Jobs with Justice & Allies Confront Corporate Power

Today, Colorado Jobs with Justice joined the Denver Area Labor Federation, SEIU, UFCW, and CWA in confronting corporate power. With all of the national conversation around income inequality, we wanted to be clear: The massive and growing gap between the rich and the rest of us is not an accident. It's not the inevitable result of mysterious market forces. It's about corporate bad actors and greedy corporate executives deliberately driving down wages and benefits for their workers so that they can take home ever more massive profits and executive paychecks.

From CWA District 7, Jay Boyle told the crowd of fifty labor and community activists about how Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam took home more than $20 million last year, and their retired CEO gets a pension of millions a year -- while Verizon is demanding to gut pensions for its workers. The crowd all made phone calls to CEO Lowell McAdam's voicemail, just to brighten his day. Then the UFCW's Mark Belkin spoke about efforts at organizing with Walmart associates, as well as a strike at Buckley Air Force Base, where eight barbers have struck at their location of a nationwide chain of barbershops.


Walmart will be opening new stores in Denver and across Colorado in the coming year, and UFCW and Jobs with Justice will be there to stand up to their greed. Last but certainly not least, we heard from Celia, a proud SEIU 105 member and janitor, who -- along with her sisters and brothers at Local 105 -- are fighting for a fair contract this year. The cleaning companies and the property owners of the building 105's members clean are making huge profits -- again -- and again they want to work their employees even harder for too little pay.

Thanks to all those who joined us today, but this is only the beginning of these campaigns. With Walmart expanding, Walmart associates organizing under the banner of OUR Walmart (Organization United for Respect at Walmart), CenturyLink looking to follow in Verizon's footsteps in attacking CWA members hard-earned middle-class jobs, and SEIU's Justice for Janitors campaign officially launching in April, there will be many opportunities to be there, standing up for workers and against corporate greed! See you next time!