National Jobs for All Coalition

Founding

The National Jobs for all Coalition was founded in 1994 in New York City by a conference labeled “New Initiatives for Full Employment” which had been meeting since 1986 and represented approximately 70 organizations and consisted of left-wing social welfare activists and academics.³ These participants formed the Coalition with the intent to develop a plan for full employment while supporting labor unions and government programs.³

Key Issues and Policy Positions

The Coalition currently has published policy proposals and papers on issues like social security, costs of a full employment program, green jobs, unemployment numbers, an increased minimum wage, and income inequality among other areas.¹ The research of the Coalition claims that social security is in no danger of becoming insolvent because “There’s nothing to prevent the federal government from creating as much money as it wants and paying it to someone.”⁴

The Coalition supported proposed legislation introduced by Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan) which would create funding for a national full employment program while repealing all right to work laws, a major policy goal of labor unions. The bill would raise taxes by placing a tax on stock, bond, and derivatives transactions to fund employment programs.⁵

People

The National Jobs for All Coalition is governed by a national board of directors and advised by a larger advisory board. Both bodies are representative of various groups across the political far-left including current and former members and staff of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), the AFL-CIO, Consumers Union, and more.

Some notable members of the board of directors and advisory board have included:

• Eduardo Rosario, grievance representative for AFSCME 375; Rosario has held numerous elected and appointed positions in the labor movement.
• Denis M. Hughes, former president of New York State AFL-CIO.
• Ray Marshall, Rapoport Centennial chair in economic and public affairs at the University of Texas, and former U.S. Secretary of Labor to President Jimmy Carter.
• Markley Roberts, former assistant director of economic research of the AFL-CIO.
• Richard L. Trumka, then-president, of the AFL-CIO.
• Joseph B. Uehlein, executive director of the Labor Network for Sustainability and former director of strategic campaigns for the AFL-CIO.
• Frank Roosevelt, professor of economics at Sarah Lawrence College, and the grandson of President Franklin D. Roosevelt⁶

Funding

Foundations that have reported giving to the organization include the Shelley and Donald Rubin Foundation⁷ and the Boehm Foundation⁸.

Member organizations pay anywhere from $35 to $2,500 to join the coalition.⁹

Member Organizations

• Alliance of Hispanic Social Workers
• American Orthopsychiatric Association
• American Public Health Association (APHA)
• Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
• Black Concerns Committee, New York Yearly Meeting, Religious Society of Friends
• Campaign to Abolish Poverty/Full Employment Coalition (San Francisco)
• Center for Full Employment and Price Stability, University of Missouri-Kansas City.
• Chicago Political Economy Group
• Committee on Economic Insecurity (MA)
• Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism
• Council on International and Public Affairs
• Democratic Socialists of America
• Economic and Social Human Rights Advocacy Network
• Gray Panthers
• Green Party, New York State
• Harlem Fight Back
• Jews for Racial and Economic Justice
• Long Island Alliance for Peaceful Alternatives
• Long Island Coalition For Full Employment
• Massachusetts Chapter, National Association of Social Workers
• Miami Valley Unemployed Committee (Ohio)
• National Association of Social Workers
• National Rainbow PUSH Coalition
• New York City Chapter, NASW
• New York City Friends of Clearwater
• New York Labor and Religion Coalition
• New York Unemployed Committee
• Planners Network
• Queens Coalition for Political Alternatives
• Socialist Party USA
• Unitarian-Universalist Service Committee
• United Neighborhood Houses of New York
• Urban Initiatives Program, National Council of Churches
• War Resisters League
• Welfare Law Center (formerly Center on Social Welfare Policy and Law)
• Westside Peace Action
• World Hunger Year