Jobs with Justice

Jobs with Justice is a United States nonprofit workers' rights and economic justice organization. Rather than operating as a conventional trade union representing a single occupational group, it works as a coalition-based organizing network that connects labor organizations with community groups, faith institutions, student organizations, and other civic partners. Its approach reflects traditions often associated with community unionism and social movement unionism: workplace issues are linked to broader questions about democracy, economic power, public policy, and community well-being. The organization emerged in 1987 from organizing efforts connected to the Communications Workers of America. Those efforts included work to organize call-center workers in Detroit, Michigan, and were supported by CWA president Larry Cohen. Jobs with Justice held its first rally in Miami, Florida, at the Miami Convention Center. The event included prominent labor and civil-rights participation, including an address by Reverend Jesse Jackson, and helped establish the organization's public identity as a broad labor-community movement rather than a narrow service organization. Over time, Jobs with Justice developed a network model based on local and regional coalitions. These coalitions bring together affiliated organizations and individual supporters to assist workers during union campaigns, strikes, workplace disputes, legislative fights, and other economic justice efforts. The network's activities can include public demonstrations, solidarity actions, educational work, coalition building, and campaigns intended to increase the political leverage of workers and their allies. The organization therefore functions both as a national brand and as a federation-like network of local Jobs with Justice coalitions. A significant institutional turning point came in 2012, when Jobs with Justice merged with American Rights at Work, another labor-rights organization. The combined organization continued under the Jobs with Justice name, joining organizing and advocacy capabilities under a single national banner. The merger strengthened the group's ability to work on worker organizing, labor-law issues, and public-facing economic justice campaigns. As of 2022, Jobs with Justice coalitions were reported to exist in more than 30 cities or states across all regions of the United States. Its work has included support for organized labor, campaigns involving workplace rights and economic fairness, and projects designed to make labor organizing accessible to broader publics. One example is STRIKE!: The Game of Worker Rebellion, a labor-organizing tabletop game funded by Jobs with Justice and the TESA Collective through Kickstarter. The project presented collective action, worker mobilization, and strikes in an educational and participatory format. Jobs with Justice remains an active national workers' rights organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. Its current national leadership is headed by Executive Director Erica Smiley. The organization is best understood as an advocacy and movement-building network whose principal offering is coalition-based support for worker power and economic justice, rather than as a commercial product brand.

Jobs with Justice was created in 1987 as a labor-community organizing initiative in the United States. Its origins are associated with efforts by the Communications Workers of America to organize call-center workers in Detroit, Michigan. Larry Cohen, then president of the CWA, helped organize the initiative that developed into Jobs with Justice. From the beginning, the project was designed to extend beyond the structure of a single union by creating relationships among workers, unions, community organizations, faith groups, students, and other supporters. The organization's first rally was held in Miami, Florida, at the Miami Convention Center. Reverend Jesse Jackson was among the notable participants and spoke at the event. This early public gathering illustrated the organization's intended role in the labor movement: it sought to build visible solidarity around workplace and economic issues while connecting those issues to wider civil-rights and social-justice concerns. Jobs with Justice subsequently developed through local and regional coalitions. These coalitions gave workers and affiliated organizations a mechanism for coordinating support during organizing drives, strikes, workplace conflicts, legislative campaigns, and broader economic justice initiatives. The model enabled unions to work with groups that might not themselves be labor organizations, including religious institutions, student groups, and community associations. In this respect, Jobs with Justice became associated with community unionism and social movement unionism, emphasizing alliances and public mobilization alongside traditional workplace organizing. A major institutional change occurred in 2012, when Jobs with Justice merged with American Rights at Work. The two organizations consolidated under the Jobs with Justice name. The merger brought together complementary labor-rights capacities and allowed the resulting organization to operate with a unified national identity while continuing to support coalition work and worker-centered advocacy. The organization has also used educational and cultural projects to communicate ideas about collective worker action. Jobs with Justice and the TESA Collective funded STRIKE!: The Game of Worker Rebellion through Kickstarter. The game was designed around organizing workers, building collective strength, mobilizing supporters, and conducting strikes, turning labor-movement concepts into an interactive public-engagement project. By 2022, Jobs with Justice coalitions existed in more than 30 cities or states in all regions of the United States. The national organization is based in Washington, D.C., and is led by Executive Director Erica Smiley. Its continuing identity is that of a nonprofit workers' rights network rather than a commercial enterprise: it organizes relationships, campaigns, education, and solidarity in support of worker power and economic justice.

• 2022

  National coalition network spans more than 30 cities or states

  [1]Jobs with Justiceen.wikipedia.org

  The organization is reported to have Jobs with Justice coalitions in more than 30 cities or states across the country.

• 2012

  Merger with American Rights at Work

  [1]Jobs with Justiceen.wikipedia.org

  Jobs with Justice merges with American Rights at Work and continues as the surviving public identity.

• 1987

  Jobs with Justice is founded

  [1]Jobs with Justiceen.wikipedia.org

  The organization emerges from labor organizing efforts connected to the Communications Workers of America, including work involving call-center workers in Detroit.

• 1987

  First Jobs with Justice rally

  [1]Jobs with Justiceen.wikipedia.org

  The first rally is held in Miami, Florida, with Reverend Jesse Jackson among the speakers and participants.

A coalition-based labor and economic justice network that links unions and workers with community, faith, student, and civic organizations.

• Labor and community organizing network · 1987

  Jobs with Justice coalitions

  Local and regional coalitions are the organization's core operating model. They connect unions, workers, community groups, faith organizations, students, and other allies to coordinate support for workplace campaigns, strikes, organizing drives, public policy efforts, and economic justice initiatives. The network gives local movements a recognizable Jobs with Justice identity while allowing campaigns to respond to local conditions.

• Advocacy and movement building · 1987

  Worker-rights and economic justice campaigns

  Jobs with Justice supports campaigns that seek to increase worker power and advance economic justice. These efforts can involve coalition formation, public demonstrations, solidarity actions, education, and organizing assistance. The organization is not described as selling a standardized commercial service; its principal work is nonprofit advocacy and support for affiliated movements and campaigns.

• Educational labor game

  STRIKE!: The Game of Worker Rebellion

  A labor-organizing game funded by Jobs with Justice and the TESA Collective through Kickstarter. Players build worker ranks, mobilize supporters, and organize strikes around a city. The project presents collective action and labor organizing in an accessible interactive format and extends the organization's educational and public-engagement work beyond conventional advocacy.

• 1987Founding labor-community mobilization

  United States

  The founding effort grew from organizing connected to a Communications Workers of America campaign involving call-center workers in Detroit. It established the coalition-oriented model that became Jobs with Justice.

  Outcome. The initiative became a national workers' rights organization with a network of local and regional coalitions.

  Source
• STRIKE!: The Game of Worker Rebellion Kickstarter

  United States

  Jobs with Justice and the TESA Collective supported a crowdfunding campaign for an educational game about worker organizing, mobilization, and strikes.

  Outcome. The project produced a public-facing labor education and engagement tool; the available reference does not state its funding total or broader commercial outcome.

  Source

• 2012

  Combine operations with American Rights at WorkM&A

  Background

  Jobs with Justice and American Rights at Work were both labor-rights organizations operating in the United States.

  Action taken

  The organizations merged and continued under the Jobs with Justice name.

  Aftermath

  The merger created a single organization combining the two groups' labor-rights and advocacy activities. No financial terms are provided in the reference material.

  Source

1. 1Jobs with Justiceen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Jobs with Justice official websitejwj.org