Catholics and the Poor People’s Campaign

On Thursday, May 5, at 7 p.m., there is a webinar to educate Catholics about the upcoming Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls on June 18. This assembly is the culmination of a year-long campaign that is seeking legislation to improve the condition of poor people in America. Proposals include expanding voting rights and the Voting Rights Act; a living wage; the right of workers to form and join unions; and high-quality pre-K-12 education for all. 

This webinar is especially for Catholic groups. Among the sponsors are the Franciscan Action Network, Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, Pax Christi USA, Leadership Conference of Women Religious, and NETWORK. Speakers include the National Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis; Bishop John Stowe, Bishop President of Pax Christi USA; and Sister Patricia McDermott, President of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas. Locally, the activities of the Poor People’s Campaign have been organized by the New York State Labor-Religion Coalition. I am on their Board of Directors.
 
Click here to register. More information about the Poor People’s Campaign is here.

Sweatshop-Free NYS

The New York State Labor-Religion Coalition, together with Sweatfree Communities and United Students Against Sweatshops, invite you to participate in the Sweatshop-Free NYS Worker Tour and Week of Action February 3 - 9.

In the wake of November's deadly factory fire in Bangladesh claiming the lives of 112 garment workers, consumers are more aware than ever that something has gone terribly wrong in the global apparel industry – and brands like Adidas and Gildan are to blame. 

Come join students and community members to hear from garment workers who sew apparel in Honduran and Haitian factories owned and contracted by Gildan Activewear, a Montreal-based apparel company that supplies government entities in addition to companies like Adidas and Walmart. A worker from Haiti will speak about her union's protracted struggle to force Gildan to honor a nationwide minimum wage increase for some of the poorest garment workers in the world. A worker from Honduras will tell stories of death threats and intimidation she and her co-workers faced when organizing to improve working conditions in their factory. 

Workers will be speaking out across New York in the backdrop of a mounting campaign demanding New York State eliminate sweatshops from its purchasing supply chain. Thanks to the efforts of sweatshop-free advocates, New York State has joined the Sweatfree Purchasing Consortium in 2009 and its representative member is the President of the Consortium. Yet, despite its leadership, New York has hesitated to pass a meaningful sweatshop-free Code of Conduct and continues to purchase its apparel from sweatshops.

You can learn more here.