Dear allies,

Happy Pride Month! This month, we proudly celebrate love, equality, and visibility alongside the LGBTQ+ community. Together, let's advocate for justice, embrace diversity, and create a world where everyone can live their truth.

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Register for our Salt of the Salt of the Earth Awards and Fundraiser!
Join us on Thursday, June 22 at 5:30 p.m. for an exciting evening celebrating individuals and organizations who empower our communities and catalyze change for a brighter future for all. We are proud to honor leaders at the forefront of social justice, economic, environmental, and racial justice movements who’ve dedicated their lives to improving conditions for working-class people in Greater Boston and throughout the Commonwealth. We hope that you will join us in recognizing the efforts of this year’s recipients and in celebrating their work. 

Salt of the Earth Awards and Fundraiser 2023
Thursday, June 22, 2023 | 5:30 p.m.
53 State Street, 12th Floor Roof Deck
Boston, MA 02109

Welcome, Michael Berger!
Please join us in giving a special welcome to our newest member, Michael Berger. Michael joins Community Labor United as a Senior Organizer with the Care That Works Coalition and will be working with child caregivers to build their power and capacity as the foundation for a strong and equitable child care workforce across the state. Michael Berger is a lifelong dedicated community member, activist, and organizer with years of experience working with community members, leaders, and young people to strengthen the bonds of community and build power. We’re excited to have him with us! Learn more about Michael by reading his bio.

On track for a Low-Income Fare at the MBTA
Last week, the MBTA Board approved a new operating budget that includes $5 million for start-up funding for a low-income fare (LIF)! This is a huge victory in our fight to establish affordable, accessible public transit in the Commonwealth. We thank the MBTA Board, staff, and the Healey Administration for advancing this essential program!

The fight is not over, however! We continue to fight to ensure LIF funding in the Commonwealth’s budget and to pass legislation to establish a lasting LIF program for future riders. Take action with us by urging your state representative and senator to cosponsor H.3373/S.2231. With your help, a brighter, more equitable MBTA is in sight.

Take action for a low-income fare and stay updated on what’s next by signing up for email updates with Public Transit Public Good. Please also uplift our demands by retweeting our posts on Twitter!

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News

MBTA board of directors unanimously approves $2.7B budget, 7% increase
Boston Herald – 6/8/23
The budget also calls for $5 million to study “means tested” fares, or income driven pricing, with the goal of expanding access to public transit to low income riders.

House Passes FY24 Budget, Makes Investments To Support Families in East Boston
East Boston Times-Free Press – 5/17/23
For several legislative sessions, Representative Madaro has also been the lead proponent of a reduced fare program for low-income MBTA riders to increase access to affordable transit. In response to effective advocacy from Rep. Madaro, as well as leaders within community-based organizations and organized labor, the House has set aside $5 million to adopt a pilot program to explore this initiative.

#WeStillCan’tBreathe Rally 2023
“Whether we're working to electrify the Fairmount Line, which I fought for 14 years, whether we're trying to get these electric buses here, whether we're trying to stop the MBTA from dismantling electric infrastructure, we still can't breathe!” – Mela Bush-Miles, Transit-Oriented Development Director, Alternatives for Community & Environment

Learn more about the fight for asthma justice by watching our #WeStillCan’tBreathe Rally highlights video, and take action to improve the health of Massachusetts’ environmental justice communities by clicking the buttons below!

Save the date: Community Child Care Kickoff, Saturday, June 24
Join Care That Works and New England United For Justice at their Community Child Care Kickoff event to support higher wages for caregivers, flexible child care vouchers for parents, and connecting parents and providers to good jobs and resources. All are welcome to join anytime between 1-4 p.m. on Saturday, June 24 at 102 Columbia Road, Rear Courtyard, Dorchester. 

Click here to view the event flyer in Spanish!

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Sign our petition: Give working parents more child care options!
Family, friend, and neighbor (FFN) providers offer trusted child care close to home, especially very early and late in the day, for thousands of families in Massachusetts. Sign our petition to support H.456 An Act to expand access to family, friend, and neighbor-provided childcare, to increase FFN provider pay to the state minimum wage, and make child care vouchers more flexible for parents who choose FFN care! Read our bill summary to learn more about expanding access to family, friend, and neighbor-provided child care. Sign our petition today!

Energy Democracy: A Conversation from the Frontlines
Join PowerSwitch Action on Tuesday, June 20 at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT for a panel discussion to learn how communities across the U.S. are organizing locally for energy democracy. Community Labor United’s Executive Director Lee Matsueda will speak alongside organizers and leaders who are reimagining our electric system so that it works for everyday people and doing the groundwork to build the sustainable and equitable clean energy infrastructure we desperately need. RSVP today!

GreenRoots is making a zine to reimagine inclusive transit 
Public transit plays an important role in allowing people to have independence and access to mobility, especially for seniors and youth. GreenRoots encourages us all to reimagine travel as a way to stay connected to a greater society. How has travel influenced your life? Submit your poetry, artwork, photos, or short stories on all things transit.

Submissions can be sent to: [email protected].
Please make sure to submit a short bio (3-5 lines) along with your creative work.

Recap: 10th Annual Celebration of Grassroots Organizing in Boston
This month, community leaders, organizers, and allies came together from across Boston to celebrate the incredible work of 15 organizations on the front lines of Boston’s movements for justice and liberation. Community Labor United is proud to have strong partnerships with many of the organizations that have been and continue to be critical forces in sustaining the neighborhoods most impacted by COVID, fighting on the front lines of the Black Lives Matter movement, uplifting youth voices, and defending communities from the harms of gentrification, policing, deportations, and climate change, among others. 

We honored their work by participating in a fundraiser lobster bake on Saturday, June 3. Collectively, the event fundraised over $200K to support these grassroots organizations and our movements. We are so thankful for all who showed up in support of the grassroots organizations in Boston. Our movement grows stronger each year we come together to recognize our collective work.

In Case You Missed It: Boston Pride For The People Parade
Boston Pride For The People held a Pride Parade to commemorate the brave LGBTQ+ people who risked their safety to advocate for the lives and humanity of LGBTQ+ people, to celebrate the richness and complexity of the LGBTQ+ community, and to continue to advocate for equity and inclusion for LGBTQ+ people, especially those who face intersecting forms of oppression. We thank Boston Pride For The People for organizing such an important event that brings communities together.

Win dignity and respect for Massachusetts Postal Workers
Postal workers from across Massachusetts rallied in Boston to demand increased investments in postal services and union jobs, and to resist threats of possible privatization. These demands included addressing the short-staffing crisis, stopping management’s toxic practices, and ensuring workers have the support they need to keep delivering strong public postal service. Postal workers are essential workers that keep our mail moving and communities running. For too long, the postal service’s leadership has failed to promote a healthy workplace environment. We stand in solidarity with Massachusetts postal workers standing up to say “enough is enough” and taking action together to demand dignity and respect from postal management.

Learn about The American Postal Workers Union’s (APWU) fight for dignity and respect at the Telegram & Gazette and visit apwu.org/respect for more ways to win respect for postal workers.

It’s not too late to take action on rent control!
In case you missed this month’s lobby day for rent control with City Life / Vida Urbana, there are still ways you can take action! Ask your legislators to co-sponsor the new 5% max rent control and foreclosure prevention bill. This would protect tenants by limiting rent increases to the rate of inflation, not exceeding 5% annually. Real estate profit is not worth the intergenerational trauma caused by gentrification and racist housing policies. We must ensure people can’t get priced out of their neighborhoods by urging MA legislators to lift the ban on rent control now and finally allow cities, towns, and the people to decide what’s best for their communities.

Take action!

• Click here to email and call your legislator.
• Click here to record your testimony in support of lifting the ban on rent control.