Phone:  (786) 264-1708; Fax  (786) 264-1859
interfaith@sfiwj.org
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Portrait of Women's
Economic Security in
Greater Miami
Report by the
Women's Fund of
Miami-Dade about
women in low-wage
Video: SFIWJ's
Jeanette Smith
discussing the need
for a Wage Theft
Ordinance in
Miami-Dade County
Joint Statement from the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida and SFIWJ

Arizona’s Senate Bill 1070, called the “Safe Neighborhood Act,” requires law enforcement
officials in the state of Arizona to investigate someone’s immigration status if there is
“reasonable suspicion” that the person might be undocumented. In other words, the Bill
legalizes racial and ethnic profiling. Further, someone can be arrested for “transporting or
harboring” undocumented immigrants. Imagine what this would mean in South Florida
where many families are made up of citizens and immigrants, both documented and
undocumented. In Arizona someone can be potentially arrested for driving to church or
temple with their family. And we should not think that this can never happen here; Miami-
Dade County has a Secure Communities program which has resulted in the arrest and
deportation of fathers coming home from work and mothers dropping their children off at
school. We could so easily be next.

Dr. Jean Fritz Bazin,
Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida

Jeanette Smith, SFIWJ
SFIWJ's Clergy-Labor Prayer Breakfast
Prayerfully Standing with Workers

Join with religious leaders, congregants, labor
leaders, and advocates of immigrant and worker
rights to reflect on faith, work, justice, and our
community.  

Our congregants, our friends, and our neighbors
leave their homes every day to work to provide for
their families.  However, workers face a host of
obstacles, including wage theft and dangerous
working conditions.
Priorities Should be Worker Safety and Cleaning Up the Mess

Interfaith Worker Justice, the nation’s largest religious advocacy network for the rights of
low-wage workers, expressed utter incomprehension over the checkpoints and harassment
to which workers cleaning up BP’s Gulf Coast oil disaster are being subjected.

“As we scramble to contain the biggest environmental catastrophe in U.S. history, and
send workers into harm’s way to do the dirty work (10 were recently hospitalized after
reporting dizziness, nausea and difficulty breathing), why do the very people whose labors
are so urgently needed and whose safety hangs in the balance find themselves under
investigation over their immigration status?” said Danny Postel, Communications
Coordinator for IWJ.

“In biblical times, the righteous and the poor were anointed with oil,” said Keron Blair,
Director of New Orleans Interfaith Worker Justice Center. “Oil was for cleansing and
healing. It was a blessing. But today, BP has cursed our waters with crude oil. And now ICE
is aiding sheriffs in cracking down on allegedly criminal immigrant ‘enterprises’. We need
to cleanse our minds of such evil distortions and distractions,” Blair continued. “The
government must see to the stoppage of the flowing oil and ensure that the Gulf waters
are cleaned. We need to protect the rights of workers who are carrying out the clean-up,
make sure that their health and safety are protected and their full wages are paid, and not
stir up false prejudices. They are doing God’s work here on earth.”  Continue Reading.
Check out the Intern Blog!
Intern Nicole writes about meeting with
day laborers and SFIWJ's Jeanette Smith.
As people of faith and advocates of justice, we
believe:
  • Work is a blessing and responsibility, an
    expression of our faith.
  • Work gives meaning to life and the means by
    which to enjoy life.
  • Workers are not tools to be exploited or abused.
  • All workers, whether engaged in intellectual or
    manual labor, are to be respected.
  • Employers and workers can expect from each
    other personal responsibility and quality of
    work.

When: August 11, 2010, 8:30-10:30 am

Where: International Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers (IBEW) hall, 1657 NW 17th Ave., Miami 33125

Suggested Donation: $15

RSVP: Erin Marth, SFIWJ, (786)344-0829 or
erinmarth@sfiwj.org

View Prayer Breakfast Flyer
Workers speak out at the "Save Our Ride"
rally on July 9, 2010
United Farm Workers President
appeared on "The Colbert Report"
to promote the "Take Our Jobs"
campaign.  Watch the interview.
July 29-August 1
National Weekend of Prayer &
Action for Immigrant Justice
Click here for IWJ's new toolkit,
Immigration Through the Lens of
Faith

***

September
Labor in the Pulpits/ on the
Bimah/in the Minbar is almost
here!  Contact SFIWJ today if
your congregation would like to
have a worker or labor leader
speak over Labor Day Weekend