Join the Haitian-American Family of Long Island (HAFALI) for their annual Mental Health Walk this weekend at Baldwin Harbor Park! HAFALI is an inspiring local community organization supporting LI’s over 20,000 Haitian residents, and was honored by LIJWJ at our 2023 awards dinner. It’s a great chance to enjoy the fall weather, get to know other folks, and restore yourself with the warmth of community!
It’s time to prioritize mental health. Support HAFALI’s efforts in promoting mental wellbeing while raising funds to support our community!
Nuns on a Bus
Today October 2 meet up with the righteous Nuns on the Bus on their “Vote our Future” Tour!
“NETWORK’s Nuns on the Bus & Friends is hitting the road! On this two-and-a-half-week, nonpartisan, nationwide “Vote Our Future” Tour, Nuns on the Bus & Friends will call on Catholics and all people of good will to be multi-issue voters and to protect the freedoms that promote a future of flourishing for all of us.
Repairers of the Breach – LIJWJ Faith Conference in December!
This December we hope you’ll join the LIJWJ faith community for an engaging and thought-provoking conference – “Repairers of the Breach”: How Faith and Community Partners Can Build a Just Long Island Economy. Repairers of the Breach is open to all clergy, congregants, and individuals from all faith traditions (and secular folks too!) interested in participating in discussions on the intersection of morality, economics, and movement building.
The workshop lineup is packed full of topics and questions that cut to the core of why LI is the way it is, and what needs to be done to undo the centuries of harm to marginalized groups that have taken place here. Each workshop will be facilitated with a panel of faith and community leaders immersed in their fields of expertise. They include:
Interfaith Perspectives on Principles of Economic Justice
Ramping Up to Pass the Unemployment Bridge Campaign in the 2024/25 NY Legislative Session
Another year has gone by with the NYS legislature failing to pass the Unemployment Bridge Program (UBP), and another year of excluded workers going without critical support they need when out of work. Cash workers, freelancers, and formerly incarcerated friends and neighbors are being failed by our current system. They work just as hard as traditional employees but are left out in the cold simply because of the way they are classified as a worker.
Fortunately, your local coalition pushing for UBP, the LI Fund Excluded Workers Coalition (FEW) has powerful worker leaders speaking up like freelance photographer Julie Flores. Julie was an honoree at LIJWJ’s recent awards dinner, and has been volunteering for the LI FEW Coalition since the 2022/23 legislative session. As a photographer Julie has documented the struggles of excluded workers like herself, and as an advocate has hit the ground from LI to Albany speaking about the injustices of our unemployment system.
Since the summer Julie has been interviewed by You’re Our Unity, has had some of her photography exhibited at the Heckscher Museum (and will continue to until 1/19/25!), and been featured as a worker voice for the National Employment Law Project (NELP). Julie and her work truly represents the resilience and drive of excluded workers who make some of the most essential parts of our economy run.
To keep up the fight for excluded workers, the LI FEW Coalition will be holding campaign launch events later in the fall. Stay tuned for announcements and please join us to get these workers a well deserved benefit!
Bosses Steal (a lot) Update – Chipotle
CEO musical chairs! Starbucks has gotten a new CEO, and if this guy’s record from his former company (Chipotle) is any guide, then things are not looking up for Starbucks’ corporate culture. Newsday recently ran a story on how Chipotle has paid back nearly $1 million in unpaid wages to current and former New York workers. Chipotle maintains that the wages went unpaid because of a computer system error, and that they have paid the workers on their own initiative. This may well be true, and it is good that the company is paying workers what they’re due, but we can’t help but notice how casually this is being handled.
According to our friends at 32BJ SEIU, Chipotle’s corporate culture is similar to other large chains like Starbucks, which makes Niccol a natural match for the company. It is discriminatory, lacking in transparency, lacking in accountability for managers, and has inadequate staffing policies, among other things. These conditions are very familiar to Starbucks workers who’ve been in the midst of collective bargaining with their corporate monster employer the last few months to resolve these same issues.
Chipotle and companies like it are given unequaled grace when they make mistakes. Workers on the other hand perform their labor in an authoritarian environment where simple mistakes can result in termination or other forms of discipline.
Chipotle took in nearly $10 billion in revenue in 2023, which makes the nearly $1 million returned to NY workers barely a blip on their balance sheet. But a worker who loses hours or their job because of simple mistakes can be financially devastated when not extended the same leeway Chipotle enjoys with state authorities.
To catch the latest updates on LI wage theft cases and everything else LIJWJ is up to, be sure to follow us on social media @lijwj on Instagram and on Facebook!
Care Can’t Wait
LIJWJ’s own Diane Cantave joined friends from the National Domestic Workers Alliance for a stop of the Care Can’t Wait bus tour last month. “Care Can’t Wait is a coalition of organizations, stakeholders and advocates committed to building a comprehensive, 21st century care infrastructure — that means robust investments to expand access to childcare, paid family and medical leave (PFML), and home- and community-based services (HCBS), and ensure good jobs for the care workforce.”
America has a huge deficit among the wealthiest nations in terms of the healthcare services supported by government. To bring badly needed services to the people and families that need them, Care Can’t Wait is fighting on the federal level for the investment of $400 billion in Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services, passage of the Child Care for Working Families Act, and passage of Paid Family and Medical Leave legislation.
We’re proud to support our friends in 1199 SEIU in the push for these badly needed policies!
We Are Long Island Organizing Hub Fall Event Schedule
The We Are Long Island (WALI) organizing hub is developing into and invaluable resource for organizers, activists and advocates in our region. WALI’s calendar is a smorgasbord of homegrown and locally organized events! Just in the next few weeks there are community fundraisers, trainings, and information sessions covering a wide range of issues impacting many of LI’s diverse communities.
Some of the public events on the WALI calendar, there’s a lot more for hub members!
Get more involved transforming LI into a place safe and welcoming for all and, just as importantly, connect with others looking and fighting to do the same. Join the hub to get full access or get to know WALI first and sign up for an open public event! Also be sure to follow them on Instagram!
We had a blast at our 2024 Awards Dinner! Thank you to our honorees, sponsors, and supporters from LIJWJ’s community, faith, and labor coalition! It was an evening of celebration, laughter, and worker power. There were also emotional moments as the serious challenges our communities face were brought into the spotlight. But the solidarity in the room was palpable, and has given us fresh confidence that we will win all the struggles now before us no matter how challenging.
If you weren’t able to join us it’s not too late to show your support! Our Givebutter page is still open for donations, as well as our normal donation page. We have another year of workers’ struggles that need to be won ahead of us, and every bit of support counts!!
We’re fast approaching our 2024 Awards dinner, and we’re just over halfway to our $40,000 fundraising goal! If you’re planning to join us then please reserve your tickets online here or via mail here now! We need your help through ticket purchases and/or donations to keep our work of supporting orgs and folks like our honorees in their fights for justice. Speaking of honorees, we have more honoree spotlights!
Honoree Spotlight – Gladys & Julie Flores
Mother and daughter team Julie and Gladys Flores are some seriously inspiring individuals. If you’ve followed us for a while you’ve seen their faces at many actions and events, and Julie’s artwork documenting the struggles of excluded workers in NY.
Gladys is an immigrant from Guatemala, a beautiful country in Central America. As any other immigrant she came to build a small fortune and to later go back to live the good life. Things did not workout according to her plan. Doing an array of different jobs, she learned quickly that workers need to speak out if they want to be respected. Landing a job with a unionized employer opened the door to learn about employees’ rights, and how to reinforce those rights at the workplace. Becoming a union organizer with 1199SEIU has given her the opportunity to organize many retail stores and represent their workers. She enjoys long walks, dancing, reading and willing to discuss and help social justice issues over a great cup of coffee.
Julie was born and raised on LI and graduated from Columbia College Hollywood in 2010 with a B.A. in Filmmaking, focusing on editing. She’s been interested in photography since high school, and started with 35mm black and white film. She learned how to develop and print photos in a darkroom and loves the beauty of film photography. At the beginning of 2023, Julie was invited to share her story as an exclusive worker. She was nervous to share her story because she felt her ‘story wasn’t important to tell.’ Yet, that day changed her in many different ways. Julie’s confidence has grown, helping her to get over the working trauma she’s experienced. She’s learned her worth and the power of her voice. She wants to help others learn their worth, know their rights, and the power we all have.
In August 2023, Julie’s first photo book, “La Muralla,” was released featuring photos taken at the southern border in 2022. Julie has also just released a zine about the Fund Excluded Workers Campaign fighting to get unemployment benefits for the 750,000 New Yorkers ineligible for traditional UI because of how they’re classified.
People like Gladys and Julie are the foundation of our movement, and through their work have empowered thousands of Long Islanders to fight for justice. Join us in celebrating them at our Awards Dinner on July 30!
Honoree Spotlight – Gender Equality New York
Our Awards Dinner features five incredible and inspiring honorees this year. The one we’re spotlighting today is Gender Equality New York.
“Gender Equality New York, Inc. (GENY) is a statewide, incorporated non-profit whose mission is to support transgender, gender non-binary, and intersex (TGNBI) New Yorkers and their families. Our leadership group, made up of active community advocates, believes that justice and equality for this vulnerable community can only be won by an organization built by and of community members who bring their lived experiences and passions to spearhead this needed and important work. GENY is committed to gaining equal rights and ending discrimination as we work to achieve economic, educational, racial, and social equality for our communities. Our mission is to educate, advocate, connect, and empower in order to bring equality and justice across New York.”
GENY is another organization LIJWJ works with closely as a part of the We Are Long Island collaborative. Trans rights are constantly under siege, and locally Transphobia has been on the rise with the passage of a Trans athlete ban in Nassau County. But GENY’s tireless work educating, advocating, connecting and empowering continues to fortify the Trans community and pushes towards a day when justice is won.
Adlib Steel Orchestra
When LIJWJ throws a party, we always look to artists from our local communities for entertainment first. This year we’re super excited to have Adlib Steel Orchestra perform at our Awards Dinner!
Based in Freeport, “the Adlib Steel Orchestra was founded in 1989 by a group of Trinidadians who wanted to preserve their culture in the United States. It was incorporated in New York in 1995 as the Adlib Youth and Cultural Organization, with the emphasis shifted to providing young people the opportunity to learn and perform on the steelpan, as well as exposing them to other aspects of Caribbean culture…Adlib has an active program teaching people of all ages how to play the steelpan (referred to by some as the steel drum). The unique note placement sequence on a tenor pan makes it an ideal tool to learn the fundamentals of music theory. Many of Adlib’s students go on to play for the band, and some play the steelpan and other musical instruments in their schools.”
Steelpan music has its roots in centuries of cultural resistance and perseverance by enslaved African peoples. Originating from African talking drums, one of many traditions European colonizers violently tried to erase, modern steelpan emerged in Trinidad and Tobago in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. If you haven’t experienced a steel orchestra performance, now’s your chance!
Be sure to join us to connect with others, celebrate the work of GENY, Gladys & Julie, our other honorees, and experience some amazing steel pan music! It’ll be an energizing, movement-strengthening, and worker-centered evening. Help us reach our $40,000 fundraising goal by getting your tickets now using this link or by sending us this form!
We’re thrilled to feature our first 2024 Awards Dinner honoree spotlight! Today we’ll focus in on and celebrate the work of the Elmont Cultural Center!
“The Elmont Cultural Center, also referred to as The Cultural Center, serves as a pivotal hub for fostering effective organization and mobilization in nonpartisan voter education, civic education, and various challenges hindering progress. Our Mission promotes cultural exchange through community events that unite residents, fostering robust and cohesive neighborhoods.”
LIJWJ has worked and collaborated extensively with ECC as a part of the We Are Long Island collaborative. They do amazing work for the Elmont community including hosting large community-centered events and empowering people politically through advocacy on issues like climate, immigration, and transit equity. ECC understands and knows that all of these issues are inseparable and that together we are more powerful.
If you’re not following them on Instagram already, head over and start today! And stay tuned over the next month as we spotlight the rest of our powerful and inspiring 2024 honorees!
Stay tuned for more spotlights on our other honorees:
And be sure to join us for an energizing, movement-strengthening, and worker-centered evening on Tuesday July 30 at Captain Bill’s in Bay Shore! Help us reach our $40,000 fundraising goal by getting your tickets now using this link or by sending us this form!
West Hempstead Starbucks Win!
If you haven’t heard the news, we have ANOTHER unionized Starbucks on LI!! 🎉
The West Hempstead store at 580 Hempstead Tpke. voted last Thursday to become the NINTH Starbucks organized with Starbucks Workers United! A few days before the vote LIJWJ staff, board, and community members dropped by the store to say ‘hi’ and show support.
Congrats to the workers on a successful vote! Your community isn’t going anywhere and we’ll be alongside you in your struggle for a contract and beyond!
“Bring signs, noise makers and your voice! Join us to express your opposition to the Nassau County Trans Ban Bill… Join us this Saturday. June 24 at noon on the steps of the legislative building in Mineola, NY.”
Get the Latest on the Unemployment Bridge Program TODAY at 5!
The Fund Excluded Workers Coalition (FEW) is hosting campaign updates to share the latest in the push for unemployment justice. LIJWJ will be crossposting both streams on our Facebook page. Head over to FB on your own or use our profile link to tune in!
“Join the Fund Excluded Workers Coalition for a campaign update on Thursday, June 27th at 5pm (English with Bangla and Haitian-Creole interpretation) and Monday, July 1st at 6pm (Spanish) over Facebook Live. We will review key updates from this legislative session, as well as our plan to win the Unemployment Bridge Program so thousands of excluded workers can access unemployment compensation!”
LIJWJ is proud to announce our 2024 Awards Dinner Honorees! These organizations and individuals are among those at the forefront of the fight for justice on LI!
We’re excited to elevate and celebrate the work of:
Stay tuned for spotlights on each of our honorees to learn more about the important work they do!
The theme of this year’s awards dinner is CONNECTEDNESS. Greedy and unscrupulous bosses who use their wealth to wield control in our workplaces and government know that workers are weaker individually than they are collectively. It is a feature, not a bug, that people feel increasingly isolated from one another, especially on highly segregated Long Island.
We all would do well to subvert this trend by intentionally connecting with one another to strengthen us both individually and collectively. The struggles those fighting for justice endure are a bit easier when fought alongside others.
With this in mind, LIJWJ is using this large gathering of likeminded folks to do just that. So in addition to the usual worker-centered revelry we enjoy every year, come prepared with an open heart and mind to get to know someone you didn’t before!
Join us for an energizing, movement-strengthening, and worker-centered evening on Tuesday July 30 at Captain Bill’s in Bay Shore! Get your tickets now using this link or by sending us this form!
Here’s the latest from our ongoing social media series Bosses Steal (a lot)! Are you following us on social media? If not, be sure to head over to our Instagram @LIJWJ or Facebook and hit the follow button!
Know the facts about wage theft! There’s a huge crime wave happening right before our eyes, but it’s not one you’re likely to hear or read about in the news. Our communities are being looted by bosses and our state institutions aren’t doing enough to stop it.
Have your wages ever been stolen by your boss? Let us know using this form (here it is in Spanish and Haitian-Creole too!). And please share with friends or anyone you know whose boss has stolen from them! We’re building a movement to stop wage theft and need your input!
United Auto Workers Organizing – On LI and Nationally
From National Jobs With Justice – “The world is watching as American workers, especially in the South, assert their power to demand fair treatment…Jobs With Justice calls on the broader labor movement to meet the opportunity by boldly calling for industry-wide interventions that create a friendlier terrain for unionization.
To build a future that considers worker voices, the labor movement must seize this opportunity to advocate for industry-wide standards that address climate adaptation, racial wealth divide, and democratic practices at work.“
We’re super proud of our local UAW workers bringing this fight to LI. Stay tuned to our emails and social media for the latest news and ways to show solidarity with workers!
Bellport Community Garden Education Event Coming This Weekend!
There’s a special chance to connect with other like minded folks and with the Earth coming up! LIJWJ, the Brookhaven Landfill Action & Remediation Group (BLARG), and 1199 SEUI’s Healthcare Education Program (HEP) are hosting From Garden to Table to Black Gold on May 25 from 12 -2PM! The event will feature teach-ins on how the garden operates and the important place it holds in the Bellport community.
This is a great chance to learn about a living, breathing community project that is bringing people together to fight for justice! To register for this event head to this link!
Invitation to this event comes from Long Island Jobs with Justice’s AMOS Committee and is part of their Justice Ministries in Action initiative that is seeking to build and deepen relationships among people of faith on Long Island, activate a growing network of individuals and faith-based organizations who are motivated to learn about community-rooted projects, and inspire a community of people to take action against economic injustice.
LIJWJ Awards Dinner
Save the date! The Annual LIJWJ Awards Dinner, where we gather in community to recognize inspiring local individuals, organizations, and unions, is officially on the calendar for Tuesday July 30 from 6 – 8:30PM at Captain Bill’s!
Stay tuned for RSVP info and honoree announcements!
America has a huge deficit among the wealthiest nations in terms of the healthcare services supported by government. To bring badly needed services to the people and families that need them, Care Can’t Wait is fighting on the federal level for the investment of $400 billion in Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services, passage of the Child Care for Working Families Act, and passage of Paid Family and Medical Leave legislation.
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Long Island Jobs with Justice 