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 Dear Friend, We are in unprecedented times. A health pandemic has laid bare the racial and economic injustices that have long affected our communities. DC Jobs With Justice has been on the front lines, doing what we do everyday: fight for people over profit. I can't say we were ready. But we had a foundation upon which to grow. That foundation was the relationships, values, and strategic vision that underlies all our work. Your support makes our work possible as we fight to leave no one behind. |
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This is what we do. We share information. We created early webinars and infographics to connect residents to the information they needed about local and federal relief and protections. We listen. In our webinars we heard from many people left behind. We were asked to fight for those excluded from federal stimulus and unemployment benefits. We organize. The fight for excluded workers has included over 70 organizations, over 1,200 individual action takers, all organized virtually during the pandemic. We convene regular meetings, design ways to take action, and keep the story alive. We win. We won $5 million for excluded workers in April, and $9 million more last week. We fight back. DC JWJ help launched Reclaim Rent Control nearly a year ago. Now Chairman Mendelson is trying to use the DC budget to undermine our campaign. |
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We are committed to intersectionality. The campaign for excluded workers is based on our understanding that racism, transphobia, xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment all contribute to the exclusion of workers from our formal economy and unemployment protections. We will continue to fight for street vendors, returning citizens, sex workers, and others who remain excluded by winning more money and clear inclusive language. We fight for tenant power. Chairman Mendelson has attacked tenants by using his power to slip reauthorization of our broken rent control into the budget with no hearing and no warning. Even our opponents in the landlord lobby know it was a gift to them -- that's why they thanked him. We are fighting back to get the language extending our broken rent control out of the budget. Sincerely, Elizabeth Falcon |
