Another BJ.

Or, All About My Summer Work.
[I'll admit, this is a rather longish post. Deal.]

Work that I truly believe in. Just a few blocks from the train station. A Krispy Kreme store in the train station. A healthy deli just down the street. A chance to meet cool clergy. Open-toed footwear (as JCAHO gasps!). And my own car for my dangerous journeys in the very hive where the famously (justifiably) merciless Jersey Drivers are bred: What more could I ask for in a summer job?

As you may recall from prior posts, I was accepted this past spring for the Seminary Summer internship program, which brings future religious leaders (Christian, Jewish, and Muslim) directly into the struggle for fair work for all people. The internship is co-sponsored by the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, which will soon be known simply as Interfaith Worker Justice.

For the summer I have been specifically placed with Local 32BJ, an affiliate of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) (hence, another BJ, following the dorm where I was an RA in college). Local 32BJ is the largest building service union in the country and the largest private sector union in New York City. The union represents more than 75,000 building service workers – window cleaners, doormen, maintenance workers, cleaners, porters and security officers – employed throughout the tri-state area [NY, NJ, CT].

The sheer size and strength of 32BJ didn't hit me until I first walked into the headquarters, at 101 Avenue of the Americas. It's a gleaming red-granite-and-green-glass building of 23 floors, all of which house folks working to protect and raise the working and living conditions for some of the lowest-paid work in the country. In a funny coincidence, I work for another Weintraub, this one a powerhouse political organizer whose focus, confidence, and superior gifts astound, intimidate, and challenge me.

What of "the work" itself, or at least my work? My job is to support SEIU Local 32BJ's efforts to secure health-care for building service workers (primarily janitors) throughout the NYC metro area. My own project focuses on northern NJ, where the union has won a contract that covers a majority of workers in nearly every county. The fight now is for health-care coverage for workers throughout the three states; in NJ, this means winning benefits for mostly part-time workers, who hold down two or more part-time jobs and receive coverage from none of them.

I will be spending much of the summer visiting with clergy-members in Jersey to educate them about the coming contract negotiations, elicit their support, and challenge them to find ways to join this fight. At the same time, meeting the clergy will allow me both to refine my own platform for the pastoral-prophetic task of justice for workers, as well as learn from many clergy members doing amazing ministry in diverse settings. That has the side-effect of having to drive through hazardous highways to villages, townships, localities, and municipalities (New Jersey has 566 of them!). But the flip-side of facing the motor jungle is that I get to see some absolutely charming small towns with not a few people trying to do the right thing.

All of this is part of SEIU's larger Justice for Janitors campaign, which for the past 19 years has organized janitors who are fighting for better wages, basic benefits, and job security. But more importantly, JFJ and the work of SEIU Local 32BJ seeks to set a new standard for ALL workers. Learning how to join this struggle rigorously is one of the most important things I will do in these last years before ordination.