Dear John,
This month’s spotlight interview with Mariana Angeles, a community organizer at our affiliate OCCORD, has me thinking about why we need more people engaged in civic organizations like neighborhood unions. When leaders from across our network came together to craft our long-term agenda, we identified growing such civic organizations as one of our key strategic imperatives.
We often think about the role civic organizations like unions, tenant associations, and community groups play in building people power. They provide the structures where people can come together and wield their collective power, and that can nourish and sustain organizing for the long haul.
And while that’s critical, these institutions play a second role I think is just as vital. They are where people build the muscle of democracy. Meaningful democracy asks people to do much more than simply cast a ballot. It asks us to consider the common good, to think about our needs but also the needs of our neighbors and the next generation. Doing this kind of collective governance well requires practice, and civic organizations are where we get in our reps.
I remember when I was a union organizer in Providence, Rhode Island, where people working janitorial jobs in the suburbs were paid much less than those working in the city. As they campaigned, leaders from within the city decided to prioritize lifting wages for those in the suburbs. It meant smaller raises for them personally, but they concluded it was the best thing to do for their colleagues — and they fought like hell nonetheless. Today, we see the same thing in the full-time UPS drivers whose commitment to strike ended a two-tiered wage system that harmed their part-time coworkers, and in the auto workers fighting for good jobs for people making electric cars.
We need this kind of solidarity not just at the workplace, but throughout our society. That’s part of why our network and allies are developing varied forms of civic organizations: Citizen Action of Wisconsin Education Fund’s dues-paying chapter model (also adapted by PA United), tenant unions EBASE has helped establish, ISAIAH organizing through mosques and barbershops, CPI incubating the San Diego Black Worker Center, OCCORD’s neighborhood unions, and many more.
Ultimately, what we often call solidarity is at its core looking out for each other, and we do that better when we do it together. |
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| In solidarity, Lauren Jacobs Executive Director |
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For over a decade, our affiliate Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD) has been experimenting with a bold method of building organized people power in the region. Neighborhood unions are not as widespread or well known as labor or tenant unions, but they are a potent way for everyday people to join together and address issues in their communities. This month Alonso Hernandez (Creative Lead at PowerSwitch) spoke with Mariana Angeles (Community Organizer at OCCORD) about how OCCORD is seeding and supporting neighborhood unions across Southern California.
Mariana: A neighborhood union is composed of people who live within the community and possess a deep understanding of their problems and needs. The strength of organizing through a neighborhood union is that it is more comprehensive—it encompasses a multitude of aspects. A neighborhood union can address a broader range of a community’s needs: living conditions, green spaces, public safety, and more.
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Rallying with renters at the Michigan State Capitol |
Detroit Action rallied with over 200 renters, leaders, and housing organizations in Lansing to demand policies that will protect renters across the state. Renters shared stories of skyrocketing rents, unsafe and unhealthy conditions ignored by landlords, and even getting evicted and losing their homes. Together with The Rent is Too Damn High Coalition, renters and allies called for solutions like ending the statewide ban on rent control and implementing just cause eviction protections.
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Expanding child care while fairly compensating workers in Massachusetts |
Community Labor United and the Care That Works coalition hosted legislators and staffers for a briefing on H.456, an important piece of legislation that will expand access to Family, Friend, and Neighbor (FFN) provided childcare. The bill would require FFN providers to receive minimum wage, give parents more flexibility with childcare vouchers, and establish a state advisory council that includes parents and providers. |
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Fighting to shut down polluting power plants in Southern California |
Last month, CAUSE organized with Oxnard community members to urge the California Energy Commission to shut down the Ormond Beach power plant. They delivered a petition with over 1,000 signatures and mobilized with more than 200 residents who shared public comment at a 5-hour meeting with regulators. Despite their calls for clean and renewable energy alternatives, the Commission voted to extend the plant’s operations for three more years. But CAUSE and community members are not deterred—they’re continuing to build grassroots power, raising awareness about the dangerous health impacts of fossil fuel pollution, holding elected leaders accountable, and fighting for environmental justice for communities like Oxnard.
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Countering wage theft and ensuring San Diego workers are paid in full |
Center on Policy Initiatives (CPI) hosted a “Know Your Rights” event together with the Employee Rights Center, San Diego Black Worker Center, and DSA San Diego. Representatives from both the city and county Offices of Labor Standards and Enforcement also joined the event to talk about resources for workers. CPI spoke with attendees about what wage theft is, how it impacts families and communities, and where workers can get help with reporting wage theft.
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Demanding community benefits at the Oakland Coliseum |
East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE) and the Oakland United Coalition held a community event to kick off their campaign for community benefits with the $5 billion redevelopment project at Oakland Coliseum. Impacted community members and leaders shared their vision for the proposed redevelopment, including good job opportunities, affordable housing and stability, public health and environmental standards, and more. EBASE is educating and mobilizing with Oaklanders and partner organizations to ensure that the needs of residents, workers, and surrounding communities are centered.
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“A People’s Prosperity.” Detroit Action’s Branden Snyder and Anthony Baber spoke with YES! Magazine about the exploitation and extraction of wealth from Black communities, as well as reimagining what prosperity means. Read the piece here.
“21 Ways to Fix the MBTA Now.” Community Labor United’s senior organizer Collique Williams is featured in Boston Magazine’s list of solutions to improve public transportation in the city. Her recommendation: “Keep corporate hands off!” Read the full list here.
2023 Movement Builders Awards. Next month, ALIGN is hosting their annual awards event where they’ll be honoring SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America East, who have shut down Hollywood, Public Power NY coalition, and former executive director Maritza Silva-Farrell. Learn more and get tickets here. |
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