rights now: winter/spring 2012
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he press release declared, Clean
drinking water is a basic humanright. You might think it was issued byUUSC or its Sae Water Alliance partners
but not in this case. On October
7, 2011, Caliornia Governor Jerry
Brown made this bold statement as he
signed into law a package o drinking-water bills that will help ensure that
every Caliornian has access to clean
and sae sources o water. He urtherasserted, Protecting the water we drinkis an absolutely crucial duty o state
government. UUSC could not have said
it any better.
Te bills signed into law will allow
marginalized communities to accessstate unds to clean up drinking
Water Justice Makes a Splash in CaliforniaLegislative victory for the human right to waterBy Shelley Moskowitz
Rights NowThe newsletter of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee
Winter/Spring 2012
uusc.org
Continued on page 3
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Winter/Spring 2012
Editor
Jessica L. Atcheson
Design and Production
Reid Haithcock
UUSC employees are represented
by Human Rights Workers Local
2661, UNITE HERE!
We Welcome Letters
Rights Nowis grateful to readers
for their interest and support.
We invite you to share your
questions and comments by
submitting a letter to the editor:
rightsnow@uusc.org
Rights NowEditor, UUSC
689 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
UUSC is supported by individual
members, Unitarian Universalist
congregations, and foundations
that share our commitment to
building a more just world.
2012 All Rights Reserved
Get Rights NowonlineWould you prefer to receive
Rights Nowby e-mail instead of
in your mailbox? Sign up today
by sending an e-mail to uusc@
uusc.org and begin receiving
Rights Nowby e-mail.
www.uusc.orginfo@uusc.org617-868-6600617-868-7102/fax
The Unitarian Universalist
Service Committee advances
human rights and social justice
around the world, partneringwith those who confront unjust
power structures and mobilizing
to challenge oppressive policies.
Rights NowCoverWater Justice Makesa Splash in CaliorniaLegislative victory or the
human right to water
Page 6Building Sustainability,Rebuilding LivesNew oundations in Haitis countryside
Page 9UUSC on the Ground inJapan and East Arica
Page 10The College o Social JusticeBeginning the world anew
Page 12A Legacy o LearningThe Alba and Doyle Bortner Library
Page 14In Their Own Words: I Know My RightsInterview with partner in Egypt
Page 18They Are Right, They Are StrongThe Restaurant Opportunities Center United
Page 21Keepers o the Flame
Rights Now
In this edition of
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Here are two characteristics I associate withUUSC: prescience and persistence.Prescience is oresight, the ability to
anticipate developments beore they occur.
As I have ollowed the Arab Spring and the
Occupy Wall Street movement, I have beenreminded o how requently UUSC is ahead o
the curve when it comes to social change.
Long beore the revolutions in the Middle
East, UUSC was working with its partners inunisia, Egypt, and elsewhere to encourage
support or democracy and participation in
the political process, especially by women and young people. We would not
accept the notion propagated by some American experts that democracy was
incompatible with Islam.Similarly, long beore the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon spilled into
the streets, UUSC knew that economic justice was a cause that could ignite
passion among the 99 percent. We have been working or years with poultry
and restaurant workers to secure the most basic economic rights, and now
thousands more have joined the struggle.
Tats prescience.And we all know what persistence is. Received opinion is that nobody can do
anything to help Haiti or Somalia. UUSC doesnt believe it. Were still in Haiti,
and were committed to East Arica. Just as we didnt give up when GovernorSchwarzenegger vetoed bills to establish the human right to water in Caliornia,
despite all our work with our partners there. Now Governor Brown has signed
many o those bills.
Prescience, persistence they make me proud. Tanks or all you do to
make it possible.
Bill Schulz
1
A message from UUSCs president
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Progress on the human right to water in Caliornia isnt happening in isolation.
Ater an ofcial 2011 mission to the United States, Catarina de Albuquerque, the
U.N. special rapporteur on the human right to sae drinking water and sanitation,
reported great progress but raised serious concerns about discrimination andaccess to sae drinking water. With UUSC assistance, de Albuquerque held
hearings in Caliornia, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Washington, D.C.; spoke
with local communities and government ofcials; and testifed beore the
congressional Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. The U.S. administration
responded to her report: We look orward to continuing to work with the
special rapporteur to take concrete action to reduce the number o people
without sustainable access to sae drinking water and basic sanitation. Read the
ull report and response at uusc.org/water_report.
U.S. Administration Commits to Action on theHuman Right to Water
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water and put in place drinking-
water and sewerage systems. Localauthorities will now be required to
serve communities that have been
discriminated against and neglected.
Water agencies will now give notice owater-quality violations in languagesthat are appropriate to consumers.
Each bill chips away at unmet needs
in the state and brings 11.5 million
Caliornians closer to having sae water
rom the tap.Governor Browns signature on
these bills, which marked the endo a dramatic legislative session,
was made possible by an energetic
coalition advocating or the humanright to water. UUSC cosponsored
the bill package with the Sae Water
Alliance, which includes the Caliornia
Rural Legal Assistance Foundation,
the Community Water Center, theEnvironmental Justice Coalition or
Water, the Unitarian Universalist
Legislative Ministry (UULMCA),
the Southern Caliornia Watershed
Alliance, the Winnemem Wintu tribe,Food and Water Watch, the Urban
Semillas, the Catholic Charities
Diocese o Stockton, Clean WaterAction, and the Center or Public
Health Advocacy.UUSC worked directly with policy
makers, helped energize grassroots
support, and provided nancial
assistance to aected communities to
share their powerul stories in person
with policy makers. Tese combinedeorts led to bipartisan support or
each o the bills enacted into law. Rev.
Lindi Ramsden, UULMCAs executive
director, reported, UUSC has beenan important partner in this work,
and we are very grateul or their help.
With national expertise and local
CaliforniaHuman-Right-to-Water
Bills Signed into Law
S.B. 244: Requires localmunicipalities to plan or
providing services to islandor ringe communities.
A.B. 983: Promotes
consolidation o smallcommunity water systemsto provide sustainable,
aordable solutions.
A.B. 938: Requires thatpublic health notifcations
about water be madeavailable in the languagesthe community speaks.
A.B. 1221: Ensures access tounding or disadvantaged
communities to clean upcontamination.
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knowledge, UUSC and UULMCA are a
team that is moving justice orward.Tere is still more work to be done.
Te agship human-right-to-water
bill in the package, A.B. 685, is still
pending in the state senate. I passedin the next legislation session, thebill would set a historic precedent by
establishing in law the right o every
person in Caliornia to have access
to clean, aordable water or daily
human needs. We are heartened bythe governors strongly worded signing
statement. Working together, we hopeto bring A.B. 685 to his desk in 2012,
said Ramsden.
Hundreds o UUSC members andsupporters have championed UUSCs
partners and Unitarian Universalists
working or the human right to water
in Caliornia. In September, more
than 70 congregations across the
United States recognized the humanright to water in Water Communion
or water ceremonies, and over 550
UUSC members and supporters rom
37 states sent letters to UULMCAthanking them or their strong witnessor the human right to water. ogether
with you and other activists, UUSC will
continue the work to ensure that all
people have access to sae, sufcient,
aordable water or daily humanneeds.
Learn more about UUSCs work on thehuman right to water and get involved atuusc.org/righttowater.
Shelley Moskowitz is UUSCs manager o
public policy and mobilization.
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his is the eco-village, said
Michelle-Ange Augustin ona hot day in May last year, just eet
away rom the growing oundationso two houses. Earlier that day,
she demonstrated how rocks and
cement must be properly placed in
the network o trenches to ensure
durability and stability. Known
as Mimine, she is a construction
engineer or the Papaye Peasant
Movement (MPP), and shes anintegral part o an innovative eco-
village project to assist Haitianamilies displaced rom Port-au-Prince
ater the 2010 earthquake. With the
goal o settling 10 amilies by the end
o 2011 successully completed, those
initial hand-dug trenches have become
10 new homes.
Building Sustainability, Rebuilding LivesNew foundations in Haitis countrysideBy Jessica L. Atcheson
Join a Service-Learning Trip to Haiti withthe College of Social Justice
Experience the eco-village frsthand! This is your chance to join members othe Papaye Peasant Movement in building new homes, constructing oodgardens rom old tires, and contributing to other sustainability projects.
Upcoming 2012 tripsMarch 1017
April 28May 5
I want to deeply thank you, Chavannes [MPP ounder] and MPP, orteaching us about solidarity. This is really what solidarity looks like.
Dennis Reynolds, May 2010 JustWorks trip participant6
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Ater teaming up with MPP in the
wake o the earthquake to provideemergency relie to people who edPort-au-Prince or the Central Plateau,
UUSC continued the partnership
throughout 2011 and into this year
to support MPPs construction o
a sustainable eco-village to provideamilies with homes, ood, and
livelihoods. Ater breaking ground inspring 2011, the project met its initial
objectives and is continuing to grow.
Displaced amilies are getting aresh start on ertile land lush with
mango, cashew, and banana trees
donated by the Colidaire cooperative,
one o the 4,500 collective groups
throughout Haiti that make up MPP.Raised in Papaye as part o MPP,
Augustin used skills she learned in ve
months o training in Port-au-Prince
to organize construction o the new
village. Starting in May 2010, UUSCbegan leading a series o service-
learning trips to the eco-village or
participants to learn about MPP and
lend their hands to the building process
digging trenches, hauling rocks,pouring cement, and more.
Te eco-village is part o work to
sustainably decentralize Haiti, says
Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, MPPs
ounder. We would like to use this as
a model to create other communities.Tis goal is already advancing as
other groups step up to und ourmore eco-villages. Jean-Baptiste tells
visitors about the villages eco-riendly
eatures: All houses are built by handusing earth bricks made on site rom
local materials. In addition to personal
vegetable gardens that use recycled tire
planters, each amily will have a plot o
land or organic arming so they caneed themselves and sell their harvests
or income at the market. In the village
community room, MPP members will
oer training in sustainable arming
techniques. A special area or creatingbiomass charcoal rom agricultural
waste is also in the plans, along with a
solar-powered well. 7
Michelle-Ange (Mimine) Augustin working on a home site.
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Beyond the MountainNew curriculum on Haiti and human rights
Cant make it to Haiti yoursel? In partnership with the UUA and the UUCongregation at Shelter Rock, UUSC brings you Beyond the Mountain,a fve-workshop curriculum that introduces congregants to the history,culture, and people o Haiti as well UUSCs ongoing response to thedevastating January 2010 earthquake. Explore the workshops today atuusc.org/beyondthemountain. And dont miss the video about MPPat uusc.org/mppvideo.
One o the rst amilies to settle
in the eco-village was Dunel Guerrier,his wie, and his our children. Ater
their house in the capital city collapsed
during the earthquake severely
injuring Guerrier they ed toHinche, a town about 70 miles awaythat borders Papaye. Tere, they
connected with MPP and met Jean-
Baptiste. Tousands o people that
ed Port-au-Prince ell o the radar
o mainstream aid organizations, butUUSC worked with MPP to ensure that
critical aid reached amilies likethe Guerriers.
With the initial creation o the eco-
village complete, the Guerriers are nowrebuilding their lives and building a
healthier Haiti at the same time. MPP
is empowering them, and many others
like them, to regain ood security,advocate or womens rights, promotealternative energies, and build people-
centered rural communities. And or
her part, Augustin is ensuring that they
literally have the strong oundations to
do that.
Jessica L. Atcheson is UUSCswriter and editor.
8
The Guerriers: Dunel in tan shirt on the right, his wie and our children on the let.
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Rise ogether, a UUSC partner inJapan, is an exciting new womensmovement working to improve howthe Japanese government treatswomen in disaster response. Tanksto unds donated to the UUA-UUSCJapan Relie Fund, UUSC is able tosupport this coalition in documentingwomens relie experiences ater theMarch 11 earthquake and asking ortheir suggestions on how to improvegovernment disaster policy andpractice. Rise ogether brings womensvoices and policy recommendationsto government ofcials in eorts toadequately represent women in Japansdisaster policy.
Young Filipina women are at theoreront o another UUSC-supportedproject in Japan. Many non-Japanese-speaking immigrants in earthquakeareas lack access to vital inormationand services. Te FACIL Multi-Language Center, a UUSC partner, hasorganized eight teams o immigrantsand Japanese speakers to design and
produce multilingual community radioprograms that reach out to immigrantsisolated by language and connect themto networks o support.
Hal a world away, UUSC isresponding to the catastrophicdrought and amine in Somalia andEast Arica. In the ocus on Somalireugees, internally displaced Kenyanpastoralists devastated by the droughtare being overlooked by internationalaid as they struggle or ood and wateron the outskirts o reugee settlements.UUSC partner the Regional RuralDevelopment Organization (RRDO)provides small wells or water accessand helps displaced people beginarid arming to eed themselves. TeAssociation or Sustainable PastoralistEducation and ransormation(ASPEC), another UUSC partner, is
opening ve child-development centersto provide ood and basic educationto children now in camps or the
displaced.
Visit uusc.org/japan anduusc.org/east_arica_crisis or the latest onUUSCs work in these areas.
Martha Tompson is manager o UUSCsRights in Humanitarian Crises Program.
UUSC on the Ground in Japan and East AfricaBy Martha Tompson
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Your reluctance to go among strangerscannot too soon be overcome; and the wayto overcome it is not to remain at home,but to go among them and resolve todeserve and obtain the love and esteem othose who have never beore known you.With them you have a air opportunity tobegin the world anew.
Margaret Fuller
With these words, 19th-centuryUnitarian eminist and activist
Margaret Fuller sounded a timeless
call to live out our deepest UnitarianUniversalist values by transcending the
boundaries that separate us physically,
culturally and spiritually. She knew
that the only way to begin the world
anew is to see the world throughsomeone elses eyes directly, deeply,
and thoughtully. She understood
that transorming the world begins
with transorming ourselves. UUSC,
in collaboration with the UnitarianUniversalist Association (UUA), is
answering Fullers call in the 21st
century through the work o the
College o Social Justice.
A new program area specicallydesigned to build the capacity o
Unitarian Universalists to catalyze
justice, the College o Social Justice
(CSJ) will encourage personaltransormation through service-
learning experiences, justice-educationprograms, and new ways o engaging
congregations more directly in UU
justice work. In the next months, youllbe hearing more about CSJ and exciting
joint programs with the UUA in these
areas but several projects are already
in development.
Building on the historical successo the JustWorks service-learning
program, we will be widening trip
oerings over the next year. New
opportunities will include a new
worker-justice trip, an updated versiono the storied Civil Rights Journey,
and an expert-volunteer program in
The College of Social JusticeBeginning the world anewBy Brock Leach
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Haiti designed to match our partners
specic needs with UU experts. Several
new service-learning programs will alsobe oered in conjunction with partner
organizations, such as education and
economic-development projects in
Latin America.
When it comes to justice education,
well be entering new territory thissummer with the launch o our rst
National Youth Justice Summit. Te
event will bring together high-school
youth who demonstrate a commitmentto social justice to participate in
a unique and intensive hands-on
learning and leadership experience.
Tis year, we will also conduct our rsttwo summer internships or college-age
young adults, who will work overseas
directly with UUSC partners in human-
rights work.
Finally, well be testing newprograms to engage UU congregations
more directly and tangibly in our work
through new partnership programs. A
Heart-to-Heart Partnership Program,
in the initial stages o development,will match sponsoring congregations
with specic projects and programs.
We have much to learn rom each
other as we set out to build a new
justice-education institution. We
cant predict exactly what shape it willtake, but we can be assured that i we
engage each other completely in
Fullers words, earning the love and
esteem o strangers we have a airopportunity to begin the world anew.
And a new world, one built on justice
and ree rom oppression, is exactly
what we have in mind.
See page 6 or more inormation regardingupcoming JustWorks service-learning trips.
Brock Leach is UUSCs vice president ormission, strategy, and innovation as well asthe director o the College o Social Justice.
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A Legacy of LearningThe Alba and Doyle Bortner LibraryBy Cassandra Ryan
As Unitarians we came to know o and learnmore about the Unitarian Universalist ServiceCommittee. . . . Not only did we come to
recognize the clear commitment o UUSC tothe problems o hunger, health, and humanrights, but we also learned more and moreo its competencies in helping solve them notonly through its individual eorts but, moreespecially, through its cooperative actions
actions involving like-minded organizationsand agencies.
Doyle Bortner
Learn about the many ways to give to UUSC, rom tribute gits tocharitable git annuities, by contacting Cassandra Ryan atcryan@uusc.org or 617-301-4340.
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UUSCs move to new ofces inCambridge, Mass., a ew yearsago provided larger and more efcient
space or our growing sta as well
as better meeting acilities. It also
oered the chance to oster continuedlearning in service o our mission an opportunity made possible by
donor Doyle Bortner through a new
and improved library.
Te new library continues a legacy
o learning that started in 1999 witha generous git rom the estate o
Louis Bowen. Our rst collection,established at UUSCs old ofces and
named in honor o longtime supporter
Eleanor Clark French, included booksand scholarly journals that helped
urther our research needs. Bortner
wanted to help UUSC bring this
important asset into a new era.
A lielong educator and longtimeUUSC member, Bortner served as
the dean o the School o Education
at City College o New York or many
years and endowed the Doyle and Alba
Bortner Distinguished Speaker Seriesin Urban Education there. He and his
wie, Alba, shared a passion or social
justice that ueled the establishmento a similar project with UUSC.
During her lie my wie shared withme a deep and growing concern or
the basic worldwide problems, the H
problems we sometimes called them,
o hunger, health, and human rights.
In 2009, Bortner helped ll the need
or a new library by making a specialgit to UUSC in tribute to his beloved
wie, who passed away in 2006.
In recognition o Bortners
generous support, weve named thespace the Alba and Doyle Bortner
Library. He supplied UUSC with
critical resources to reestablish thelibrary space as well as provide printed
materials. Bortner also recognized the
growing role o technology and new
media in modern libraries with specialprovisions or electronic materials.By supporting the ree and
responsible search or truth and
meaning, the Alba and Doyle Bortner
Library promotes UU values and
UUSCs mission o advancing humanrights. In a space adorned by works
o art rom around the globe, thecollection includes more than 1,000
printed publications on subjects rom
history and human rights to religionand technology.
According to Maxine Neil, director
o UUSCs Institutional Advancement
Department, Doyle Bortners
generosity creates a vital space ormeetings, research, and creative
thinking. UUSC looks orward to
preserving this important collection
and making it accessible to our
constituents or decades to come.Te Alba and Doyle Bortner Library
will be a distinguished, enduring part
o UUSC, stimulating the search orknowledge and acilitating serious
scholarship.
Cassandra Ryan is UUSCs senior advisoror major gits and capital campaignpreparation.
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For the past several years, UUSC haspartnered with the American IslamicCongress (AIC) through their HandsAcross the Mideast Support Allianceinitiative to support youth working to
secure civil liberties in the Middle East.Beore the 2011 revolution, projectsincluded translating into Arabic a comicbook about nonviolent action as well astraining online activists in real-worldorganizing. We spoke with Dalia Ziada,director o AICs Cairo ofce, about theirrecent Fahem Haqi voter-education
campaign, which UUSC activelysupported.
Can you explain what the Fahem
Haqi campaign is?
Fahem Haqi, which means I know
my rights, is a public-awareness
campaign to educate Egyptians abouttheir political and civil rights what
the constitution means, how to vote,whom they can vote or, what various
terms like liberalism and Islamic
state mean. We are explaining to
them all the basics that they need
to practice their rights in a healthy
atmosphere.We have a main group o 6,000
people, all over each Egypt, that we
have ongoing direct contact with. But
we have contacted over 20,000 peopleso ar by meeting them in the
street, knocking on doors. And many
individuals in that 20,000 represent
whole amilies, whole households
weve met with, so the real number is
even more.
Why is this campaign so important?
It educates people. In Egypt, or the
rst time in our lives not only
in my generation or the one beoremine but in the rst time in the
7,000-year history o Egypt we are
practicing real democracy, without
election raud, without expectations
o manipulation. Tis campaign givespeople the inormation they need to
make inormed choices.
What was the response to
the campaign?
All the young people we trained were
very, very excited about it, becausethey want to have a role in the uture
o their country. Especially aterthe revolution and the Arab Spring,
they need to eel like it didnt stop
there. People in the community are
hungry or knowledge. Tey insist on
participating in the elections; they
want to vote and to know how to votethe right way. Beore the revolution,
people really did not care much about
politics; all they cared about was how
to nd ood or their children, how tomake their amilies lie more secure.
Were helping people see that those
things are intertwined.
In Their Own Words: I Know My RightsAn interview with Dalia Ziada of theAmerican Islamic Congress
Conducted by Jessica L. Atcheson and Anna Bartlett
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Dig Deeper into Dalias Work
Hear more directly rom Dalia Ziada in a video at uusc.org/daliavideo.
Read The Montgomery Story the 1958 comic book about Martin LutherKing Jr. and nonviolence that UUSC and the Hands Across the MideastSupport Alliance translated and distributed across the Middle East atuusc.org/montgomerycomic.
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What are the next steps
after the election?
We need to make sure that corruption
will not happen again due to
centralized decision making. Wewant decision making to be moredemocratic and citizens to be more
involved. We want the parliamentary
political leaders to reect the
peoples vision to the government, to
communicate eectively between thepeople and the government. Generally,
we need to make sure that we have astrong institution and constitution;
issue new laws that support peoples
reedoms and limit governmentscontrol over peoples lives; and
encourage more participation by
women and maybe that should be
one o the main goals.
What are the skills and activities
that young people really need
support in right now to engage in
these processes?
Debating skills are a must. Weve
been educating people on this, but I
think we need more o it. We need to
encourage people to share and argue
or their point o view and to delivertheir demands eectively. And we
still need to teach more people about
nonviolent action and strategies.
Tese tactics can be applied even whenyoure under a democracy you stillneed to be able to call or
your rights.
I think we also need to train people
on social entrepreneurship to teach
them how to create their own projects,work in a team, and turn their ideas
into something concrete to improvesociety. I people especially young
people control their own projects
and have something to care about,then they will ght strongly to keep
that thing sae.
Learn more about UUSCs work to
promote and deend civil liberties in theMiddle East and around the world at
uusc.org/civilliberties.
Jessica L. Atcheson is UUSCs writer andeditor. Anna Bartlett is an associate inUUSCs Civil Liberties Program.
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Avis Adee
Colin Anderson and
Melody AndersonElizabeth Arnold
Leoni Ayer
John and Joan BarnardEleanor Bell
John and Carolyn Boitnott
Kay Bowen
Richard and Claire BradleyBruce and Junelle Brandt
W. Murray andKathleen Bullis
Kathleen and Arthur ButlerWilliam and F. Lynn Catton
Fern Cleghorn
Jacqueline ColbyEdward Corwin
John Crowley
Arline and Waldo DavisPhilip Davis and
Diana Dixon-Davis
Eileen and Robert DegenLowell and Patricia Edwards
Fred and Evelyn Erb
Carol and Robert EvansWendy Fish
Nancy Ford and
Richard GressleyElizabeth Fuller
Constance and Joseph Gates
Richard and Joyce GilbertMargaret and suyoshi Goka
Philip and Barbara Goodman
Dan and Mary Jane GreeneLouise and William Hall
William and Jean Hellmuth
Harriett Herb
Everett and Margie HiestandJohn Hockman
Richard Horvitz
John and Elizabeth HowellEleanor Hunting
Walter Jacobs
Barry and Ellen Johnson-Fay
Molly and William JonesDavid and Shirley Kates
Joan and Francis KeenanWesla Kerr
John and Carolyn KneislyBrian and Mildred Larson
Herbert and Virginia Lehman
Jon LeviMerle Lewis
John and Louise Lockhart
Eunice LovejoyVirginia and Edwin Lutton
Robert and Alice Mabbs
George and Jean MandlerCurtis and Kathleen Marble
John and Virginia McCall
Donald and Julie McKinneyLoyd Means
Dorothy Muise
Gerald and Carole NewallJames and Monica OBrien
John Oldenkamp
Judith and Richard OttmanPhilip and Jeanette Pendleton
Richard Pokorny and
Ellen WehrleAnthony and Rachelle Psaris
David Ralph
Ruth Reeves
Robert andM. Janneke Resnick
Norman Richardson
Jane RobensJoann Roomes
Earl Ross
Jean and Catherine Roxburgh
David and Jean SchaalRobert and Elizabeth Scott
John and Elinor SeveringhausSylvia and Eugene Short
Paul Siegler and Ruth BoomanJoan and Paul Small
Tornton and Shirley Smith
Rachel SnyderRobert and K. Ann Stebbins
Robert and Elizabeth Stevens
George and Elsa StrubleWilliam and Doris Tompson
Ken inklepaugh and
Marilyn HillChankey ouart and
Mary Lou ouart
Rosellen runnellAnne and Edward witchell
Mary Ellen Waugh
Rhoda WhitneyJane Williams
Linda Sue Witte
Kay Xanthakos andBruce Southworth
Investing in Human Rightsfor the Long Haul
Te people below have consistently put their values intoaction by being members o UUSC or 25 years or more.
UUSC extends its deepest gratitude.
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he 10-year anniversary oSeptember 11, 2001, wasespecially personal or restaurant
workers in New York City. On that
tragic day a decade ago, 73 low-wage
immigrant workers died at Windows
on the World, the restaurant at the
top o the World rade Centers northtower. Another 300 Windows workers
lost their jobs and livelihoods in the
atermath. Te surviving Windows
workers ormed the RestaurantOpportunities Center o New York
(ROC-NY) as a vital way to support
their ellow restaurant workers.
Fekkak Mamdouh, a ormerWindows worker, reected, It was
really important or the Windows
survivors to build something powerul
and positive out o the September
11th tragedy. Starting ROC to
improve conditions or all restaurantworkers meant we were honoring
our lost coworkers in the best way.
o help restaurant workers address
rights violations, ROC-NY developed
a multipronged strategy o worker
organizing, litigation, research,policy work, and partnerships with
responsible restaurant owners.
And its made a dierence: since its
ounding, ROC-NYs members havewon over $5 million in discrimination,
sexual harassment, and unpaid wage
claims; educated employers about
existing labor laws; and even compelledsome employers to sign agreements
ensuring that workers receive basic
benets like paid sick days, mandated
breaks, and vacation days.
They Are Power, They Are StrongThe Restaurant Opportunities Center UnitedBy Ariel Jacobson
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In 2008, Mamdouh and his ROC-
NY colleague Saru Jayaraman went
national, launching the Restaurant
Opportunities Center (ROC) United,
which empowers restaurant workersto improve working conditions
throughout the United States. A UUSC
partner since 2010, ROC Uniteds local
afliates now involve more than 8,000
restaurant workers in eight major
cities. In each region, ROC is workingwith restaurant-worker leaders and
allies to study restaurant workers
needs as well as provide advanced
training and job placement. ROCeven operates two o its own worker-
owned cooperative restaurants in New
York and Detroit. As they grow, ROC
United embraces its signature chant:
We are power. We are strong. Who
are we? ROC United!
Yet, ROC United is acing
enormous challenges. In a powerul
and growing restaurant industry withless than one percent o restaurant
workers unionized, 80 percent o
restaurant workers earn low wages
with no benets, and 96 percent
have no paid sick days. At the same
time, the restaurant industry has thepotential to hold great opportunity,
since 20 percent o restaurant jobs
provide living wages, and it continues
to expand even as others sectorsexperience massive layos.
Because o gender inequities
that exist in the industry, UUSC is
supporting ROC-United in helping 19
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local afliates establish multiracial
womens committees to empowerwomen restaurant workers. Nikki
Lewis, a coordinator o ROC-DC,
told UUSC, ROC gave me a space
to grow as a leader and explicitlyaddress the sexual harassment I acedin the restaurant industry. Now, as
[a member o the] sta, I want to
create space or other women workers
and . . . show them they can take on
leadership roles in ROC and the labormovement.
In most cities, women restaurantworkers are largely immigrants,
workers o color, and single heads-
o-households who ace sexualharassment, discrimination, and
intimidation due to their immigration
status. Trough this new UUSC-
supported program, ROC United will
bring together women restaurantworkers rom the United States
and countries around the world to
develop a campaign against gender
discrimination in the restaurant
industry.
In its next phase, ROC United will
build consumer alliances to promoteethical eating and responsible
employment in the restaurant world.
ROC is launching a 2012 national
diners guide to provide inormationon the labor practices o the 150 mostpopular U.S. restaurants. As part o its
Choose Compassionate Consumption
initiative, UUSC will work with ROC
United to promote this practical tool
to help consumers act on their values.Compassionate consumers are yet
another powerul orce propellingROC Uniteds mission orward to
shape the uture o the restaurant
industry.
Ariel Jacobson is a senior associate in
UUSCs Economic Justice Program.
As consumers, we can shop with
our values in mind! Through UUSCs
new consumer-advocacy initiative Choose Compassionate Consumption
(CCC) you can help orm a powerul
consumer block promoting workersrights, air trade, and a living
wage. Together, we can act on ourcommitment to a air economy by
spending wisely in alignment withour values and supporting UUSCs
partners. Visit uusc.org/ccc to sign the
CCC pledge and learn more!
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Would you like to make real change? Heres one way: become a member oUUSCs Keepers o the Flame.
Many o us wish we had the resources to make real change and wonder how, as alone individual, we can support someone who needs access to clean water or thereedom to exercise basic human rights.
When you become a Keeper o the Flame, a little can go a long way. Keepers othe Flame are riends o UUSC who provide a small monthly git that helps usrespond to pressing human-rights issues.
A monthly git o $30 less than a $1 per day will provide UUSC with areliable source o income that we can count on each month to carry our workorward.
I you would like to join this loyal group o riends supporting UUSC, please
complete the registration orm below and return it in the envelope provided, orvisit us online at uusc.org/keepersothefame.
Make ghting or human rights and social justice your daily practice.
Keepersofthe
Yes, I would like to become a Keepers o the Flame memberwith a monthly git o $_________.
Please charge my credit card.
Monthly Pledge Form
Credit-card number:
Exp. date:
Name on card:
Daytime phone:
Signature
Date
I authorize my bank to transer the above amount rom my checkingaccount each month. I understand that a record o each git will beincluded on my monthly statement. Enclosed is a check or my frstmonthly contribution as a UUSC Keeper o the Flame.
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connectwith
UUSCOn Facebookfacebook.com/uusc4all
youtube.com/uusc4alltwitter.com/uusc
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Rights NowUnitarian Universalist Service Committee689 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139-3302
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