Dear John,

Interfaith Worker Justice (IWJ), the organization I helped found in 1996 and then devoted the next 18 years of my life to, will officially close at the end of the year. Despite continued great work by many of the affiliated workers’ centers and faith-labor groups, and a heroic effort to save the organization by many of the long-time board members (Karen Hessel, Rev. Michael Livingston, Rev. Ken Booker Langston, Rev. Doug Mork, Jeanette Smith, and others), the staff had dwindled to one person and national initiatives had ceased. This fall, the board made the hard but wise decision to officially close the organization.

Nonetheless, the work of IWJ will continue. The worker centers have several different networks that strengthen their work, both nationally and city-wide in large cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

The work to engage the faith community in labor issues will continue through the Interreligious Network for Worker Solidarity (IN4WS), an initiative being incubated by the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.  A new board is being built and legal paperwork filed to create an organization that can continue IWJ’s legacy of faith-labor work.

From the very beginning of IWJ, we had put aside money annually into a reserve fund. This reserve fund, which still had a bit more than $300,000, was distributed to further the work as IWJ closes – two thirds to worker centers and one third to the Interreligious Network for Worker Solidarity. Several of the worker center affiliates have also come together to form a Workers Justice Alliance, which received one half of the funds designated for worker centers.

I am assuming that you, like me, want to stay connected with these new initiatives. Even though IWJ’s time has come, the work is far from over. More than ever, faith communities must advocate with and on behalf of low-wage workers and stand in solidarity with labor unions.  It has now been more than 12 years since the federal minimum wage was raised, the longest stretch ever since the minimum wage was passed in 1938.  And, union membership rates continue to decline, even though unions are the best way to raise wages and benefits for workers.  Indeed, there is plenty of work to do and an enormous need for faith and moral voices in the economy.

Although I am sad that IWJ is no more, I am excited about these new initiatives. Over the decades, the faith labor work has come in many forms, from Catholic labor schools to Jewish lyceums, from IWJ to the Interreligious Network for Worker Solidarity.  Organizations and structures may come and go. The work of justice continues.

As the emerging IN4WS gains momentum, I hope you will stay connected to this vitally important interfaith presence in the quest for worker justice.

I am grateful for all the “giants” I worked with: former IWJ Board chairs and IWJ leaders such as Rabbi Robert Marx, Bishop Jesse DeWitt, Rev. Jack Egan, Rev. Dr. Paul Sherry, Ms. Arlene Holt Baker, Rev. Jim Sessions, Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery, Ms. Linda Chavez Thompson, Rev. Nelson Johnson, and Monsignor George Higgins.  Although some are now deceased, I look forward to working with and learning from the new emerging generation of giants of the future.

If you are wondering where I have been for the last few years, I moved to Richmond, Virginia and have been directing the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. In the last few years, we passed a slew of wage theft reforms, helped raise the minimum wage, led a successful effort this year to abolish the death penalty, and now we are fighting to get a paid sick day standard.  So, I’m still in the work – just in a different form. I am hoping to find ways to support and engage with this new Interreligious Network for Worker Solidarity. 

I continue to be grateful for the two and a half decades of faithful work that the legacy of IWJ represents. Thank you for your engagement and support over the years.  Stay tuned for good things and new initiatives from the Interreligious Network for Worker Solidarity.


With much love,

Kim Bobo
Founding Director of IWJ

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