad employers – our Workers’ Rights Board and our Bosses Steal (a lot) public education series. But while we love making good trouble with bad bosses, we also know we need to raise our voices in the halls of government.

If you follow us on social media or stay current with our calls to action, you’ll know about the Unemployment Bridge Program and how we’ve been fighting since 2020 to expand the unemployment safety net in New York so that it protects 750,000 workers who are currently excluded from receiving any unemployment compensation if they lose their job at no fault of their own. This includes 90,000 freelancers, cash-earners, immigrant workers and formerly incarcerated workers living on Long Island.

At Long Island Jobs with Justice we believe in building lasting change through worker-centered and worker-driven campaigns and movements and we nurture and support the development of worker leaders.

One worker leader we’re super proud to work with is freelance photographer Julie Flores! Julie has not only been a tireless and effective advocate, but she also has used her photography skills and talent to document the Unemployment Bridge Program campaign. In her zine – A Zine for a Cause – Julie weaves together her personal experience as an excluded worker with the larger movement of workers fighting for economic justice.

We are fiercely dedicated to centering and supporting workers like Julie to build our movement and win the changes workers – and all of us – so badly need. Your support could be the deciding factor in whether we can keep this important work going.Don’t miss out on this opportunity to double your impact and make a real difference in the lives of working people. We are so grateful for your support!

In Solidarity,

Long Island Jobs with Justice

Help LIJWJ Empower Workers in Their Workplaces!

One thing anyone reading this can probably agree on is that democracy is good, and also that we’re running a little short on it these days! Beyond voting for candidates and occasional ballot initiatives, people have no real direct say in how we are governed or what our society prioritizes.  

Peoples’ democratic input is even less present in their workplaces where the demands of the employer take total priority over employee needs. Organizing inside the workplace is crucial if workers are to have any direct say in their working conditions, and labor unions provide the structure for this collective power, offering workers a voice they wouldn’t have individually!

Artwork by Margaret Palmquist (IG: @swedishsummers)

At LIJWJ, we believe people ought to have democratic say over every aspect of their lives, including their workplaces, and we fight for that through organizing with labor partners and community supporters. Your support will help us continue to empower workers and strengthen efforts to grow democracy in the workplace!

One way we support growing democracy and worker power is through our Workers’ Rights Board, a community-based strategy that improves and enforces workers’ rights through collective pressure. The Board gives workers a public platform to share their struggles and hold employers accountable. One notable success was our work with Starbucks Workers United to support local Starbucks baristas, where we issued a Workers’ Rights Board report highlighting worker grievances, leading to the removal of an abusive manager who had been ignored by Starbucks corporate for over a year. The report sent a clear message: no PR can hide the company’s mistreatment of workers!

Read the report and see how we took action!

Over the past year, we’ve also stood strong with Long Island nurses fighting for safe staffing and wage parity, autoworkers at South Shore KIA securing their first union contract, custodial workers at Molloy University demanding fair wages, and healthcare workers working to protect Medicaid. LIJWJ has been at the forefront, mobilizing and organizing community support every step of the way.

We are inching closer to our goal and every little bit helps – donate today! With your support we can make sure LIJWJ has many more years of showing up for local workers and building even stronger collective power for future victories.  And remember, every dollar donated will be doubled for greater impact!

In solidarity,

Long Island Jobs with Justice

LIJWJ Matching Donation Opportunity!

We have some exciting news! National Jobs with Justice and an anonymous Long Island donor are offering a combined $20,000 in matching funds! This means if we’re able to raise $20,000 over the next month it will turn into $40,000!For a small (but mighty!) organization like us, that’s a significant contribution that can go a long way to support the ongoing fight for workers’ rights on Long Island. But, in order to take advantage of it, we need YOU to donate within the next month. If you’re ready to donate now, head to this link and help start us off strong.

Normally when we send out calls to action it’s to join workers on a picket line, call out an exploitative boss, lobby for a pro-worker bill, or support a community fight. But today, we’re asking for your support in a different way—by making a donation that will help us continue this crucial work and strengthen the fight for workers’ rights and justice on Long Island.

Forces are working overtime to erode workers’ rights, undermine unions, and strip away protections, all while favoring the wealthy and corporate elites over the needs of people. Masses of Long Islanders are struggling to afford the basic necessities of survival. Their numbers are growing and relief seems more distant with every passing day. Counter forces like Long Island Jobs with Justice are badly needed and by making a donation today you can be part of ensuring we stick around for the worker fights ahead!

These are uncertain times in many different ways, but together we can fight back against these attacks on working people! By staying grounded in our values of equity and justice – always putting people over profits – we can emerge from this struggle as a society that better reflects the fairness and dignity that every person deserves. Your contribution today will have double the impact, and that’s huge for us on Long Island.

We’ll be focusing on spreading the word on this match grant over the next few weeks and sharing more on LIJWJ’s beliefs and the work we do. But if you’re able and ready to support now please don’t wait to give!

Every little bit helps – and remember every dollar up to $20k will be matched for the next month. If you can give $20 it’ll turn into $40, $50 into $100, $100 into $200, and so on. Thank you for your support and we’ll be back with more soon!

In solidarity,

Long Island Jobs with Justice

Local Nurses Are Speaking Out! Be There to Hear Them!

Local LI nurses are asking for your help! If you can please be there tomorrow February 26 at noon outside South Shore University Hospital to hear the nurses speak out!

From our friends at NYSNA: “New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA) nurses at Northwell Health/South Shore University Hospital demand Northwell negotiate and settle a fair contract. For months, they have been fighting for a fair contract with safe staffing, improved wages and benefits that will help recruit and retain nurses, and a voice in patient care. They are voting to authorize an unfair labor practice strike and will announce the results Wednesday.

Instead of prioritizing negotiating a fair contract, Northwell/South Shore administration has interfered with employee rights by retaliating against patient advocates. Nurses are urging Northwell to prioritize negotiating a fair and on-time contract, respect their nurses and settle a fair contract with safe staffing, improved wages, and benefits that will help recruit and retain nurses. Last week, Long Island Unions sent a letter of support for NYSNA nurses to Northwell CEO Michael Dowling.”

Sooner or later every one of us requires medical care, and during those times we look to people like NYSNA’s inspiring nurses for help. There aren’t many professions so universally needed and essential as nurses. As community supporters lets stand with our local nurses so that when we inevitably need their help they’ll be working with the proper staffing, safety, and financial security they need to deliver the care we as patients deserve!

Until next time, thank you for your support of LIJWJ and solidarity with our local workers.

In solidarity,

Long Island Jobs with Justice