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New Database Tracks Outsourcing, Safety Violations, Discrimination

From Working America: AFL-CIO Releases Database That Tracks Outsourcing, Safety Violations, Discrimination

The AFL-CIO and Working America released Oct. 7 a searchable database detailing outsourcing numbers, safety violations, and discrimination cases for more than 400,000 corporations and subsidiaries.

The groups’ Job Tracker searches for information by zip code, company name, and industry.

“Because of Job Tracker, corporations who have taken advantage of lax trade policies in America and abroad will no longer be able to hide behind the veils of bureaucracy,” said Karen Nussbaum, executive director of Working America. “Every night on our neighborhood canvasses, we hear from people who want to know which companies are profiting off the loss of their jobs. Corporations have created a global race to the bottom and working people won’t stand for it.”

The interactive database uses data from dozens of public sources to allow visitors to find out which companies have exported jobs overseas, violated health and safety codes or engaged in discriminatory or other illegal practices, Nussbaum said.
On a conference call to release the database, speakers noted that both experts and the general public now will be able to easily search through a huge compilation of data on corporate outsourcing.

Drawn From Several Sources

Detailed results are drawn from sources including the Labor Department’s Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) records, Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notices, Occupational Safety and Health Administration records, and other agencies.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka noted the impact of trade and tax policies that make it even easier for corporations to outsource jobs. Trumka pointed to the benefits of the tool for workers as they rebuild the economy.

“We must demand that our leaders show that they stand with working families—fighting to create jobs, rejecting unfair trade deals and putting us on a path to make things in America again,” Trumka said. “For the first time, working people have one place to see the real impact of the failed policies of the past that gave corporations the ability to ship American jobs overseas. With this new data as a benchmark, working people will have the ability to separate the economic patriots from the corporate traitors at the ballot box.”

Trumka said it has “been excruciating” to find information about what companies are outsourcing and to what extent. “This allows anyone to see who is a bad actor in their community,” he said.

Nussbaum said that six researchers spent three months developing the database…

Christian Witness, Events, PNCC, ,

Lectures on Christian Division and Reconciliation in Scranton

From Eirenikon: Ecumenical Symposium at the University of Scranton (also at First Things)

A symposium to be held at The University of Scranton on Friday, Oct. 15, will bring together scholars and clergymen involved in the work of ecumenism — the effort to bring into full, sacramental unity Christian bodies that have been long separated and sometimes hostile to one another.

At the beginning of the new millennium, a document issued by the Vatican sparked intense debate through ecumenical circles because of “its candid re-emphasis on singular and exclusive claims of the Catholic Church and its direct reference to what it called the ‘defects’ of other, non-Catholic Christian communities,” said Will Cohen, Ph.D., assistant professor of theology and religious studies at The University of Scranton.

Dr. Cohen explained, “Although the document’s main focus was on relations not between divided Christians, but between Christianity and other faiths, its comments on inter-Christian relations sparked intense controversy and debate, both within and outside the Catholic Church — debate about the nature of the Church, its purpose, the basis of its unity and the meaning of Christian division.”

The event begins with a panel discussion entitled “The Church of Christ and Ecumenism 10 Years after Dominus Iesus: a Symposium on Christian Division and Reconciliation” that will bring together theologians from Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Polish National Catholic and Anglican traditions to discuss Dominus Iesus ten years after its publication and to consider current prospects and challenges of ecumenical dialogue. The panel discussion, which will take place from 3 to 5 p.m. in room 406 of the DeNaples Center, is sponsored by the University’s Education for Justice Office and the Department of Theology and Religious Studies

In addition, a Catholic Studies Lecture will be presented by Monsignor Paul McPartlan, the Carl J. Peter Professor of Systematic Theology and Ecumenism at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. … Monsignor McPartlan will focus his presentation on the progress of these two dialogue commissions in a paper titled, “An Exchange of Gifts: Catholic-Orthodox and Catholic-Methodist Dialogue.” The lecture will take place at 7 p.m. in the Moskovitz Theater of the DeNaples Center. Monsignor McPartlan’s address will be followed by a question-and-answer period.

Afternoon speakers include the Right Reverend Anthony Mikovsky, Ph.D., pastor of St. Stanislaus Cathedral in Scranton, Pa., and Bishop Ordinary of the Central Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC), as well as a member of the PNCC-Roman Catholic Dialogue; Reverend Dr. Ephraim Radner, professor of historical theology in Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto and a member of the Covenant Design Group, established in 2007 by Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury with the aim of developing an Anglican Covenant that would affirm the cooperative principles binding the worldwide Anglican communion; and Reverend Dr. John Panteleimon Manoussakis, the Edward Bennet Williams Fellow and assistant professor of philosophy at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. and an ordained deacon in the Greek Orthodox Church.

Both the afternoon panel discussions and the Catholic Studies Lecture are free and open to the public. For additional information, please contact Dr. Cohen at The University of Scranton at 570-941-4545.

Christian Witness, Current Events, Events, Perspective, Political, , , , , ,

Jobs Crisis March

Are you concerned about the crisis of jobs? If so, join Interfaith Worker Justice at the One Nation Working Together rally in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, October 2.

The rally, at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall from noon to 4 p.m., will have terrific speakers, music and informational tables. Four hours is not too long to make a stand for jobs. Please bring your friends and family. The turnout for the rally will demonstrate the extent of concern about the unemployment crisis. The bigger the turnout, the louder message, which will mean more media coverage and greater political impact.

If you want to meet up before the rally and go together, meet at IWJ’s Capitol Hill townhouse at 404 4th Street, NE at 11 a.m. After the rally, plan on stopping by the townhouse around 4:30 p.m. for some snacks and fellowship. Again, the address is 404 4th Street, NE – a short walk up Massachusetts Avenue from Union Station.

Current Events, Events, Poland - Polish - Polonia, ,

Katyń Massacre Exhibit on display in Buffalo

Katyń Massacre Exhibit at the Buffalo and Erie County Central Library from Wednesday, September 29 at 8:30am through October 18 at 6:00pm. The library is located at 1 Lafayette Square, Buffalo, New York.

Information on the 70th anniversary of the Katyń Forest massacre will be highlighted with an exhibit at the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library. There are numerous local connections to the massacre. The exhibit lists two Buffalo-born men who were killed in the massacre. A number of current local residents are descendants of others who were among the 20,000+ murdered and buried in Katyń by the Soviet secret police.

The exhibit was featured earlier this year at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC during the month of April coinciding with the tragic plane crash that killed nearly 100 of Poland’s leadership personnel in Smolensk, Russia. The Buffalo News did a video on Katyń and the exhibit.

The tragedy thrust the story of Katyń onto the front pages of newspapers around the world, spurring interest in this massacre that had been covered up for decades by the Soviets.

The exhibit was prepared by Andrzej Przewoźnik, a Polish historian, for the Council to Preserve the Memory of Combat and Martyrdom and the New York City based Kościuszko Foundation. Ironically Przewoźnik was one of those killed in that plane crash on April 10.

A CIA spokesman, Benjamin Fischer wrote the following about Katyn:

“One of the earliest – and certainly the most famous – mass shootings of prisoners of war during World War II did not occur in the heat of battle but was a cold-blooded act of political murder. The victims were Polish officers, soldiers, and civilians captured by the Red Army after it invaded eastern Poland in September 1939. Strictly speaking, even the Polish servicemen were not POWs.

The USSR had not declared war, and the Polish commander in chief had ordered his troops not to engage Soviet forces. But there was little the Poles could do. On 28 September, the USSR and Nazi Germany, allied since August, partitioned and then dissolved the Polish state. They then began implementing parallel policies of suppressing all resistance and destroying the Polish elite in their respective areas.”

This exhibit is being brought to Buffalo through the efforts of the WNY Division of the Polish American Congress and the Kościuszko Foundation, WNY Chapter and the Polish Legacy Project of Buffalo-WWII.

On Sunday, October 17th at 2pm Andrzej Wajda’s Oscar nominated film “Katyń” will be screened in the library. The film contains English subtitles.

The exhibit is located in the open area on the main floor of the library.

Events, , , ,

Sirenland 2011 writers conference

From One Story: Applications for Sirenland 2011 are now open, from September 15th to October 31st.

Join writers Dani Shapiro, Jim Shepard, and Peter Cameron, along with One Story magazine March 27-April 2, 2011 for the Sirenland Writers Conference. Experience advanced fiction and memoir workshops in an intimate, supportive environment at one of the most beautiful five star luxury hotels in the world – Le Sirenuse – in Positano, Italy.

Participation in this conference is limited to ensure individual attention and create a close, friendly community. Each day features an intensive, small group workshop with acclaimed writers Dani Shapiro, Jim Shepard, and Peter Cameron, as well as private time for writing, and excursions to nearby Pompeii and the Isle of Capri. Evenings will include talks about publishing and living the writer’s life, with Dani Shapiro, Jim Shepard, Peter Cameron, screenwriter Michael Maren and Hannah Tinti (co-founder and editor-in-chief of One Story), distinguished visiting authors, student and instructor readings, and fantastic meals overlooking the Islands of Li Galli, formerly called the “Island of the Sirens.”

To apply writers must submit a brief statement of purpose (about 250 words) and a writing sample (no more than 7,000 words). All applications will be taken online. Because this workshop will be limited, we encourage you to submit right away. The final deadline will be October 31st, 2010.

Poetry, , , ,

Registration for the 2010-11 Poetry Out Loud program now open

Poetry Out Loud is a national program through the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) that encourages high school students to learn about great poetry as they memorize and perform notable poems in a series of competitions that begin in the classroom and will culminate with national championships in Washington, D.C. in April.

Visit the NYSAAE website for complete details on how to bring this program to your school. The deadline to register schools to participate is November 5, 2010.

Christian Witness, PNCC, , , ,

Immigrants Expand Productivity

From the Federal Reserve Bank, San Francisco: Fed Says Immigrants Expand Productivity; No Evidence of Harm to Native Opportunities

SAN FRANCISCO—Data show that immigrants expand the U.S. economy by stimulating investment and improving worker efficiency and income but not at U.S.-born workers’ expense, according to a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Aug. 30.

Giovanni Peri, an associate professor at the University of California at Davis and a visiting scholar at the San Francisco bank, summarized his recent research to conclude that immigration has positive financial effects for U.S.-born workers.

Data show that, on net, “immigrants expand the U.S. economy’s productive capacity, stimulate investment, and promote specialization that in the long run boosts productivity. Consistent with previous research, there is no evidence that these effects take place at the expense of jobs for workers born in the United States,’’ Peri said.

He added that there “is no evidence that immigrants crowd out U.S.-born workers in either the short or long run. Data on U.S.-born worker employment imply small effects, with estimates never statistically different from zero. The impact on hours per worker is similar.’’

Immigration Associated With Income Rise

Over the long run, Peri wrote in the bank’s Economic Letter, per worker income rises 0.6 percent to 0.9 percent for each inflow of immigrants that equals 1 percent of employment.

“This implies that total immigration to the United States from 1990 to 2007 was associated with a 6.6 percent to 9.9 percent increase in real income per worker. That equals an increase of about $5,100 in the yearly income of the average U.S. worker in constant 2005 dollars,’’ Peri said.

Such a gain equals 20 percent to 25 percent of the total real increase in average yearly income per worker registered in the United States between 1990 and 2007, Peri said.

A third result is that in the short run, physical capital per unit of output is decreased by net immigration, but in the medium to long run, businesses expand their equipment and physical plant proportionally to their increase in production, Peri said.

Peri was traveling out of the country Aug. 30 and was unavailable for comment on his report.

Immigrants Tend to Take Different Occupations

Already well documented is that U.S.-born workers and immigrants tend to take different occupations, Peri said. Among less-educated workers, those born in the United States tend to have jobs in manufacturing or mining, while immigrants tend to have jobs in personal services and agriculture. Among more-educated workers, U.S.-born workers tend to work as managers, teachers, and nurses while immigrants tend to work as engineers, scientists, and doctors, he said.

Because those born in the United States have relatively better English language skills, they tend to specialize in communication tasks, Peri said. “Immigrants tend to specialize in other tasks, such as manual labor,’’ he wrote.

“The share of immigrants among the less educated is strongly correlated with the extent of U.S.-born worker specialization in communication tasks,’’ Peri wrote in the report titled “The Effect of Immigrants on U.S. Employment and Productivity.’’

“In states with a heavy concentration of less-educated immigrants, U.S.-born workers have migrated toward more communication-intensive occupations. Those jobs pay higher wages than manual jobs, so such a mechanism has stimulated the productivity of workers born in the United States and generated new employment opportunities,’’ Peri said.

This “typically pushes U.S.-born workers toward better-paying jobs, enhances the efficiency of production, and creates jobs,’’ Peri said. Task specialization, however, may involve adopting different techniques or managerial procedures and renovating or replacing capital equipment. “Hence, it takes some years to be fully realized,’’ he said.

As we celebrate this Labor Day, let us thank all workers, and do each justice, whatever their background, origin, or line of work. May our Lord bless all our labor.

I pray for the employed, that they may work as unto Thee and not unto men. I pray for the unemployed, that they may find work and be saved from despondency. Be Thou their strength in adversity. — an excerpt from A General Intercession from A Book of Devotions and Prayers According to the Use of the Polish National Catholic Church.

Christian Witness, Political, , , ,

IWJ’s Organizing for Worker Justice Training

Register is open for IWJ’s Organizing for Worker Justice Training to be held October 3-7, 2010 in Chicago, IL.

The training is for those who may be:

  • Board members, leaders, or volunteers of an interfaith organization
  • Organizers with a faith-based organization or worker’s center
  • Religious or community outreach staff of a union

The training is designed to assist in understanding religious and labor structures, learning how to strengthen partnerships between religious and labor leaders, understanding the fundamentals of Direct Action Organizing, designing creative interfaith actions, developing strategies for building your organization and effective fundraising strategies, and framing the message about religious values and workers’ rights to the media.

Information and registration can be found at the IWJ Conference website. The deadline for registration is September 15th.

Christian Witness, Perspective, Political, Work, ,

In preparation for Labor Day

From IWJ: It’s been a particularly challenging year for workers. Hundreds of thousands are still without jobs; the rights of immigrant workers are constantly threatened by proposed anti-immigrant legislation; and millions of working families still live below the poverty line.

This Labor Day, we take time to remember and draw strength from the stuggles and victories of workers who came before us. And as we celebrate the past, let us also honor and lift up those individuals whose labor continue to impact our lives today.

For the month of September, I join IWJ, and also invite you, to honor at least one special worker. By honoring a worker today, we not only recognize and thank one or a handful of people in our lives, we are also supporting their efforts to improve wages, benefits and conditions for all workers.

Also, on Labor Day weekend, congregations across the country will be hosting workers and labor leaders to reflect on faith, work, justice, and the meaning of Labor Day. I encourage you to attend! Click to find a service/event near you, and visit IWJ for information on organizing an event in your congregation.

Here is a really nice reflection on Philemon 1:1-21 in Philemon: Lessons for Labor Day

The short book of Philemon is one of the lectionary readings for Labor Day weekend 2010. Only 25 verses long, commentators aren’t clear exactly what is going on in the passage. It is clearly a letter from Paul and Timothy to a man named Philemon.

Let’s identify the main characters. There’s Paul, who’s in jail, and Timothy, his younger colleague and cohort. The letter is written to Philemon, who’s described as a “dear brother and fellow worker,” Apphia, called “our sister,” Archippus, who is a solider, and to the whole Church that meets in Philemon’s home. This makes us think that Philemon is fairly well to do, otherwise the Church probably couldn’t meet in his home. Plus, he clearly has at least one slave – Onesimus.

Paul gives thanks for Philemon’s love of people and prays that he will be active in sharing his faith and recognizing “every good thing we have in Christ.”

Then the crux of the letter begins. Paul is pleading on Onesimus’ behalf. Paul acknowledges that previously Onesimus was “useless” to Philemon. We don’t know why he was useless. Perhaps he was young and foolish. Perhaps he didn’t work hard. Perhaps he was actually a very good worker but Philemon took a dislike to him. We just don’t know.

Paul says, “I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I appeal to you on the basis of love.” So somehow, it appears that Philemon wasn’t being fair to Onesimus. Philemon is resisting doing what he ought to do, so Paul is appealing out of love.

Onesimus has served Paul well while he was in prison. He has become to him like a son, which is where we get the sense that Onesimus is young. Again, we’re not quite sure how Onesimus happened to get to prison with Paul. Perhaps Philemon had gotten mad and sent him to prison. Perhaps he had sent him with the mission of helping Paul.

Paul wanted to keep Onesimus with him, but he didn’t want to do so without Philemon’s consent, because the text says “so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced.” Paul wants Onesimus to stay with him, but doesn’t want Philemon to feel like he must continue allowing him there. Interesting.

Paul speculates about the real purpose behind why Onesimus was separated. He says, “Perhaps the reason he was separated from you for a little while was that you might have him back for good – no longer as a slave, but better than a slave, as a dear brother.” He goes on to say, “He is very dear to me but even dearer to you, both as a man and as a brother to the Lord.”

You know how we often see God’s hand in situation in the long run, but not in the short run. We view things one way at the time, but another in retrospect. What would explain Paul’s comments? Perhaps Onesimus ran away. Perhaps he bought his way out of being a slave. Perhaps Onesimus stole money or did something so bad that Philemon sent him off to jail. We don’t know. But, we do know that Paul is urging Philemon to see God’s hand in all this. Paul is urging him to see his coming back as a good thing. He is coming back as a brother and not as a slave.

Paul then goes on to say that if Philemon views Paul as a partner, then Philemon should welcome Onesimus “as you would welcome me.” Obviously, Philemon was not going to welcome him back nicely, otherwise Paul would not have had to beg him like this. Somehow or other Philemon is mad at Onesimus. Further, Paul says, “If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me.” Paul assures him that “I, Paul, am writing with my own hand.” Paul reiterates, “I will pay it back.”

Then Paul reminds Philemon that “you owe me your very self.” I assume this is referring to the fact that Paul evangelized Philemon. Paul is reminding him of his values and the debts that Philemon owes. Onesimus is not the only one with debts.

Finally, Paul appeals one last time to his good nature: “I do wish, brother, that I may have some benefit from you in the Lord; refresh my heart in Christ. Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I ask.”

Then Paul asks for a room and sends various greetings.

I can’t help, on this Labor Day weekend, reading this story as one about a rich and kind of spiteful, unforgiving, boss. Paul says Onesimus is a good guy. He is a dear brother. Paul is begging Philemon to welcome him back and treat him well. And, Paul is offering to pay any debt he may have. I don’t know about you, but Philemon seems the difficult one in this passage. Paul is treating him with kid gloves, appealing to love, calling in a debt, putting the situation in a favorable light.

So, what are the lessons for us here this Labor Day weekend? Frankly, the lessons depend in part on who we see ourselves as in the story. But frankly, I think most of the lessons are for bosses and those with influence. Let me suggest four key lessons:

…

Philemon may be a short book, but it is crammed full of lessons for us this Labor Day. None of us is perfect. Err on the side of forgiving mistakes by our co-workers, employees or even our bosses. When you see injustice and unfairness in the workplace, intervene. Be willing to step outside your comfort zone and speak up for your colleagues. And finally, approach those to whom you are appealing in a respectful manner. Pray for them and appeal to their best nature. These are good lessons this Labor Day weekend. Lessons for the workplace. Lessons for our families. And lessons for the Church.

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