As we move into the Biden administration, it’s time to make our priorities known.
Indivisible SF Newsletter
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Good news: the General Services Administration has finally unblocked the transition to the Biden administration ([link removed][UNIQID]) . While we keep one eye on our one-term president until he is well and truly out the door, it’s time to start looking beyond Trump and into the future, and it’s time to make our priorities known to the incoming President and the Senate. President Biden’s success and our very lives depend on it.
This week, we want to focus on President-elect Biden’s cabinet and agency appointments, which affect the lives of all Americans in tangible ways, especially now during a pandemic and deep economic recession. For far too long there has been a revolving door through which corporate executives and Wall Street tycoons enter and leave high government office for their own benefit. Far too often CEOs, lobbyists, and corporate consultants have been appointed to lead agencies and departments that oversee areas of government and the economy in which they have large financial and career stakes. We need government officials to actually guard the public interest, not the personal interest of themselves and their cronies. We're fed up with Wall Street bankers and Stock Exchange moguls running the Treasury Department and SEC for their own benefit; we're tired of airline executives running the FAA for the airlines rather than for us; and we're furious that regulatory agencies have been captured by
careerists going from corner office to agency chair to corporate directorship.
President-elect Biden appears to be off to a good start with the appointments of John Kerry and Janet Yellen, but we want to make sure that any appointments of corporatists do not proceed.
A broad coalition of organizers, including Indivisible National, have sent a letter ([link removed][UNIQID]) to our Senators asking them to refrain from approving corporate lobbyists to cabinet positions. We support this letter and urge our Senators to appoint people who prioritize the needs of regular people over corporations.
Call your Senators and tell them: No corporate lobbyists in cabinet positions! ([link removed][UNIQID])
** Fight for justice locally—tell your Supervisor to reject the unfair new Police Officers Association contract.
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Over the summer, the Mayor and the Department of Human Resources (DHR) renegotiated the City’s current contract with the Police Officers Association, the police fraternity that represents our local police in San Francisco. This fraternity has a reputation for continually pushing racist and violent rhetoric while defending officers from the consequences of their actions. The proposed contract amendment extends the contract for two years to 2023 (an election year when the POA will have more leverage) and guarantees officers a cumulative >9% in raises over their already exorbitantly high pay.
The contract also harms City workers in two ways:
* Locking the City into additional raises for the police further strains the budget at a time when revenue is so low that the Mayor’s office is threatening essential City workers, who risk their lives during the pandemic, with layoffs.
* This deal also inserts a parity clause, which handcuffs essential City workers to police officers. From then on, if any City worker union gets a raise, then the police get the exact same raise. This makes it much harder for labor unions representing City workers to negotiate for raises in the future, because the cost of those raises will have to include parity raises to the police.
The Board of Supervisors has the authority to reject this contract. However, it currently looks like they may just try to slide through under the door in order to evade political repercussions. Cowardly as this might be, this means we need to mobilize in order to demand they remember they are at City Hall to represent the community, NOT a police fraternity’s interests. We believe that this contract is unfair to City workers and residents, and fails to hold SFPD accountable. The Board of Supervisors must reject this contract.
The Supervisors must also hold a hearing to hold DHR accountable for their lack of transparency during this most recent contract renegotiation and gather community input on what the City needs to push for in future negotiations with the POA.
Supervisor Mar has called for such a hearing in the Government Audit and Oversight Committee ([link removed][UNIQID]) , but no date has been set. The Board must not put this off—we need transparency and accountability in how the City negotiates its contracts.
Call your Supervisor and tell them: Reject the Mayor’s POA contract! ([link removed][UNIQID])
** Fighting to win in Georgia.
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Organizations in Georgia are ramping up to register voters before the December 7 voter registration deadline for the Senate runoff. And we’re joining in! ([link removed][UNIQID]) Remember, we want to follow the lead of the community organizers on the ground in Georgia. Local organizers know what the community needs and how voters in Georgia are feeling. We must listen to them and give them the resources they need. Here’s how you can help right now:
1. Donate to Fair Fight and the candidates. Fair Fight ([link removed][UNIQID]) , led by Stacey Abrams, contributed greatly to flipping Georgia. The candidates, Jon Ossoff and Rev. Warnock, are up against Republican incumbents with the full force and funding of the Republican machine behind them. They will need a lot of money to fund their campaigns.
+ Donate to Fair Fight here: [link removed][UNIQID]
+ Donate to Ossoff and Warnock: [link removed][UNIQID]
2. Contact voters to get ready for the runoff. DemAction SF and the New Georgia Project have already organized some phone banks, and more will be coming.
+ Phone bank every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday ([link removed][UNIQID]) with the New Georgia Project to register voters before the December 7 registration deadline.
+ Phone Bank with DemAction SF on Saturday ([link removed][UNIQID]) .
+ Sign up with Vote Forward ([link removed][UNIQID]) for opportunities to write letters to Georgia.
3. Sign up to volunteer with local organizers. There will be plenty of opportunities to phone bank, text bank, and even canvass, but we want to make sure local Georgia organizations are leading.
+ Sign up to volunteer with Indivisible Georgia Coalition ([link removed][UNIQID]) . NOTE: please be patient for the group to respond as they are overrun with volunteers and are devising the most effective strategy.
+ Sign up with organizations such as the New Georgia Project ([link removed][UNIQID]) and Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights ([link removed][UNIQID]) to help with voter registration.
+ Learn more in this toolkit ([link removed][UNIQID]#slide=id.ga119d95688_40_0) from a local Georgia organizer.
We’ll be sending updates on how you can get involved as we get more information.
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ISF General Meeting: Sunday, December 6, 1–3 PM via Zoom. Register here ([link removed][UNIQID]) to join our online meeting. The meeting is open to anyone interested in resisting Trump's radical agenda of hate, division, and greed.
Saturday, November 28, 1–3 PM: GA Runoff Elections Phone Bank with DemAction Marin. Please join us to make calls for the runoff elections in Georgia. This work is more crucial than ever. Add your voice! RSVP here. ([link removed][UNIQID])
Saturday, Dec 5, 1–4 PM: GA Runoff Elections Phone Bank with DemAction SF and Swing Left. Please join us to make calls for the runoff elections in Georgia. This work is more crucial than ever. Add your voice! RSVP here. ([link removed][UNIQID])
Every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday through December 7, 6:30 PM–8 PM: New Georgia Project Phone Bank to register voters before the December 7 deadline. With the Senate runoffs coming up on January 5, we need to make sure every eligible voter is registered before the December 7 deadline and we are working with NGP to identify those voters, call them, and get them signed up to vote. Sign up for a shift here. ([link removed][UNIQID])
Keep Fighting,
The Indivisible SF Team ([link removed][UNIQID])
If you'd like to support our all-volunteer team:
DONATE HERE ([link removed][UNIQID])
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