Demand Relief for

Unemployed Workers

Members of CPD affiliate Ohio Organizing Collaborative take action to protect unemployment benefits on July 22.

In March, after millions of people across the country began losing their jobs in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government stepped in with a critical lifeline that we knew then was inadequate—unemployed workers would receive an additional $600 per week in extra unemployment benefits. Now, while the pandemic continues to rage on and with more than more than 30 million unemployed workers and their families lives on the line, President Trump and Senate Majority Leader McConnell are pushing to cut that money off tomorrow. They want to force workers back to work before it is safe by taking away their benefits.

The Center for Popular Democracy’s (CPD) Unemployed Action campaign is helping unemployed workers fight back against these proposed cuts. We’re demanding immediate relief, good jobs, and to fix a fundamentally broken and rigged economy that works for all of us, not just the super-rich and corporations. Together with more than 12,000 unemployed workers in our Facebook group and CPD affiliates from across our network, we have organized dozens of virtual town halls with elected officials to sound the alarm on this impending disaster, helped thousands of workers call their congressional representatives, and amplified the testimony of people who will be pushed into poverty if Congress cuts off this critical lifeline.

For millions of families across the country, $600 per week will make a world of difference to whether they are able to cover rent, pay utility bills, see a doctor when they’re sick, or put food on the table. Failure to extend unemployment benefits would also widen our country’s racial wealth gap: Black and Brown workers are more likely than white workers to face unemployment and have fewer savings. Join the workers of Unemployed Action’s calls to extend this $600 life preserver by calling your Senator today.

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TOP PRESS HIGHLIGHTS

Hundreds of Thousands Will Walk Out of Work to 'Strike for Black Lives'

Color Lines, 07/10/2020

"Thousands of workers in more than 25 cities will walk off their jobs for eight minutes and 46 seconds on July 20, 2020, to go on Strike for Black Lives, major unions and civil rights groups announced in an emailed press release on July 8. These workers from fast food, nursing home, rideshare, airport and other industries, will stop working to demand the government and corporations abolish systemic racism.'” Read more.

What’s next in the effort to get police out of schools

POLITICO, 06/22/2020

“Following the lead of Minneapolis Public Schools, school districts across the country started calling hearings about school police, or school boards voted to remove officers altogether. National groups, like the Center for Popular Democracy, began working with local organizers to increase the national reach of their demands. And, in Chicago, city council members introduced an ordinance to end the $33 million contract between the school district and the police department.” Read more.

Queens Resident Celebrates DACA Supreme Court Win

NY1, 06/18/2020

“Carolina Fung Feng is celebrating her victory. “I’m super happy," she said. "I still cant believe we won the case at the Supreme Court.” The Queens resident is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Trump Administration that charged it broke the law three years ago by how it ended Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a program protecting about 700,000 young immigrants known as "Dreamers" from deportation. Read more.

Calls grow for the Fed to target lowering the black unemployment rate

The Washington Post, 06/10/2020

“If the Fed were to pay attention on a systematic basis to black unemployment, it might make them more cautious about raising rates,” said Narayana Kocherlakota, former head of the Minneapolis Fed from 2009 to 2015. He added, "It would make a difference in Fed policymaking if you had more African Americans in top roles.” Analysts at the Economic Policy Institute and the Center for Popular Democracy have also backed the push for the Fed to look more closely at black unemployment. ” Read more.

JUSTICE TRANSFORMATION: CPD Network Join Uprisings with Calls to Defund Police

Across the country, local governments are beginning to reimagine and redefine what public safety looks like in our society. Through Local Progress—a CPD project and movement of local elected officials advancing a racial and economic justice agenda through all levels of local government—our team is working directly with local elected officials. In the last month, the Baltimore City Council approved $22.4 million in cuts to the police department budget, the Portland City Council is on track to shift $4.8 million from police to a new community-based street response program, and the Denver School Board and the Minneapolis School Board voted to end their contract with their local police departments. All the while, CPD affiliates are creating the conditions necessary for winning change by catalyzing people into direct action to defund police, remove police from our schools and invest in communities.

And when the Movement for Black Lives put out a call ahead of Juneteenth to honor Black freedom and resistance by taking to the streets, CPD affiliates and staff joined millions of people around the country for a weekend of action in defense of Black life. Read more.

EDUCATION JUSTICE: We Will Not Stop Until All Schools are Police-free

In the last two months, we have seen historic movement towards police-free schools across the country. Minneapolis, Oakland, Denver, Seattle, Portland, Rochester, Milwaukee and other towns and cities around the country are on the path to ending policing in schools, and several CPD affiliates have been on the frontlines of the fight including Leaders Igniting Transformation in Milwaukee, WI, Urban Youth Collaborative in New York City, Latinos Unidos Siempre in Salem, Oregon, OnePennsylvania in Pittsburgh, PA, Make the Road Nevada in Las Vegas, and the Florida Student Power Network in Orange County, Florida.

At the same time, Trump and Betsy DeVos, the U.S. Secretary of Education, have been ramping up pressure in an attempt to force schools to open in the fall despite there being clear evidence that school districts are not adequately equipped to do so safely.

We are clear: for schools to safely reopen they must be police-free, adequately and equitably funded, and community centered. Click here for snapshots of some of the incredible work being done across the CPD Network, including a week of action for police-free schools last month. We are also gearing up for a national day of action on August 3, to demand nothing less than a safe return to schools. Read more.

EXPANDING DEMOCRACY:

Election Protection in 2020

COVID-19 is poised to cause major disruptions to American elections in 2020. We need to be ready for an election, held during a pandemic, where social distancing and quarantine upend the current election administration assumptions and infrastructure. And, we must develop new strategies for voter registration, engagement and voter turnout. Ensuring that the 2020 election runs smoothly and safely in the context of COVID-19 will require adjusting, adapting and rethinking of our election infrastructure in every state.

It is imperative that we protect ballot access, and reduce registration and participation disparities faced by communities of color, new Americans, low-income people, young people and people with disabilities. That’s why, as the primary season winds down in August, CPD/A’s team is gearing up to support our affiliates’ election and voter protection work in seven key states that could make or break this election—Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, Michigan, Arizona, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. Read more.

LOCAL PROGRESS: New Toolkit to Expand Voting Rights

Experts predicted the 2020 general election would shatter voter turnout records. Now, with COVID-19, it’s clear the U.S. electoral system is not prepared to support achieving that goal unless we make it easier and safer to vote. In response to this pressing need, CPD and Local Progress are equipping local elected officials and advocates with the knowledge they need to expand and safeguard voting rights in their jurisdictions.

Our new toolkit, Protecting Elections from the Ground Up: How Local Elected Leaders Can Make it Easier and Safer to Vote During COVID-19, highlights the power that local jurisdictions in expanding voting, especially for underrepresented groups. From expanding voter registration online, offering vote from home options, and incentivizing public employees and students to serve as poll workers on election day, there’s a whole lot our local representatives can do to make it easier and safer for everyone to vote. Read more.

POWER THE MOVEMENT:

Start a Fundraiser for CPD

We may be staying at home, but this is no time to retreat. The COVID-19 crisis is devastating many of our communities, and at the same time presenting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fight for, and win, massive structural change.

Democracy isn’t a spectator sport—it’s about friends, families, and coworkers making progress together. Building the movement our communities need takes resources and a network of partners. That is why we have released a new peer-to-peer fundraising campaign to Power the Movement by giving you all the tools you need to build and sustain your own fundraising campaign!

If you believe that another world is possible—and necessary—help bring your family and friends into the movement by launching your own fundraising campaign. Together, we can take this moment and power a movement.

START YOUR OWN CAMPAIGN