Dear John,
I hope you’re returning from the long weekend rested and reminded of the power of organized workers to win good jobs and transform our communities for the better. For many folks, Labor Day marks the end of summer and a shift towards a more busy season. It’s still swelteringly hot in many places across the country, but we can begin to pivot into these next few months with energy, hope, and intention.
A few weeks ago, we brought together our dispersed team from all over the country for a staff retreat focused on connection, collective sense-making, and visioning for the months and years ahead. We talked about our current moment and how we can move together towards future challenges and opportunities that advance our long term agenda. We also did a bit of stargazing and observed remnants of a billions year old galactic collision, Saturn nearly hiding behind the Moon, and the Big Dipper as it rotated around the North Star, Polaris.
The next few months are front of mind, but we're challenging ourselves to consider larger questions about the kind of society we’re trying to shape in the long run. Our staff retreat made me think of that bigger “we” I’ve talked about before, the responsibilities we have to one another, and how we use our resources to meet those obligations.
I often think back to those three questions from the beginning of the year. While many things have changed in our political and cultural landscape since then, our vision remains the same. If anything, the events of the past few weeks have shown how quickly the conditions in which we’re working on a day-to-day basis can shift, but that our efforts towards a more just, equitable society happen over a much longer arc.
As we head into the fall, our schedules can get extremely busy, the news cycle will be rapid and at times overwhelming, and our attention may be pulled in many different directions at once. If we take a moment to gaze up at the sky, we’ll be reminded that movements and peoples past have looked up at the same stars and envisioned a better world — one that seemed unattainable, but that we’re living in now. Standards that we expect today — like an 8-hour workday, safe working conditions, livable wages, and a ban on child labor — were won by a Labor Movement that dared to imagine the impossible and fought to make it a reality.
Whether it’s one hundred or one million years from today, people will stare up at the sky and see Polaris shining down at them. Our responsibility now is to imagine and work towards a visionary future, one that becomes the standard for everyone who comes after us. |
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| In solidarity,
Lauren Jacobs Executive Director |
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Putting a Farmworker Living Wage on the Agenda
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Last week, Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) joined farmworkers and community leaders at the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors meeting. Together they submitted “Harvesting Dignity: The Case for a Living Wage for Farmworkers” into public records and urged the board to agendize a living wage discussion for farmworkers at their next meeting this month. Alianza Campesina — the farmworker-led coalition which CAUSE and Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project (MICOP) helped to establish — continues to organize in support of a living wage ordinance that would guarantee agricultural workers $26/hour.
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Low-Wage Worker Organizing Put Paid Sick Days and $15/Hour on the Missouri Ballot |
After over a decade of leaders with Stand Up KC and Missouri Workers Center fighting for better pay and benefits on the job, the Missouri Secretary of State certified Proposition A for the November 5 ballot earlier this month. “I have worked in the food service industry for over 35 years, the vast majority of which I never had access to paid sick days,” said Bill Thompson, a worker from Independence, MO who makes less than $15 an hour. “This reality was especially daunting when I worked at Burger King in 2019. My mother had been diagnosed with liver cancer. I took care of her until December 2020, when she passed away. I took eight weeks off my job at Burger King, unpaid, to be there for her and respect her wishes to live out her final days at home.” For many workers like Bill across the state, access to paid sick leave and a wage increase would be life changing.
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WIN: $250,000 Added to San Diego Workplace Justice Fund |
Last year, the Center on Policy Initiatives (CPI) and partners in the Invest in San Diego Families Coalition fought to establish a Workplace Justice Fund, which successfully distributed $100,000 to workers who suffered wage theft and retaliation from employers. Thanks to continued advocacy this year, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved an additional $250,000 for the Fund in the County’s 2025 budget. In a recent report, CPI found that wage theft is a pervasive problem in San Diego, and that workers’ knowledge about labor rights is extremely limited. The Workplace Justice Fund is one creative solution that has already helped dozens of workers, and additional funding means more workers will receive financial assistance, recovered wages, and justice.
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WIN: Indoor Heat Protections in Effect for California Workers |
Since indoor heat legislation was first introduced in California more than eight years ago, the Warehouse Worker Resource Center has been fighting alongside workers and allies to make heat regulations a reality for indoor workers. They’ve helped file heat-related complaints and testified before the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. In June, the Board voted to approve the California Indoor Heat Protections, which finally went into effect on July 23rd.
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Pivotal $400,000 Wage Theft Case in Oakland, CA |
East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE), alongside the Low Wage Worker Power Table and UNITE HERE Local 2, has been supporting over 120 workers in filing wage theft claims against the Radisson Hotel in what is Oakland's largest wage theft case. In late June, Oakland’s City Attorney filed a lawsuit against the Radisson Hotel, which owes over $400,000 in stolen wages to former employees. This lawsuit marks a pivotal moment in the fight against wage theft in Oakland. The suit seeks not only to recover lost wages, but to ensure that such injustices are prevented in the future, setting a precedent for corporate accountability in Oakland.
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Kareem traveled 1,200 miles to Uber HQ to get his account back After being suddenly deactivated by Uber and cut off from his livelihood, Kareem spent months trying to get an answer and even travelled all the way from Denver to San Francisco. Now, he's joining drivers across the country to demand new rules and an end to unfair deactivations. Listen to his story. |
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We currently do not have any open positions on our team, but keep an eye on our website and newsletter for opportunities in the future!
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PowerSwitch Action
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Suite 501
Oakland, CA 94612
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