The Case of the Missing Jobs Plan Defeats Even the Great Super Sleuth

Yesterday in Albany, Jobs with Justice affiliates from Long Island, New York City, and Buffalo, as well as labor unions and community groups from across the state converged in the capital to assist the great super sleuth himself in finding the missing jobs plan for the state. As the legislative session in Albany comes to an end, many people are left wondering the whereabouts of the economic development initiative that will create sustainable, permanent, living-wage jobs for more local New Yorkers. The Coalition of Economic Justice sent a delegation of 7 people to this event, which consisted of the skit, a formal press conference in a room in the Legislative Office Building, and visits to representatives in the state senate and assembly. The skit and the press conference were a crowd-pleasing success. Clad in a ridiculous outfit complete with a pipe and an oversized magnifying glass, Austin Guest of the Alliance for Greater New York (ALIGN) ran around the buildings in the capital complex asking if people have seen the missing jobs plan. The result was powerful: everyone he met, including staffers of legislators, tourists on the street, democrats, republicans, and interns, came to the general consensus that the jobs plan is not in fact in Albany. Instead, it is in our cities and towns, where labor and community leaders, environmental advocates, academics, local business owners and others work day in and day out to create an economy built on good jobs and shared prosperity.

In response to this economic crisis, and the fear that Governor Cuomo’s proposed regional economic development councils might make the same mistakes of old, ALIGN published a report entitled “ Seizing the Moment: How Regional Economic Development Councils Can Build a Good Jobs Economy,” which was distributed at the press conference and to the offices of legislators. In the report, three key points are stressed as imperative additions to the Regional Economic Development Council model. They are implementing performance standards, maintaining accountability, and operating with transparency. In essence, there needs to be mechanisms in place that will hold companies accountable so that subsidized projects actually achieve the goal of sustainable job creation. The whole process also needs to be open to the public, since taxpayers deserve to know exactly how their money is being spent. ALIGN, CEJ, and their allies support the idea of the regional economic development councils as a model with great potential. However, they need to redefine their role and judge “success” based on outcomes to achieve real economic development. That is the missing jobs plan.

Yesterday, the Buffalo delegation was able to deliver the report and talk to the staff of Assembly members Crystal Peoples-Stokes and Sam Hoyt, as well as Senators Tim Kennedy, Mark Grisanti, Mike Ranzenhofer, and Pat Gallivan. We hope that this action and these visits planted the seeds for future discussions in Albany on how to make the regional economic development councils work for the working people across the state.

On a related note, there have been rumors that the super sleuth himself may make a surprise appearance right here in Buffalo next week as he continues the search for the jobs plan. Stay tuned for more updates.

Here is the link to the funny video of the super sleuth in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0auXtdhe7b4

Citizen Action's "Justice Works" Conference-an Intern's Perspective

My name is David Huang and I am an intern this summer at CEJ as part of Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations’ “The High Road Runs through the City” fellowship program. A little bit about myself: I just finished my freshman year at Cornell. As a student in the Industrial and Labor Relations program, I am interested in arbitration and third party work, the labor movement, law, and social justice issues. This past year was also my first year living in New York, after going to high school in Northern California and growing up in Taiwan. Throughout the course of the summer, I will be blogging on here about my experiences working with CEJ in Buffalo. I am very excited for this opportunity to live in this city rich in culture and feel especially fortunate to be working alongside the capable and committed people at CEJ in promoting civic, political, and worker rights, preventing corporate and government corruption, and preserving the strong middle class that has defined the American economic landscape by advocating for better jobs in New York.

For my first post I will be writing about my experiences at Citizen Action of New York’s “Justice Works: A Conference for Progressive New York,” which I attended during the weekend of June 4th and 5th.

If I could summarize the Justice Works conference in two words, they would be “vision” and “passion.” In order to champion any cause, especially the progressive ideals of government, education, and the economy, both concepts are needed to complement each other. The speakers, organizers, leaders, and participants at the conference showed that they not only have the vision of a greater, progressive New York, but they also have the passion to bring about visible and tangible changes. This passion is evident in the participants’ strong commitment to working together. Karen Scharff, the Executive Director of Citizen Action of New York, says that “by fighting for justice, we build strong communities. By fighting for economic equality, we build a better life for everyone. By fighting against racism, we build a strong democracy. By working together, across barriers of race, ethnicity, class and geography, we build a strong movement.” What I saw this weekend convinced me that this strong movement will persist beyond the confines of the Crowne Plaza hotel during the conference. It is a model that can be and will be applied all over the state as passionate progressives fight for justice in our schools, workplaces, and communities.

As someone with limited experience in the progressive movement and grassroots campaigns, I had a lot to learn at the conference. To me, there wasn’t any doubt in the validity and significance of many of the issues discussed, such as the right of workers to union representation, the need for better public schools and better, sustainable jobs, and the call to end racial discrimination in the workplace and in government programs, to name a few. However, the conference grounded these often idealistic goals in practicality, and taught me how to participate in a movement that doesn’t just talk about improving our community, but goes out and actually implements the changes we desire to see. However, as many of the speakers cautioned in their addresses, the progressive movement is often stymied by its shortsighted vision. Sure, we win battles on key issues and apply pressure on legislators to push through some important policy initiatives, but unlike some right-wing advocates, the progressives for the most part have not been successful in conveying to the American people the long-lasting images of compassion, justice, and equality. Therefore, progressives need to learn from their conservative counterparts in their boldness and persistence in pushing through their ideals. Many progressive issues are widely-accepted, even amongst republicans, since they are issues that deal with basic human rights. Only by advancing an uncompromising and unrelenting agenda can the movement instill these democratic principles in the minds of the general American population.

Surprisingly, as perhaps the youngest participant of the conference, the highlight of the weekend for me was not the dance party on Saturday night, but rather the speakers who provided insightful perspectives on progressive issues. Dr. Melissa Harris-Perry, the keynote speaker, was electrifying, combining her sense of humor with her extensive life and work experiences to deliver a provocative account of the struggle of African-Americans and women. Her presentation offered encouragement and new ideas in dealing with failure, which is inevitable in every movement. One of the workshops that I attended, entitled “Good Jobs for Everyone in America,” led by Richard Kirsch, gave me a more practical and applicable understanding of the job market in this recession. Kirsch believes that the root of the problem is that people are feeling hopeless about globalization and the rapid economic development, and the only way to combat this hopelessness is to create good jobs for everyone. In other words, America needs a bigger middle class in order to bring back the economic vitality of old. Eric Schneiderman, the recently-elected attorney general with strong progressive values, offered a rousing speech on Saturday night. He commended the work of the progressive groups present at the conference, and underscored the need for grassroots movements to back the work of politicians and policy makers. He believes that a politician is only as good as what his constituents ask of him, and he prodded everyone to hold their elected officials, himself included, accountable. While I could go on and on about my takeaways from the speeches and the conference experience as a whole, one thing sticks out in my mind—the speakers and the presentations all offered views that angled the progressive movement towards practical actions without losing sight of the big picture.