The Jewish Labor Committee (JLC) is a left-of-center, pro-labor union affinity group promoting the Jewish community within the larger labor movement. The organization was founded in 1934 to organize against the spread of Nazism in Europe. It was active in sending relief to Jewish labor organizations there and organizing anti-Nazi boycotts across the United States and within the labor movement.

The organization has long been aligned with the AFL-CIO and other U.S.-based and international Jewish organizations. The JLC is also affiliated with left-of-center organizations focused on the Israeli state, including Partners for Progressive Israel (formerly Meretz USA) and Americans for Progressive Israel, which support a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. ^{1 2}

History

The Jewish Labor Committee was founded in 1934 at a meeting of representatives of several trade unions and other groups that identified with the Jewish labor movement. Chief among the groups that founded the JLC were the leaders of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU), the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA), the Workmen’s Circle, the Jewish Daily Forward Association, and the Jewish Labor Bund. ³

The newly formed Jewish Labor Committee was charged with supporting Jewish institutions in Europe, assisting the anti-Hitler underground movement, aiding victims of Nazism, and working with American organized labor to fight “anti-democratic forces,” antisemitism, and fascism. In its first five years, the JLC supported anti-Nazi labor organizations in Europe, especially those organized by the Jewish Labor Bund and the Labor Zionist movement. The JLC also organized mass anti-Nazi demonstrations and boycotts in the United States during World War II along with the American Jewish Congress. ⁴

In the late 1930s and continuing into the post-World War II era, the JLC helped organize groups including the short-lived General Jewish Council, the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council, and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. ⁵

The Jewish Labor Committee is a member of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, as well as the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. ⁶

Position on Israel

The Jewish Virtual Library states that even though “Bundist influence was significant” within the Jewish Labor Committee, particularly in its early years, that the JLC has held a “positive position” regarding the State of Israel since 1948. ⁷ The organization affiliates with left-progressive organizations that advocate for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, particularly Partners for Progressive Israel, which was formerly known as Meretz USA for Israeli Civil Rights and Peace. Arieh Lebowitz, the executive director of the JLC, is the vice president of Partners for Progressive Israel and has represented the organization and its predecessor organizations including Meretz USA and Americans for Progressive Israel at the World Zionist Congress consistently since 1981. ⁸

Leadership

Arieh Lebowitz is the executive director of the Jewish Labor Committee and has been affiliated with the organization in some capacity since 1987. He has been the executive director of the group since 2018. ⁹

The board of directors of the JLC includes several left-of-center labor union leaders including American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, former Communications Workers of America president Larry Cohen, and former SEIU president Andy Stern. ¹⁰

1. “Jewish Labor Committee.” Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-labor-committee
2. “Arieh Lebowitz.” LinkedIn Profile. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/arieh-lebowitz-6a8b134/details/experience/?profileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_profile%3AACoAAADgbSAB6vzJDB_6V11KM-R42j3V9ngH_F8
3. Lebowitz, Arieh. “The Jewish Labor Committee: Past and Present.” Shofar: An Interdisplinary Journal of Jewish Studies. 1994. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/471686
4. “Jewish Labor Committee.” Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-labor-committee
5. “Jewish Labor Committee.” Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-labor-committee
6. “Jewish Labor Committee.” Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-labor-committee
7. “Jewish Labor Committee.” Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-labor-committee
8. “Arieh Lebowitz.” LinkedIn. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/arieh-lebowitz-6a8b134/details/experience/?profileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_profile%3AACoAAADgbSAB6vzJDB_6V11KM-R42j3V9ngH_F8
9. “Arieh Lebowitz.” LinkedIn. Accessed October 13, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/arieh-lebowitz-6a8b134/details/experience/?profileUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd_profile%3AACoAAADgbSAB6vzJDB_6V11KM-R42j3V9ngH_F8
10. Jewish Labor Committee. Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/131675650/04_2021_prefixes_06-13%2F131675650_201912_990_2021040217858261