[PEN-L:10366] Re: Working Assets & Labor

[Nathan Henderson-James]

Wojtek Solowski wrote:

>To all who use Workings Assets (WALD) as their long distance phone company.
>
>As you know WALD has program funding nonprofit organisations working for
>progressive causes.  However, they are yet to provide funding to any
>organization defending workers' rights in this country.

Actually WALD has given two grants to ACORN, an organization fundamentally
committed to low-income workers rights.  This committment can be seen in
our living wage, jobs, and corporate accountability cmapaigns as well as
our ground-breaking and cutting edge work organizing workfare recipients.
To date we have nearly 10,000 signed authorization cards from workfare
workers in New York and Los Angeles, a number the is larger than all other
workfare organizing efforts combined.  (Despite the AFL's recent
committment to organizing workfare workers no AFL-CIO affiliated
International or Local has yet signed up any workfare recipients.)

>Any WALD customer has a right to nominate a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit to their
>funding program.  I recently exercised that right by nominating Jobs with
>Justice.  I urge any WALD custemore to do the same -- write them a letter
>demanding that they fund an organization that is explictly devoted to
>protecting labour rights and economic democracy at home.

One of the stumbling blocks to funding organizations dedicated to economic
democracy and workers rights, like unions and community organizations, is
that many of them do not have 501(c)(3) designations because those
designations effectively prohibit any kind of direct action or political
activity.  Whcih is one of the reasons that WALD's list is top-heavy with
policy and advocacy organizations and "safe" environmental organizations.

Nathan Henderson-James

_____________________________________________________________________________
Nathan Henderson-James, Research Coordinator
ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now)
[EMAIL PROTECTED]   202-547-2500 voice   202-546-2483 fax
                      http://www.acorn.org/community
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                                        --James Madison
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