40 Hour Fast to Unite Reflection, Action Against Wage Theft



      You're invited to join the 40 Hour Fast: from Wage Theft to a Moral Economy. From Thursday, March 22nd at 7:00 p.m. until Saturday, March 24th at 11:00 a.m., workers, people of faith, and community members will join together in prayer, reflection, sacrifice, and action.

    The fast is being held because two out of three low-wage workers experience wage theft. Things don't have to be this way. We can build a moral economy that reflects God's justice for workers, where everyone who works shares in the fruits of their labor.

    I invite you to sign the pledge to join the 40 Hour Fast. There are a variety of ways you can participate in the fast, including:

• Going without solid food for as much of the 40 hour period as you can. This may mean fasting the entire time; fasting from sunset to sunrise; or fasting from one or more meals.
• Joining with others for an opening interfaith prayer vigil on March 22nd, and/or a closing meal on March 24th (see below for details).
• Reflecting and praying for workers who experience wage theft, and for employers who steal from them.
• Taking action against wage theft by calling Mis Pueblos Restaurant on Hacks Cross Rd., which currently owes a group of 5 workers over $31,000 in stolen wages. Call manager Guillermo Diaz at (901) 751-8896. Urge him to pay the $31,000 in wages he owes to his workers. Tell him you want to see the restaurant follow all minimum wage and overtime laws for their workers.

Interfaith Prayer Vigil to Open the Fast

Even if you're not physically able to fast, please join us in praying with workers who face wage theft.

Thursday, March 22nd at 7:00 p.m.

St. John's United Methodist Church

1207 Peabody Ave.

Featuring a reflection by Rabbi Aaron Rubinstein of Beth Sholom Synagogue

The vigil will be held in the chapel. Please enter the church through the green canopy entrance, off of the parking lot.

Simple Meal and Breaking of the Bread Service to Close the Fast

After a short service to close our fast, we will join together in a simple meal of soup and bread.

Saturday, March 24th at 11:00 a.m.

Collins Chapel CME Church

678 Washington Ave.

Sign the pledge to join the 40 hour fast, or download this flyer to learn more and spread the word.

Lord, when did I see you oppressed?

A reflection on the lectionary gospel reading for Sunday, November 20th

    The weekend of November 19th - 20th, Workers Interfaith Network is encouraging Mid-South congregations to observe a wage theft sabbath. The following post is a reflection on the Christian lectionary text that clergy can use to incorporate wage theft concerns into their sermons or homilies.

     Many Christian churches will celebrate Christ the King Sunday on November 20th. The lectionary text for the day, Matthew 25:31-46, gives us an opportunity to reflect on just what kind of a king Jesus is.
   
    The rulers of this world often seek power and wealth for themselves. In Matthew 25, Jesus once again points toward the "upside down" kingdom of God. He does not ask the nations when they have amassed gold for him or gathered armies for battle. Instead he declares that our actions toward the most impoverished and vulnerable have actually been done to him.

    In reading Jesus' words about the hungry, sick, and imprisoned, we might assume Christ only asks us to meet the immediate needs of the poor. If we consider Matthew 25 in light of Jesus' many other teachings about wealth, poverty, and injustice, we quickly see that providing comfort alone is not enough.

    From Jesus' announcement in Luke 4 that he has come to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to his turning over of the moneychangers' tables in the Temple, it is clear that the kingdom of God includes economic justice. It isn't hard to imagine Jesus adding another criteria to his long list in Matthew 25. I can hear the nations asking him, "Lord, when did we see you oppressed, and we acted for justice for you?" Other nations might ask, "Lord, when were you a victim of injustice, and we stayed silent?"

    After all, hunger, poverty, and injustice are intimately connected. Seeking God's kingdom means both feeding the poor and asking why they are hungry. And for many of our brothers and sisters, their hunger and poverty is through no fault of their own. Some cannot find work at all, or enough work to pay the bills. Others have worked hard, and have been taken advantage of by an employer who refuses to pay them.

    There are few insults that sting as deeply as laboring for another person, and then not receiving the pay that has been promised to you. While it is shocking, wage theft is not uncommon. Recent research suggests that as many as two out of three low-wage workers have been cheated out of some wages that are owed to them.

    The bad news is that when people of faith and good will are silent, wage theft continues unchecked.

    The good news is that when people of faith speak up with victims of injustices like wage theft, bad employers are much less likely to get away with cheating their workers.

     This is another way that the church can feed the poor, in addition to our food pantries and soup kitchens. When wage theft is stopped, many of the hungry and naked can feed and clothe themselves through their own labor, as they desired to all along.

Find more resources and sign up your congregation to participate in the wage theft sabbath.

Workshop on Christian faith and immigration June 4th

Are you confused about how our current immigration system works?
Have you wondered why more immigrants don't just "follow the rules" and immigrate legally?
Do you want to explore what Old and New Testament scriptures teach about immigration?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you're invited to "Who is My Neighbor? a Workshop on Christian Faith and Immigration" on Saturday, June 4th from 9 a.m. to noon. The workshop will be held at Mid-South Christian College, 3097 Knight Road. It is sponsored by Christian Memphians for Immigration Reform and Workers Interfaith Network.

At the workshop you'll have the chance to explore the scriptures with other thoughtful Christians, learn more about the immigration process, and discuss possible responses to the challenges of immigration in our country and community.

For more information, contact Lisa Watson (3WatsonsATgmail.com) or Rev. Rebekah Gienapp (rebekahATworkersinterfaithnetwork.org) 

Want to take action with workers seeking justice? Sign up for email action alerts from Workers Interfaith Network at http://www.workersinterfaithnetwork.org/index/involved/subscribe.htm

Mississippi Senate passes Arizona-style anti-immigrant bill

"When a foreigner resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the foreigner. The foreigner who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the foreigner as yourself, for you were foreigners in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God." - Leviticus 19:33-34

   Yesterday the Mississippi Senate passed an anti-immigrant bill similar to Arizona SB 1070. The bill would authorize local law enforcement officers to check a person's immigration status if "reasonable suspicion" exists that the person may be in the country illegally during any "lawful stop, detention or arrest," according to the Jackson Clarion Ledger.

   It's not clear yet whether the Mississippi House, which defeated a similar bill last year, will pass the legislation.

   The passage of this bill breaks my heart and angers me at the same time. Hebrew and Christian scriptures instruct us over and over again to love immigrants as ourselves, and to treat them as we would our fellow citizens. Both Moses and Jesus lived for a time as refugees in a strange land. Yet whenever anti-immigrant measures are pushed forward, some of their loudest proponents are people who say their Christian faith is more important to them than anything.

   This bill also disturbs me because it's just one more example of a distraction from the real solution to our country's immigration crisis: comprehensive immigration reform that allows hard-working people who have already built lives in the United States to earn a path to becoming citizens.
  
   Law enforcement should be worried about this bill. Trust between immigrant communities and the police is already very low. If Mississippi follows Arizona's path, we can be certain that many immigrants will be afraid to report crimes that happen to them, which only makes those crimes more likely to happen.

   The Mississippi bill specifically instructs law enforcement that race or national origin can be used as suspicion that someone is undocumented. That may be better than not mentioning racial profiling at all, but how do we imagine officers are going to decide who seems suspicious and who does not? Racial profiling would likely still happen, and then police and sheriff's departments will be facing discrimination lawsuits.

   If you think this sounds like an exaggeration, take a look at this lawsuit filed in Nashville when the city almost had a U.S. citizen deported. He was suspected of being undocumented because he spoke poor English. And by the way, the Mississippi bill passed yesterday says officers can use poor English as grounds for checking someone's immigration status.

   When will people of faith began to take seriously the commandment to love our immigrant neighbors as ourselves? When will we speak up with our brothers and sisters who daily face the fear that they will be torn from their loved ones and deported just because of a traffic violation? When will we turn to the real work of developing immigration reform, instead of playing to people's worst fears and prejudices?

   How long, O Lord, how long?

What Moses is teaching me about organizing

    Every night before bedtime, my husband, stepson and I read a Bible story together. Right now we're reading Exodus, and I've been reminded how much Moses can teach us about doing organizing. 


     For years, I've found comfort in Moses' reluctance to be sent by God to Pharaoh. Even after God tells him all of the wonderful signs Moses will be able to do in order to convince the people that God has sent him, Moses still says "O my Lord, please send someone else." As an introvert who has spent most of my life avoiding conflict, I often find myself mouthing those words along with Moses.

    But last night what caught my attention is the advice that Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, gives to him after the Israelites have left Egypt. In Exodus 18:13-24, Moses is becoming exhausted because he is trying to take care of all the community's needs by himself. Whenever there is a dispute among the people, they come to Moses to have it resolved.

    Jethro gives Moses a couple of pieces of advice that I think have relevance for any of us who are organizing for justice:

1) Jethro says that Moses should teach the people the statues and instructions that God has for them. It seems like Moses has been giving these statutes out one by one as people come to him to solve a conflict. But this gives people little power to solve their problems themselves. The more people in the community there are who can teach each other, the stronger the community will be. 

   We try to live by this principle in WIN's Workers' Center. Workers usually contact the Center for the first time because they've experienced wage theft, or have had some other abuse of their rights. Before workers begin a case with the Center, they have to participate in a training on what labor rights workers have in this country. As time has gone on, we've moved from staff leading these trainings, to experienced workers leading them. Workers leave these trainings knowing what their rights are, but they also leave better equipped to inform other workers of how to stand up against abuse.

2) Jethro pushes Moses to give up the illusion that he can take care of everything himself. He tells him "what you are doing is not good. You will surely wear yourself out, both you and these people with you. For the task is too heavy for you; you cannot do it alone." So Jethro suggests that Moses train other Israelites who are trustworthy to be judges. 

    It seems like pretty obvious advice, but how often do we try to do things alone, or with just one or two other people? The strongest community organizing groups are ones that are continually building up new leaders who do everything from speak to the media to recruiting members.

   I'll be honest with you. At Workers Interfaith Network, we need to do a better job of finding new leaders to add to those who've been with us for the last 5 - 8 years. For most of the folks who are in leadership positions today in WIN, they started off as volunteers who helped when they could with phone banking, picketing, delegations to business owners, sending mailings, and more. If you'd like to volunteer, please fill out our interest form to let us know the specific ways you'd like to help.

   When I think back over the last eight years, since I founded Workers Interfaith Network, I'm amazed to think of all the people who have shared the task of leading our work. So many people have given sacrificially of their time and their skills to seek justice with low-wage workers. Alone, it would have been too much for any person. Together, we have accomplished much more than we dreamed was possible.

Are We Truly Ready for Discipleship? A Reflection on the Gospel Lesson for Labor Sunday

          I’ve learned from some clergy friends who are very diligent in their sermon preparation that it’s never too early to start thinking about a sermon. So, I want to offer my reflections on the lectionary’s gospel text for Labor Day Sunday this year in case they may be helpful to you. For links to other Labor Day weekend worship resources for a variety of faith traditions, visit WIN’s website.

In Luke 14:25-33, Jesus asks the throngs of people surrounding him to consider whether they are really ready to become his disciples. Can they give up the things that may be required? Jesus’ questions about whether they can hate their parents, siblings, or children must have rung harshly in their ears, as they do in ours today. Why would Jesus ask this? And what does this have to do with his final words that “none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions”?

In Luke, Jesus’ message of justice for the poor and marginalized is often aimed at the wealthy and powerful. Perhaps in this passage, Jesus is warning some of those powerful people who believe they are ready to follow him, wanting them to know that they could lose much in becoming his disciple. The crowd may think they are ready to spread Jesus’ message that “blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” and “woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation” (Luke 6:20-26). But this could easily result in being disowned, or worse, by family members a person was deeply dependent on for wealth and for identity.

So Jesus urges those who think they are ready to follow to really consider the costs of discipleship. Are they really ready to obey God rather than their families if the two conflict? Is the gift of God’s kingdom more precious than the gift of earthly possessions and power they hold now? It is not that Jesus doesn’t want disciples. He is simply looking for those whose enthusiasm won’t be destroyed by rejection from loved ones, or by the stripping away of wealth.

Jesus’ advice to count the cost of discipleship reminds me of something in social justice movements called “inoculation.” Union organizers know that workers who speak up for a union can gain better wages, fair treatment, and decent benefits. But they also risk a lot. (In thirty percent of union organizing drives, at least one worker is illegally fired because of their support for the union.) So the organizer “inoculates” the worker by warning her of what she could face: being fired, harassed, demotions or harder work assignments, being forced to sit through hours of anti-union videos on work time, or being asked to inform on her friends and co-workers. Some workers will walk away after this, knowing they’re just not ready to take the risks involved. But those who remain know what they are risking for the cause of justice, and they become stronger with that knowledge.

Being a disciple of Jesus today still puts us at risk of condemnation, especially if we follow his path of seeking justice. Consider people of faith in Arizona who give rides to church to undocumented immigrants. They are indeed welcoming the immigrant as Christ himself (Matthew 25:35), but they are also now breaking the law in their state. I also think about members of WIN who believe their faith calls them to stand in solidarity with workers who haven’t been paid. Occasionally they have found that the result is trash being thrown at them or threats being made to their safety. Or what about Jesus’ warning about family? At one time or another, many of us have been tempted to keep the family peace by holding our tongues when a relative says something offensive about poor people or people of color. And of course, there are workers every day who risk – and lose – their livelihoods because they are no longer willing to tolerate the injustice and even abuse that they experience at work.

            For those of who have some privilege in this nation because of our skin color, our gender, our citizenship status, our wealth, or our professional standing, it’s hard not be frightened a bit by Jesus warnings about what we can lose as disciples.

            We have to remember his words in light of the gospel – the good news – that what we gain in return for this sacrifice is the kingdom of God. We get to welcome God’s reign, where the hungry are fed, where the lowly are lifted up and the powerful brought down, where we live in shalom as one family, where mourning and crying and pain are no more. Despite my fears and doubts at times, I know I want to be one of the disciples who follows Jesus to this place, even if the road there will be a rocky one. 

Why We Are Called to Stand Against Arizona's SB 1070

I've heard from a couple of Workers Interfaith Network members who are wondering why WIN is holding a prayer vigil next week to stand up for immigration reform, and against Arizona's SB 1070. Before I tell you why, I invite you to sign up for the Isaiah 58 vigil, which will be held next Tuesday, July 6th at 6:30 p.m. at Gaisman Park. Whether you are someone who is at risk of being racially profiled under bills like SB 1070, or you are someone like me who is relatively safe from the effects of it, it's important that we speak with one voice for justice.

So, why is WIN holding this vigil?

First, our faiths call us to speak, pray, and act for justice for immigrants in the same way that we speak, pray, and act for justice with people who were born in this country. As a Christian, my faith story is one in which leaders including Abraham, Moses, and Jesus lived the life of an immigrant. Matthew 25:31-46 makes the bold claim that whatever we do to the least among us, including refusing hospitality to immigrants, we have not done to Christ. In the Hebrew scriptures, God reminds us again and again that we are to love the immigrant as ourselves, because were were once strangers in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 23: 9, Leviticus 19:33-34). In God's eyes, there is no room for dividing ourselves into camps of native-born and camps of immigrants. We are all strangers on this earth, dependent on God's grace and care.

Second, Arizona's SB 1070 is a distraction from the needed solution to our immigration problems, which are very real. What is really needed is comprehensive immigration reform. If you are not an immigrant yourself, you may not realize that if you are an "unskilled" worker, it is next to impossible to immigrate legally to the United States unless you have close relatives who are citizens or green card holders. To say our immigration system is broken is a gross understatement. Enforcement actions like expanding local police powers on immigration, or focusing only on border security, will not work. As long as there is severe unemployment and poverty wages in other countries, people will continue to immigrate to the United States looking for work. It is in all of our best interests if more workers have a way to immigrate legally, instead of living in the shadows because they are undocumented.

Third, SB 1070 will almost certainly lead to some racial profiling of Latinos and other people of color. The law requires police to interrogate people about their immigration status during any lawful stop (such as a traffic stop), and allows the police to arrest someone without a warrant if they believe they are removable from the United States. So, if you have an accent, are Latino, or have dark skin, and you cannot persuade an officer that you are a legal resident of the United States, you could be headed to jail. For more information about the specifics of SB 1070 and why they matter, the Immigration Policy Center has done an excellent analysis of the law.

Fourth, SB 1070 will not make Arizonans safer. Law enforcement will have to spend more of their time investigating whether ordinary people who are just trying to work and make a life are undocumented, rather than investigating serious criminals. Crime being committed by drug cartels in states like Arizona won't be stopped by arresting and deporting hardworking construction workers, farmworkers, and janitors.

Finally, there are signs that legislation very similar to SB 1070 will likely show up in the Tennessee legislature in the 2011 session. Before they adjourned, the legislature passed a resolution praising Arizona for its actions. Legislators in 22 states have either introduced, or are considering introducing, copycat bills of SB 1070.

If Tennessee passes a similar bill, immigrants, both those who are documented and undocumented, will live in fear. Volunteers for churches and social service agencies that provide ministries of mercy to undocumented immigrants could face charges for simple things like providing someone a ride to church. State and local law enforcement will face an unfunded mandate to try to determine everyone's immigration status, while taking their attention away from serious and dangerous crimes. Tennessee will develop a reputation as an unwelcoming place that does not want diversity in our state.

Please stand with us next week on July 6th as we pray for justice. It will be an interfaith vigil, and we encourage people of all faith backgrounds to attend. If you can't be there, hold a personal vigil at your home or congregation next week. With either action, please be sure to sign up with WIN so that your name is added to a petition to Governor Bredesen, urging him to reject legislation like SB 1070 here in Tennessee.

Why WIN is Joining the March for America

Today, I'm holding down the fort here in Memphis while two of my co-workers and nine workers from WIN's Workers' Center travel to Washington, DC for the March for America. About 100,000 people are expected to take part in this march for comprehensive immigration reform. Why do we think that now is the time for immigration reform?

1) Our diverse faith traditions call on us to love the immigrant and seek justice for all people. The Hebrew scriptures caution us to "not oppress a resident alien; you know the heart of an alien, for  you were aliens in the land of Egypt." (Exodus 23:9) My own Christian tradition directs me to welcome the "stranger" (a term that specifically refers to immigrants) as if he or she is Jesus himself (Matthew 25:35). Islam also teaches that God desires justice, including for those who are refugees or strangers. The day after the march a high level delegation of religious leaders will be meeting with the White House to share these messages and press for immigration reform.

2) Families are being torn apart. I can't imagine what it would be like to live in fear that my child could be taken from me at any moment. Or what's it's like to have to work in another country without your family, just so they can survive. But thousands of immigrant families live with these fears and these realities every day.

Our broken immigration system makes it very difficult for many immigrant workers to reunite with their families. The agony of family separation discourages people from working within the current immigration system. (If you have questions about why people don't "wait in line" to get a visa under the current U.S. immigration system, check out this easy to understand chart by Reason magazine that shows how long it takes to become a citizen depending on your immigration situation.)

The number of deportations during President Obama's first year is higher than in previous years. As Jim Wallis of Sojourners magazine points out, this means more broken lives. "That is not what we meant by change," Wallis writes, and I agree.

3) Workers' rights are being eroded. Every day at Workers Interfaith Network, we see the ways that employers take advantage of undocumented workers by paying them below minimum wage and intimidating immigrants who try to form unions. Many immigrant workers want to organize for better working conditions and pay, but they have to balance that desire with the fear of deportation. When employers can hire immigrant workers for low wages and bad working conditions, it hurts all workers. Immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for immigrant workers already working and paying taxes in the U.S. would level the playing field for all workers.