Dear John,

This month, we're spotlighting how local communities across the US are rising up against state bans that are driven by corporate interests. Take Colorado and Missouri for example, where renters and working folks are fighting for local policies to limit unfair rent hikes and ensure people can have reasonable work schedules. But they're running up against a challenge that other communities are facing around the country: statewide bans that are being funded and advanced by corporations that would rather exploit people than provide them with a living wage, benefits, or housing. 

For years, our affiliates, partners, and other grassroots groups have organized with communities to pass local policies. But over the past decade, we began to notice how corporations have used their power, influence, and money to block local policymaking at the state level. We saw this pattern emerging across the country, and realized that it was a growing tactic corporations were using to effectively set the rules for communities. That kind of power in the hands of profit-driven corporations is dangerous. 

So, together with national and local partners, we began investigating where state bans are harming communities, how they uphold — and in some cases worsen — racial and gender discrimination, and how corporations are often driving these bans, funneling money to advance them, and pulling the levers of state power. Our research and subsequent reports and legal briefs helped to clarify just how deeply corporate power is embedded in our government and the decision-making that impacts our daily lives.

Now, we see how greedy corporations are hiding behind lobbyists and industry groups to pass statewide bans in their favor. Our task is to continue exposing them and, like our affiliates in Colorado and Missouri are doing, taking these fights directly to them. Ultimately, the core of our organizing is whether people or corporations should decide what is best for our communities. We think the answer is pretty obvious. 

Whether we live in big cities or small towns, commute to our jobs or work from home, most of us care about our neighbors and want our communities to thrive. But all over the country, corporations that want to exploit our families and neighbors for profit are pulling strings at the statehouse to block us from finding local solutions to the problems they cause in our neighborhoods. 

Corporations have been pressuring state lawmakers to pass sweeping bans on local policymaking regarding things they don’t want to do – like pay living wages, provide reasonably priced housing, and do their business without polluting our homes. However, families, friends, and neighbors all over the country are coming together with their local leaders to expose the outsized power corporations have over their communities and fight for their freedom to take care of each other at the local level.

Earlier this month, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 616, increasing the minimum annual sick days for California workers from three days to five. This is a huge win for working people, who need time off to care for themselves and their loved ones without worrying about decreased pay, retaliation, or losing their jobs entirely. As part of the CA Work and Family Coalition and the Fair Workweek LA coalition, worker leaders and organizers with LAANE shared their stories and helped to make this bill a reality.

Missouri Workers Center (MWC) is bringing together workers from across industries, faith leaders, and local elected officials to demand good, safe jobs and to expose the greedy corporations and lobbyists that are using state bans to block communities from taking care of each other. Last month they co-hosted a rally with Local Progress in St. Louis, where hundreds of low-wage Missouri workers protested sweeping corporate-backed state bans that have stolen worker wages and banned local progressive policies. Board of Aldermen President Megan Green announced 8 new ordinances that will go into effect once the legislature repeals statewide bans. And earlier this month, MWC brought together nurses with National Nurses United and Amazon workers from the STL8 warehouse in a solidarity action to demand safer work in response to the injury crisis spanning both industries.

Pittsburgh United has been working with community members to address major issues with their water utility, the Wilkinsburg-Penn Joint Water Authority (WPJWA). They’ve held multiple community listening sessions where residents have shared their experiences with WPJWA, from high bills and water shut-offs to poor communication and customer service. Thanks to their pressure and efforts to hold the water service provider accountable to their communities, the WPJWA is now taking steps to create a customer advisory board.

Puget Sound Sage reconvened their Environmental Kitchen, a space for grassroots organizations to brainstorm, strategize, and build power around local climate justice policies. The group discussed current projects, concerns they've been hearing from their communities, and brainstormed on issues they can work on together as a coalition such as climate resilience hubs, affordable housing, and the connections between climate justice, environmental justice, policing and incarceration.

Last month, the San Jose City Council voted to approve a new contract that will provide thousands of city employees with a 14.5% pay raise over the next 3 years. Unions and local groups have utilized a report released by Working Partnerships USA, which points to the ways the city could afford raises without budget cuts, to negotiate for higher wages and better benefits. 

From Grief to Action: #JusticeForJaahnavi Means Solidarity Against Expanding Failed Public Safety Strategies. Aretha Basu, Political Director at Puget Sound Sage, co-authored an op-ed on police violence and public safety for The Stranger.

Lack of affordable housing disproportionately affecting Black, Hispanic people in Nashville. Odessa Kelly, Executive Director at Stand Up Nashville, explains the crisis of housing inequality particularly in East Bank and South Nashville.

Spotlight On: Neighborhood Unions in Southern California. Mariana Angeles, Community Organizer with OCCORD, discusses how neighborhood unions work and what they can achieve on the PowerSwitch Action blog.

Unsustainable: Amazon, Warehousing, and the Politics of Exploitation. A new book co-authored by Ellen Reese, a board member with Warehouse Worker Resource Center, on the logistics industry and its unsustainable toll on workers, communities, and the planet. 

We are seeking experienced individuals to join our team! If you know anyone who would be a great fit, please send them our way. The ideal candidates will have a deep commitment to social, racial, gender, economic, and environmental justice.

• Law Student Internship — Spring Semester 2024

• Organizing Coordinator, National App Worker Campaign 

• Network Strength Director

• California Coalition for Worker Power (CCWP) Coalition Coordinator

Our affiliates are hiring! Check out open positions across our network.

Did someone forward you this email?  Sign up to receive updates directly to your inbox. 

PowerSwitch Action
1305 Franklin St.
Suite 501
Oakland, CA 94612
United States

If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive email from us, please unsubscribe.