"Where Are the Jobs?"

In her job as a cashier at the Lafayette College cafeteria, Genevieve Repsher makes around $9 an hour. She says it's not enough to work with each month; programs like food stamps, LIHEAP and SCHIP pay to keep her four-year-old son fed, warm and healthy.

So when organizers from the Service Employees International Union began trying to unite workers for Sodexo -- the food service company that employs Repsher and her colleagues at the school -- she didn't have to think about it too hard.

She said others haven't been as quick to join her; only about 20 other Sodexo employees at Lafayette have expressed any interest.

"It's like the David and Goliath story," Repsher, of Easton, told about 100 people Thursday night at the Rally for Lehigh Valley Jobs.

They huddled in pews at the on Center Street in Bethlehem for an event that was part union meeting, part prayer meeting.

Don Garrett, pastor of the Unitarian church, quoted the Gospel of Matthew: "It is for the least of those among us," before singing a song by Woody Guthrie.

There was songs, dramatic readings, speeches and calls to action. Many people wore "I support Sodexo workers" pins.

Jan Bindes-Tenney, an organizer for SEIU Local 32BJ, said the union has already led two strikes of Sodexo workers at local hospitals. She estimated the company employees over 1,500 people in the Lehigh Valley.

Other issues included the sale of Gracedale, Northampton County's nursing home, a matter which union members and other concerned citizens are trying to place on the election ballot.

County Controller Steve Barron addressed the crowd, telling the audience that Gracedale had actually made money for the county. He was joined by Justus James, who represents the home's union workers.

"This council, under Ron Angle, is saying drive it into the ground," James said. "We need to stop this train."

Other people talked about the local and national economy. Olga Negron, executive director of The Hispanic Center in Bethlehem, said "the stories have changed" among the people she deals with.

"Too many families have to work two or three jobs. Too many families have to go to the food banks," she said.

Gregg Potter, president of the Lehigh Valley Labor Council, told the audience to make sure they "buy American" when doing holiday shopping. He pointed to a bunch of  different economic indicators -- the Dow higher than it was two years ago, corporate profits up -- and then asked each time "Where are the jobs?"

Repsher, meanwhile, will go back to her job and back to helping to organize. It's all she can do, she said. Her current situation means that even simple luxuries, like taking her son to the beach for the day, are out of the question.

"He's my son, and I can't do anything with him," she said. "And it breaks my heart."