What is the Coalition for Social Justice

What is the Coalition for Social Justice?

The Coalition for Social Justice was formed in January, 1995, to build a grassroots peoples’ movement to fight for economic and social justice in Southeastern Massachusetts. Our work has been driven by the philosophy that by organizing at the grassroots, we can build an army of volunteers who can win campaigns for progressive legislation and have a significant impact on important elections.

In 1995, our volunteers played a decisive role in persuading Senator John Kerry to vote against the Balanced Budget Amendment, which was defeated by one vote! In 1996, our volunteers were the primary grassroots force responsible for electing progressive Congressman Jim McGovern, defeating Republican incumbent Peter Blute in an incredible upset victory.

Since 1996, we have focused on transforming state politics. We have played a leading role in organizing a statewide "Working Families Coalition" that has had a major impact - winning a historic minimum wage increase, large increases in child care funding, and a major progressive tax package to restore funds for over $1 billion in badly needed social programs.

Our work has been governed by several principles:

We build our movement by “uniting the many to defeat the few.” We bring together volunteers from all walks of life - labor unions, faith groups, community action agencies, public housing residents, college students, professionals - working in unison to elect progressive candidates where and when we can and to take up the many battles, both offensive and defensive, that need to be fought to advance the interests of working families.
We put the needs of low-income families at the forefront of our coalition. We actively work to fight against punitive welfare reform, to oppose demolition of public housing, to prioritize funding for MassHealth, based on the principle of "one for all and all for one."
We make our electoral impact through one-on-one voter outreach - either on the phone or door-to-door. We put the “d” back in democracy, registering people to vote, educating voters about the issues at stake in the elections, and knocking on doors, making calls and giving rides to get people out to polls in election day. In close races, we have been able to make the difference between victory and defeat, helping us to begin to rebuild a progressive majority in the Massachusetts Legislature.

Our strategies have been successful. Because of this, we and our sister organization Neighbor to Neighbor have succeeded in replicating our model in urban areas throughout the state, all working together on a common state-side program. We have established branches in Fall River, New Bedford, and Brockton. Using a similar organizing model, Massachusetts Neighbor to Neighbor has established branches in Worcester, Salem, Lynn, Fitchburg, and Holyoke. Our achievements include:

Increasing the Minimum Wage: In 1999, we won an increase in the Massachusetts minimum wage to $6.75, and increase of $1.50. It wasn’t easy. House Speaker Tom Finneran opposed any increase in the minimum wage when we started fighting for it in 1998, and prevented it from coming to a vote. The following year, under increased pressure, he agreed to a modest increase, 90 cents, but still strongly opposed the $1.50. Yet in the end, he agreed to accept the $1.50. Why the difference? People power! Our Coalition held major public events in New Bedford, Worcester, Lynn and Dorchester. We organized hundreds of people to make phone calls and thousands to fill out postcards so our legislators would know how strongly people feel about this issue.

Increasing Funding for Affordable Child Care: In 1988-1996, state funding for child care for low-income working families declined, despite huge waiting lists. Then all of a sudden, we had a $53 million increase in 1997, a $36 million increase in 1998, and $94 million in 1999! What happened? Did the legislature suddenly recognize the importance of child care? Or perhaps it had more to do with pressure from activist groups concerned with child care. Large Speak-Outs in Boston, Fall River and Worcester sent a message loud and clear to politicians. So did thousands of petitions, hundreds of calls, and lots of meetings with legislators.
Fighting the Budget Cuts and Closing the Capital Gains Tax Loophole. In 2002, we played a critical role in reducing the impact of statewide budget cuts, by passing one of the largest progressive tax increases anywhere in the country since World War II. Our coalition persuaded the Massachusetts legislature to pass a major tax package, including closing the capital gains tax loophole, making possible the funding of $1.1 billion in programs that would otherwise have been cut. 40% of the tax increase will be paid by the wealthiest 1%. No political expert thought the legislature would pass such a large or such a progressive tax increase. Coalition for Social Justice and Coalition Against Poverty co-founded the statewide Stop the Cuts campaign and led the local organizing in Brockton, Fall River and New Bedford. In 2003-04, we have continued our work to stop statewide budget cuts, and have helped to restore funding to an additional $400 million in critical state-funded services and programs.
Fighting Newt Gingrich and Electing Progressive Congressman Jim McGovern. In 1995-1996, we helped build a powerful grassroots movement to oppose the attempt by Newt Gingrich and the Republican Party to shred the social safety net. Local Republican Congressman Peter Blute voted for legislation that would have dismantled Medicaid and slashed $270 billion from Medicare. After 2 years of intensive organizing, our volunteers succeeded in defeating Blute, electing progressive Congressman Jim McGovern to take his place. We held rallies exposing Blute's support for cuts in Medicare and Medicaid, getting front-page news coverage. We organized 1900 people to register to vote, and turned out 71% of our new voters to the polls. We made 10,000 phone calls to voters. In its post-election analysis, the New Bedford Standard Times described the Coalition as “McGovern’s Secret Weapon.”
In 2002, Coalition for Social Justice again surprised the experts, playing a critical role in the overwhelming victory of Representative David Sullivan, who so courageously fought to prevent the demolition of the Watuppa Heights public housing development. We contacted 6000 voters by phone or door to door, identified 3600 supporters, and brought our people out to the polls on election day. We beat the political establishment and opened up Fall River politics by showing that a public official could take on the political establishment and survive politically.
Throughout all of this work, our prime ingredient for success has been the development of an extensive network of volunteers and grassroots leaders - both already existing activists and many who are new to social activism. This volunteer and leadership base, rooted in local communities, gives us the capacity to exercise grassroots power - both to win issue campaigns and to elect progressive candidates. Because of this success, we are confident in the potential for transforming politics in Massachusetts.