FUS Social Justice Program ACTIONS!
Contact: Wendy Cooper, Social Justice Staff
608-233-9774 ext 25 or by email (just click on my name)
The following action is recommended for the upcoming week of August 19th
- August 26th
Attend the Public Forum on paid sick leave being sponsored by the Healthy Families/Healthy City Coalition on August 22, 2005 at 6:00 PM. The Forum will gather at the Villager Mall, 2234A Park Street (enter near the MATC entrance).
On Wednesday August 10, the Healthy Families/Healthy City Coalition publicly announced its plan to advocate for an ordinance that would require Madison employers (for-profit and not-for-profit) to provide some paid sick leave for its employees. The details of the ordinance have not been decided pending input from community members, including employers. The First Unitarian Society, as an organization, has a voice in this debate because of our role as a provider of emergency housing assistance. Approximately 60% of the households who come to us for help in preventing an eviction do so because of lost wages related to illness. For too many workers, the end result of being absent from work because of illness is dismissal. But for many households in the Madison-area, any lost wages create a crisis over not being able to pay the rent, the utility bill or for food. We are not unique among faith communities in the area. As the demand for our emergency assistance rises the question needs to be asked, is it appropriate for the community as a whole to ask church-goers to supply the resources for a social problem such as this?
Homelessness has a cost to the whole community, particularly when the fastest growing population of the homeless is children. We see it in our county taxes, our school taxes, our state taxes to the extent that families receive state welfare benefits, and benefit from state dollars for homeless services. There are other social costs that are less easily quantifiable.
Please consider joining other FUS community members, and other MUM members (since we are a member of Madison Area Urban Ministry along with 97 other churches and religious organizations) at this important community dialogue.
The Following Two Actions are Recommended for the
week of August 5th - August 14th, 2005
Starvation A Reality in Niger
In Niger, West Africa, 3.6 million people are facing severe malnutrition and
starvation as a result of devastating drought, infestation by locusts and
suspected mismanagement of the situation by the Niger government and the
international community. Almost one-third of the 3.6 million are children.
A number of relief agencies including Catholic Relief Services (through
Caritas Niger), Oxfam, Medecins Sans Frontieres are on the ground and
helping to supply food. Recent outcry from the public in the U.S. and elsewhere
following dramatic coverage of the crisis by the BBC has jumpstarted efforts
by organizations like the World Bank to make funds, food and seed available
in West Africa. Continued pressure is needed. What we know from history is
that natural and human disasters of this scale are most deadly when coupled
with a LACK OF POLITICAL WILL to address the issue.
Please contact U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, member of the Senate Foreign
Relations committee, and Wisconsin U.S. Representative Dave Obey, ranking
Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee and call on them to help
in speeding the U.S. response to the crisis in Niger.
Rep. Dave Obey, First Star Plaza, 401 5th Street, Suite 406, Wausau, WI
54403-5473
Sen. Russ Feingold, 1600 Aspen Commons, Middleton, Wisconsin 53562-4716
608-828-1200
To see a draft letter click here.
Stop the Erosion of Women's Rights in the Iraqi Constition
From 1968 until the Gulf War in 1991, women and girls in Iraq experienced significant
gains in their treatment under the law, including, their rights to participate in government and politics, and their access to education. Some gains were made in social issues such as custody of their children after divorce. However, since the end of the first Gulf War and the imposition of U.N. sanctions, women and girls have seen their position in Iraqi society begin to degrade. Despite an earlier law mandating education through primary grades for both girls and boys, by the end of 2000 the literacy rate among Iraqi women had slipped to less than 25%.
As the Constitutional Drafting Committee in Iraq struggles to complete its work by the
August 15, 2005 deadline, the question of whether women's rights will be protected is
hanging in the balance. One issue is whether Islam will be considered "the" source of law or
"a" source of law (indicating that other sources may be drawn upon). Different drafts have emerged in recent weeks with competing versions of this language which may determine the
legal status of women for decades to come. As we have seen in other countries of the region, the imposition of Sharia Law can have devasting effects on women's ability to obtain
an education, to work (even if she must support her family), to choose her marriage, to choose to divorce, her protection from violence and even death, even her right to leave her
home without a male escort.
American's have a responsibility to the women and girls of Iraq to press for their equal legal status and the full protection of their human and civil rights under the law. We have ushered in this era of consitution writing and social upheaval.
Contact your federal representatives (U.S. House of Representatives - Tammy Baldwin and U.S. Senators Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl) and urge them to keep up the pressure on the Bush Administration and the Iraqi Consitutional Drafting Committee to protect women in the new constitution.
Representative Tammy Baldwin, 2nd Congressional District - 608-258-9800
U.S. Senator Herb Kohl, 608-264-5338
U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, 608-828-1200
