United Workers

Last Thursday, 40  students from Union Theological Seminary and leaders from the Poverty Initiative kick started “Occupy the Malls” with a creative flash mob at GGP’s Gallery Mall. Inspired by the biblical story of Jesus cleansing the temple of thieving money changers, this group of faith leaders “cleansed” this temple of consumerism through song and prayer. Disrupting business as usual, they burst into the spiritual, “Get on Board,” calling on workers, shoppers, and GGP to get on board with human rights. The flash mob ended with a prayer circle and reflection at the entrance to GGP’s mall.

In her blog entry entitled the “Cathedrals of Inequality,” Union Theological Seminary student, Valerie Freseman, reflects on the power of this action.

For six minutes today, however, we started to chip at the facade of this false cathedral. Those who are consumers at that mall and those who are workers became a bit more visible to one another- and to me, our action was almost the same as throwing the money changers out of the temple.”

To read the full entry, go here

“Occupy the Malls” calls on allies to stage creative flash mobs and actions at GGP malls in solidarity with low-wage workers at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Last Thursday’s prayerful flash mob was an incredible kick-off to “Occupy the Malls” and demonstrated the imaginative and unique possibilities that allies from all backgrounds can bring to the fight for Fair Development. Great work to the Poverty Initiative and all for an outstanding demonstration of solidarity and vision.

As the second largest mall owner in the country, GGP has properties all over. So no matter where you are, there’s likely a mall near you! Break out your creative cap and stand with harbor workers by staging your own Occupy the Malls flash mob. To learn more how you can take part, email info@unitedworkers.org.

We closed out 2011 by embarking on a major ramp-up of the Human Rights Zone Campaign. This past December 10th marked the two-year anniversary of the day that harbor workers mailed letters GGP and Cordish, the developers that control the Inner Harbor. After two years of silence and inaction despite repeated attempts for dialogue, low-wage workers announced an escalation in the fight for fair development by staging “letter drops” at GGP malls this holiday season.

Here’s a media round-up from this holiday’s actions

Articles:

• Baltimore Brew: “Inner Harbor mall blanketed by blizzard of protest letters”
• Towson Patch: “Workers Group To Protest at Towson Town Center”
• In These Times: “Baltimore’s United Workers Disrupt Christmas Shopping, Demand Stable Jobs, Better Wages”

Videos:

• First letter drop marking ramp-up
• Holiday “drop” at Towson Mall

In our letter to GGP, sent in 2009, we requested face to face talks with them before Christmas of that year, as a first step towards making progress on our demands. And yet another Christmas has passed that GGP has failed to come to the table with workers. But with a new year comes a resurgence of hope and energy towards the possibility for change. Our New Year’s resolution is to continue to escalating our demands for justice and human rights at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. From Baltimore to GGP’s headquarters in Chicago, we will carry out letter drops and actions calling on GGP to act now. We hope that GGP has made a New Year’s resolution as well to be truer to their statements of sustaining “a work environment founded on dignity and respect for all employees.”

So here’s to a new year of intensifying the fight for Fair Development in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor! Stay tuned for next steps!