The Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ) enters the new millennium with a committed board of directors, a strong, productive core staff, a terrific base of groups and activists around the country, strong relationships with the AFL-CIO and many international unions, and a solid organizational structure. IWJ is well positioned to expand its programs and overall effectiveness.

Below is a quick summary of the accomplishments of 1999, followed by more detailed descriptions of each major program area:

Organized and strengthened a network of 53 interfaith religion-labor groups around the country. Created a Worker Justice Fund to help seed new groups and offer training resources and opportunities.

Created educational resources for congregations including Labor Day resources, ethical guidelines, bulletin inserts, worship aides, and the Faith Works newsletter six-times-a-year.

Supported low-wage workers who struggle for justice in nursing homes, hotels, restaurants, poultry plants, and in facilities operated by religious institutions.

Broadened the base of worker justice advocates through outreach to seminaries and rabbinical schools, extensive outreach during the Labor in the Pulpits program, and ongoing media outreach.

Sponsored Forging Partnerships Conference in conjunction with the AFL-CIO that produced a plan for religion-labor work in the new millennium.

• Expanded the number of religion labor groups from 46 to 53. New groups were organized in: Contra Costa County, CA; Dayton, OH; Des Moines, IA; Georgia State; Madison, WI; New Orleans, LA; San Diego, CA. When the organization formed in 1996, there were only about a dozen loose-knit groups doing this work around the country.
• Provided training and consulting for groups both on-site (twenty groups) and by phone.
• Developed an orientation manual for new groups that provides sample mission statements, goals, by-laws, incorporation papers, and outreach plans.
• Created a Worker Justice Fund in partnership with Catholic Campaign for Human Development, the AFL-CIO, Arca Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, and the Norman Foundation to help seed new interfaith groups. Groups were approved for grants, most ranging from $10,000 to $15,000, in 1999. See page 8 for a list of funded groups.
  
  

• Interfaith Labor in the Pulpits Resources. These ecumenical resources offer a range of bulletin inserts and reflections for use in Christian, Jewish and Muslim congregations.
• Catholic Labor Day Resources. These specifically Catholic resources, with featured reflections from Cardinal O'Connor, Monsignor George Higgins, and AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, were distributed to 18,000 Catholic parishes and through Catholic social justice networks. Our thanks to the ACTA Foundation and the Joseph P. Sullivan and Jeanne M. Sullivan Foundation for funding this project.
• Why Unions Matter. This simple explanation of what unions are and why they are important for workers and people of faith is the most popular piece the organization has produced.
• Ethical Questions for Congregations Considering Building Projects helps congregations look at the ethical questions raised when an institution employs construction workers.
• Facts and Resources for Living Wage Campaigns provides an overview of existing campaigns and worship resources for congregations.
• Guidelines for Unions and Management of Religiously Sponsored Healthcare Institutions assists unions and management to behave ethically in the midst of organizing campaigns.
• Conscious Giving. Ethical shopping guide aids consumers in purchasing goods produced in ethical work environments.
• Challenging Sweatshops Guide is a how-to guide for congregations wanting to eliminate sweatshops.
• Five Faith Works newsletters (including double December issue) highlight the good work of interfaith committees and share new worship and educational resources.
  
  

• Supported poultry workers and their struggles for justice in Corydon, Indiana, Morganton, North Carolina, Gainesville, Georgia, Delmarva, and elsewhere. Work was begun to develop Poultry Worker Rights manuals and to distribute information about worker lawsuits. Stronger alliances between workers, people of faith, unions, farmers, environmentalists were built, particularly in Delmarva and Georgia.
• Investigated and challenged unethical behavior by religious employers. Too often, religious employers, especially in health facilities, hire union busting law firms to discourage workers from voting for unions. Throughout 1999, the organization continued to investigate and challenge this behavior, producing several reports and alerting many religious leaders about problems.
• Facilitated a model partnership at Mt. Carmel Health and Rehabilitation Center, outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin between leaders of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and the Benedictine Health Dimensions that saved the facility from closing and retained several hundred jobs. This kind of partnership is needed throughout health care.
• Developed a nursing home role-play to help people of faith understand conditions faced by nursing home workers. Nursing homes are notorious violators of overtime laws, and have one of the highest rates of injuries for workers.
• Advocated for just wages and benefits for nursing home workers, janitors, hotel workers, and other low-wage workers. At least seventy-five percent of the worker struggles supported by local interfaith groups was among low-wage workers.
• Encouraged religious participation in living wage campaigns. Another dozen or so cities undertook living wage campaigns. In almost every city, either an existing interfaith group played the lead role in mobilizing religious support, or National Interfaith Committee staff consulted about ways to approach and involve the religious community.
  
  

• Expanded the Labor in the Pulpits program from 35 to 60 cities. This very successful program recruits, trains and places labor union members and leaders to speak in congregations over Labor Day weekend. Thousands of members of congregations learn about the shared values between the labor and religious communities, and the need to work more in partnership.
• Met and talked with students from twenty seminaries and rabbinical schools. These students are the future religious leaders. Involving them in worker justice issues now helps shape the direction of their future ministry.
• Issued nine national media releases. The National Interfaith Committee has received excellent print media coverage. It works with the mainstream media, the religious press, and the labor press. The organization plans to work more on radio coverage in year 2000.
• Developed site placements with Religious Volunteer Programs. Two interns were recruited from the Jesuit Volunteer Corps program and are working now in San Diego and Oakland, California. A Mennonite Central Committee volunteer is working in New Orleans. A United Methodist Mission intern was working in Gainesville for the first part of 1999, and another Mission intern will be in Chicago in year 2000. In addition, seminary students worked with IWJ from Catholic Theological Union and Garrett Theological Seminary.
  
  

• Keynotes by AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and Executive Vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson.
• Panel on "What Our Faith Traditions Say about Worker Justice," led by Roger Cardinal Mahony, Archdiocese of Los Angeles; Bishop McKinley Young, African Methodist Episcopal Church; Rabbi Leonard I. Beerman, Leo Baeck Temple; Dr. Muzammil Siddiqi, Islamic Society of North America; Rev. Dr. Paul Sherry, United Church of Christ; and Rev. Jim Wallis, Sojourners.
• Denominational dinners at which participants planned ways to seek stronger worker justice initiatives within denominations.
• Among attendees were 25 seminarians, rabbinical students, and religious volunteers, as well as Notre Dame University undergraduates who came to learn about this work. The Seminary Track participants also participated in the AFL-CIO General Convention. Ten of them stood with Monsignor Higgins for the opening convocation and received a standing ovation. Seminary Track participants reflected that the most memorable time was a lunch meeting with Labor and Religious leaders, including Linda Chavez-Thompson, Vice President, AFL-CIO; Dolores Huerta, United Farm Workers; and Monsignor Higgins, Catholic University, as well as other key labor leaders such as Central Labor Council Presidents: Stuart Acuff, Georgia; John Ryan, Cleveland; John Goldstein, Milwaukee; and Josie Mooney, San Francisco.
• The weekend culminated in a session of "learning from our elders" featuring Monsignor George Higgins, Dr. Joseph Lowery, Rev. Jim Lawson, Ms. Dolores Huerta, Bishop Jesse DeWitt, Rev. Addie Wyatt (by tape), Monsignor Eugene Boyle, and Rev. James Orange, moderating. These "legends" gave motivational testimonies about religion and labor cooperation throughout the past 60 years, and advice for moving forward. Plans are underway to turn this session into a book.
  
  

Create educational resources for congregations.
The organization will continue to create a range of educational resources, including Labor Day resources, ethical guidelines, bulletin inserts, and worship aides. Top priorities include an economics training program, jointly produced with United for a Fair Economy, and additional living wage resources.

Broaden the base of worker justice advocates.
This year the National Interfaith Committee is partnering with the AFL-CIO to conduct Seminary Summer, a ten-week summer internship for seminarians, novices, and rabbinical students. Labor Day outreach will continue to expand, and media work will focus on outreach to radio. The organization's website is adequate, but hopefully will become "first class" in early 2000.

Strengthen the organizational structures.
As a four-year-old organization that has grown rapidly, the National Interfaith Committee has continued to outgrow its structures, equipment, and staff. The organization must continue to upgrade its systems, broaden its financial base, and stretch its staff with training and increased use of volunteers.

Support low-wage workers who struggle for justice.
Work will continue with poultry workers in Delmarva and Georgia, and expand in North Carolina, Arkansas, and Missouri. The organization is strengthening its outreach to support nursing home workers and workers in hotels and restaurants. In addition, the organization is beginning conversations with the Department of Labor to seek ways to assist the Department of Labor in strengthening its outreach and education to low-wage workers through congregations.

ACTA Foundation
Arca Foundation
Boehm Foundation
Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
Discount Foundation
French American Charitable Trust
Ford Foundation
Gimprich Family Fund
Greensboro Justice Fund
Horncrest Foundation
J.A Beirne Memorial Foundation
Joseph P. & Jeanne M. Sullivan Foundation
Ms. Foundation
Norman Foundation
Ottinger Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
Sapelo Foundation
Streisand Foundation

Religious Institution Supporters
Much of the religious support comes directly from congregations and orders. Below is the listing of religious support of $500 or more. There were too many important contributions under $500 to list them all.

Catholic Campaign for Human Development
Church of St. Peter (Mendota, MN)
Claretian Social Development Fund
Diocese of Austin Mission Fund
Dominican Sisters of Springfield
Franciscan Charities
Justice for Women- National Council of Churches
Marianist Sharing Fund
National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA
Presbyterian Church USA Urban Ministry Office
Presbyterian Hunger Funds
Shefa Fund
Sisters of the Precious Blood - Maria Anna Brunner Fund
SSND Blessed Mother Theresa Sharing Fund (Wilton, CT)
SSND Mother Caroline Mandate Fund
SSND Mother Theresa Gerharding Fund for the Poor
St. Joseph Foundation
Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock
United Church Board for Homeland Ministry (UCC)
United Methodist Women
Vincentian Congregation of the Mission

Union Institution Supporters
Like religious support, the organization received a fair amount of support from individual locals. Not all of them have been listed. Below are the supporters of $500 or more.

AFL-CIO
AFL-CIO-Illinois
AFSCME-Illinois
American Federation of Musicians
Chicago Federation of Labor
Hotel & Restaurant Employees Union
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union
Service Employees International Union
Southern Illinois District Council of Carpenters, Belleville
UFCW local 881
UFCW local 887
UFCW Region 4
UNITE
United Food & Commerical Workers Union