From the Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Boston’s Workmen’s Circle Center for Jewish Culture & Social Justice is a great place. We just can’t say it any other way. The people there are great and they raise great kids.
Founded in 1900 by Jewish sweatshop workers, the Workmen’s Circle was established by immigrants who, according to their website, faced “Poverty wages. Long hours. Hazardous conditions. No unemployment insurance, no health or disability benefits, no security.”
So it’s hardly a surprise that, for the past two years, this “multigenerational community… where Jewish identity is rooted in cultural heritage and the pursuit of a better world,” has made common cause with farmworkers in Immokalee and the Campaign for Fair Food.
This past weekend, and for the second year in a row, the fifth graders from the Workmen’s Circle held a protest at a local Trader Joe’s, and here’s an excerpt from a post on the protest on their website:
“Every year, our Hey class (fifth graders) takes to the streets to protest a labor injustice. After learning about the textile sweatshops where many of their ancestors toiled after immigrating to the US, the students learn that similar injustices still exist today. Sorry, kiddos – we haven’t perfected the world yet! But as we teach our fifth graders, there’s something you can do to make the world a better place, and it’s called organizing.
This year and last, the Hey class has joined the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to fight for better working conditions in the tomato fields of Florida, where workers earn sub-poverty wages and no benefits whatsoever…
I am so pleased that Pax Christi is networking with prsce/justice groups from other faith traditions – and peace/justice groups that that are not irrreligious but do not primarily name God because of multi-faith membership (AAUW, LWV, Common Cause, etc.) I have come to the conviction that we ought to be using universal values, found in the Precautionary Principal, whose two pillars are: 1. First, do no (serious) harm or injury, and 2. Do to others as you would have others do to you.
All universal morality, I believe, is contained in the corolaies that naturally flow from these two inviolable, non-violent commands.
After the opening preyer at the monthly PaxChristi meetings in Indianapolis, I give a one-page presentation of reflection and application of the Precautionary Principle. So far I am still working on preparing ourselves so that we might apply the PP.