150 SW 13th Avenue, Miami, FL  33135
Phone  (786) 264-1708; Fax  (786) 264-1859
Who are we?
What do we do and
why do we do it?
    Who is SFIWJ?
    South Florida Interfaith Worker Justice (SFIWJ) is an
    association of many diverse religious leaders throughout Miami-
    Dade and Broward Counties who respond to the crisis of the
    working poor. Established in 1998, SFIWJ is one of over 60
    affiliates of the national Interfaith Worker Justice network
    based in Chicago. SFIWJ's volunteer Board of Directors is
    comprised of faith leaders from various religious and ethnic
    traditions.

    What do we do?
    SFIWJ provides a voice to educate, organize, and mobilize the
    religious community to serve low-wage workers in Miami-Dade
    and Broward counties.  We dialogue with communities about
    religion’s historical roots and current policies for workers’ rights
    -- including the struggle for better wages, health benefits,
    working conditions, and the right to have a voice at work.  We
    advocate for the rights of low-wage workers, the majority of
    whom are immigrants. Through our organizing efforts, workers’
    struggles are transformed from just “bottom-line economics”
    into moral imperatives facing decision-makers. We also provide
    a spiritual uplift and moral foundation to workers in struggle.

    Our successes include organizing and leading a delegation of
    15 faith leaders to the Continental Group’s Headquarters, to
    urge them to allow their workers to unionize free of
    intimidation and threats of firings.  SFIWJ has also partnered
    with University of Miami (UM) workers, faculty, students, and
    local community leaders, resulting in 410 immigrant janitors
    gaining the choice to organize, to earn a living wage, health
    benefits, and a permanent voice on the job.  Our actions on
    behalf of these workers received coverage in The New York
    Times, The National Catholic Reporter, and The Miami Herald.
Clergy pray for a change of heart for the management
of Continental Property Services
The Rev. John Cox, OMI,
the University of Miami.
    Why do we do this?
    According to the South Florida Business Journal, Miami is the least
    affordable city within which to live in the U.S. with 28.3% of its
    residents living in poverty - defined as earning less than $9,570 per
    individual or $19,500 for a family of four. This metropolitan city has
    the third-highest poverty rate in the nation.  

    The lack of health benefits among many low-wage workers not only
    results in poor quality of life, but an overburdened tax base for those
    who must seek emergency care.  SFIWJ uses its moral, collective
    authority to speak on behalf of the working poor who deserve just
    wages and benefits, and a voice on the job.  

    Florida’s minimum wage of $7.21 per hour, or approximately $1153
    gross income per month, does not go very far in South Florida. In a
    single family household, parents constantly struggle with the decision
    of whether to pay the rent or medical bills, whether to pay for
    utilities or medication.  Based on our religious belief in the value of
    work as a contribution to society, no working person should have to
    choose which basic needs he or she can fulfill.