Latest and greatest from the CPD Network



Workers Tell Congress Why We

Need a Fair Workweek
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Last month, hourly service workers from CPD affiliates United for Respect and One Pennsylvania [called on Congress]([link removed]) to guarantee a fair workweek and combat the last-minute scheduling practices that make it impossible for workers to thrive. At the same time, CPD amplified [new data]([link removed]) illustrating how erratic and unpredictable workweeks hurt families and perpetuate racial inequality.

 

These events made headlines in [The New York Times]([link removed]), [Vox]([link removed]), [CNN]([link removed]), [Fortune]([link removed]), [Maine Beacon]([link removed]), and other outlets. And just yesterday, Senator Elizabeth Warren [reintroduced the legislation]([link removed]) to help ensure that low-wage employees have more certainty about their work schedules and income. [Check out and share powerful stories from workers here.]([link removed]) 

 

A few key highlights from our Fair Workweek actions last week include:
  • United for Respect leaders Brandy Powell and Jenny Allen participated in a Capitol Hill roundtable discussion with researchers, policy advocates, and Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT). During the conversation––which was hosted by CPD, United for Respect, the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, and the National Women’s Law Center––Brandy and Jenny shared how last-minute schedules make it hard to make ends meet and harms their children. [Check out other powerful stories from workers here.]([link removed]) • Following Jenny and Brandy’s testimony, on November 5, Rep. DeLauro and Senator Elizabeth Warren [reintroduced a stronger Schedules that Work Act.]([link removed]) The legislation will rebalance our lopsided workweeks by requiring companies to provide two weeks’ advance notice of work hours; compensate workers when their hours change at the last minute; guarantee adequate time between shifts to commute, eat, and rest; and give workers a voice in their schedules. • [New national data]([link removed]) illustrating the severe impact of schedule instability on workers of color and working families. In a survey of 30,000 retail and food service workers at 120 of the largest U.S. retail and food service companies, California researchers Daniel Schneider and Kristen Harknett found that an unpredictable work schedule raises the likelihood that workers will experience material hardship, including food and housing insecurity. Erratic work schedules also heighten children’s anxiety and behavioral challenges and [perpetuate racial inequality]([link removed]), as workers of color, particularly women of color, experience more unstable work hours than their white coworkers at the same employer. • States and cities continued to take action to enact Fair Workweek legislation. On October 16, New Jersey Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg announced her intention to introduce fair workweek legislation at a press conference with Make the Road New Jersey, United for Respect, Unite Here, SEIU, NJ Citizen Action, and other allies. On October 25, Rep. Rosa DeLauro, State Sen. Julie Kushner, and State Rep. Robyn Porter joined the Connecticut Working Families Party, activists, and scholars for a roundtable discussion about how unfair on-call scheduling practices have affected workers’ lives.  
Workers across the country are rising up in support of a Fair Workweek. [Watch and share our video to help us spread the word about a Fair Workweek and ensure all workers across the country have these protections!]([link removed])
[]([link removed]) WATCH & SHARE

TOP PRESS HIGHLIGHTS


[H]([link removed])ow Unpredictable Work Hours Turn Families Upside Down

The New York Times, 10/16/2019

"Unpredictable schedules can be brutal for hourly workers, upending their lives. New research shows that African-Americans, Hispanics and other minorities — particularly women — are much more likely to be assigned irregular schedules, and that the harmful repercussions are felt not just by the workers but also their families.†[Read more.]([link removed])


Susan Collins Will Oppose Controversial Judicial Nominee Steven Menashi

HuffPost, 10/23/2019

“Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said Wednesday that she will vote against President Donald Trump’s controversial court pick Steven Menashi.

“I intend to oppose his nomination,†Collins told an activist involved with the progressive groups Demand Justice and the Center for Popular Democracy Action. The activist approached the senator in the hallway of a Senate building.†[Read more.]([link removed])


Publicly Owned Utilities Could Help Fight the Climate Crisis

Teen Vogue, 10/25/2019

“Jamie Tyberg, an organizer with New York Communities for Change, sees publicly owned power as an important step in transforming our relationship to resources and energy, which have for too long been regarded as infinite.

“We are not going to be able to escape this crisis without replacing the system,†Tyberg, who has been volunteering with the campaign, told Teen Vogue.†[Read more.]([link removed])


Elizabeth Warren has become a litmus test for who on Wall Street knows what America is and who does not

Business Insider, 10/27/2019

“Research published by worker groups including the Private Equity Stakeholder Project and the Center for Popular Democracy argue that private equity firms were directly and indirectly responsible for the loss of 1.3 million jobs over the last decade. It hardly seems un-American to want to do something about that.†[Read more.]([link removed])


[ READ MORE NEWS FROM OCTOBER](#News)


GET TICKETS: Join Us for the Guiding Light Awards in Brooklyn, NY


CPD’s signature NYC fundraiser, The [Guiding Light Awards]([link removed]), is just around the corner on Tuesday, December 3! Over 300 philanthropists, frontline organizers, strategic partners and allies will gather at  [BRIC House]([link removed]) from 6:30–9:30pm to honor amazing individuals, campaigns, and organizations for their role in supporting the movement. [Please join us as we lift up courageous leaders of our community––progressive pioneers and disruptors, champions for racial equity, economic and gender justice, and protectors of a participatory and popular democracy.]([link removed])

 

We are proud to be honoring an amazing group of leaders including Teresa C. Younger, President & CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women, Nan Goldin, photographer and activist, La June Montgomery Tabron, President & CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and The Campaign for New York Health, with more honorees coming soon! [Read more about our special guests here.]([link removed])

 

We hope you’ll join us to support our network—53 affiliates across 131 cities in 34 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia—to empower and activate the communities most impacted by injustice and inequity. [Get your tickets today!]([link removed])
[]([link removed]) GET TICKETS

JUSTICE TRANSFORMATION:
Inaugural 'Freedom Lab' Held in Milwaukee, WI


At the start of October, CPD’s Justice Transformation team held the first ever ‘Freedom Lab’ in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In partnership with Law for Black Lives and Policy Link, the two day event brought together CPD affiliates and allies, including including BLOC, LIT and the Liberate MKE campaign––which is calling for a $20 million divestment from the police department and investment into community priorities.
 
Nearly 25 organizers from Chicago, Madison, Minneapolis, and Detroit joined us to discuss challenges, opportunities, and lessons from ongoing and anticipated campaigns to demand municipalities shift resources away from policing and prisons towards community investments in health and well-being.

 

Attendees discussed city budget analysis, and had a fishbowl conversation about campaign experiences––in which LIT staff masterfully presented their [recent victory]([link removed]) at the Milwaukee school board redirecting money from school-policing to trauma care. [Read more on our blog.]([link removed])
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EDUCATION JUSTICE: Youth Leaders Release Mandate for Presidential Candidates


For more than three decades, Black and Latinx young people, parents, educators, and communities have organized to dismantle the school-to-prison-and-deportation pipeline. Ahead of the 2020 election, Black and Brown young people across the country are demanding that those running to be the next president listen and engage with them on critical education and racial justice issues. Youth leaders are seeking a firm commitment from candidates to permanently dismantle the school-to-prison-and-deportation pipeline by signing on to the [Youth Mandate for Presidential Candidates: Permanently Dismantle the School-to-Prison-and-Deportation Pipeline]([link removed]) (referred to as the Youth Mandate).  [Read and share the full youth mandate here!]([link removed])

 

The eight-page political mandate, which was developed by the youth organizers and youth leaders at our sister organization CPD Action, and the Alliance for Educational Justice outlines transformative, anti-racist policies to guide the nation towards building supportive and inclusive learning environments for all students and families. It also seeks to redress the harm created by past policies. It has been endorsed by 130 youth-led organizations and allies across the country. [Read more on our blog.]([link removed])

 


LOCAL PROGRESS: First Housing Convening Held in Durham, NC


[Local Progress]([link removed]) (LP), a movement of local elected officials advancing a racial and economic justice agenda through all levels of local government, held its first convening on Housing Justice in Durham, North Carolina in October. Nearly 50 LP members from Spokane, WA, and Berkeley, CA, to Portland, ME, Austin, TX, and dozens of localities in between, came together for two days of transformative learning and community building with CPD staff and other local electeds across the country.  

 

Our homes are the foundations for our lives. They are gathering spots, and places where we recharge, and connect with ourselves and our families. But too many people are forced to lay their foundation on shaky ground. Because of outrageous rent hikes, poorly-maintained and underfunded public housing, racial segregation of neighborhoods, increasing urban displacement, and corporate tax and land giveaways, more and more people in this country lack a home to thrive. CPD and our network of state-based affiliates are leading local, state, and federal campaigns to challenge the racist and corporate roots of our housing system, and build a model that works for us all. In the absence of federal leadership, it is local leaders who are at the forefront of ensuring that housing is a human right. [Read more on our blog.]([link removed])

 


AFFILIATE HIGHLIGHT: KOCO is Working to Protect Chicago Residents from Displacement


During the summer of 2016, residents of South Shore and Woodlawn, two historically disinvested Black communities in Chicago, learned the Obama Presidential Center would be built on land adjacent to their neighborhoods. Familiar with the potential risks of displacement and gentrification that all too often come from such high-profile developments, the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization (KOCO) went to work with two partner organizations to co-found the [Obama Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) Coalition]([link removed]).
 
The CBA Coalition effectively spent the last three years engaging and activating their members around this issue––resulting in the political will and public support to introduce a city ordinance. The ordinance seeks to immediately address the rampant displacement of low-income and working families from these communities as a result of ongoing real estate speculation. Through this campaign, KOCO has built a dynamic coalition, and are identifying and igniting new leaders while growing their base of supporters – 91% of impacted residents voted in favor of the ordinance through a local referendum. [Read more and take action on our blog.]([link removed])


AFFILIATE HIGHLIGHT: CASA is Leading the Fight for Immigrant Justice


Since the election of Donald Trump, immigrant communities have come under repeated attacks across the country. After a series of executive orders aimed at restricting legal immigration and expanding deportations, the announcement that the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program–– which provided  temporary relief for over 800,000 immigrant youth––would be discontinued, came as a major blow on September 5, 2017. It was followed in quick succession by announcements of TPS (Temporary Protected Status) cancellation of effectively rescinding temporary legal status given to over 200,000 people from specific countries in central america, africa, and the carribean after natural disasters - some of them for more than 20 years. Over one million immigrants could stand to lose hard fought temporary legal status and work authorization in this country.

 

On top of this, the Trump administration attempted to further drive immigrants into the shadows by threatening to include a question about citizenship on the 2020 census, threatening to restrict access to legal immigration for those working class families who might be deemed a "public charge," and funnelled money into private prison industries by scaling up detention for families, children, recent border crossers, and anyone else possible. [Read more on our blog.]([link removed])


[]IN THE NEWS

Continued From Above


[How To Make Your Voice Heard On Kavanaugh 1 Year After His Confirmation]([link removed])

Bustle, 10/04/2019


[The Women Whose Brett Kavanaugh Protest Went Viral In 2018 Have No Regrets]([link removed])

Bustle 10/04/2019


[Elizabeth Warren needs to connect with Latino voters. Does she have a plan for that?]([link removed])

Los Angeles Times, 10/06/2019


[A New Congressional Letter Led by Sanders and AOC Slams Puerto Rico Control Board’s Austerity Measures]([link removed])

Latino Rebels, 09/25/2019


[Ana María Archila, One Year After Confronting Jeff Flake]([link removed])

Latino Rebels, 10/06/2019


[Democrats snoozed while Republicans took over the courts. It's time to fight back]([link removed])

The Guardian, 10/08/2019


[Over 100 Protestors Arrested at Supreme Court]([link removed])

Gay City News NYC, 10/08/2019


[Pensionados le llevan un cacerolazo a la residencia del presidente de la Junta Fiscal]([link removed])

Primera Hora, 10/09/2019


[I have no idea how I'm going to pay rent or buy food': Some Target workers say hours are falling]([link removed])

CNN, 10/14/2019


[Fair workweek laws: the movement to make workers’ schedules more humane]([link removed])

Vox, 10/15/2019


[Protesters call for removal of MoMA trustee linked to Puerto Rican debt crisis]([link removed])

The Art Newspaper, 10/17/2019


[Ady Barkan: Elizabeth Warren Is Right. Time To Admit Medicare For All Saves Americans Money, Tax Hike Or Not | Opinion]([link removed])

Newsweek, 10/21/2019


[Protesters Target Fink, GoldenTree's Tananbaum as MoMA Reopens]([link removed])

Bloomberg News, 10/21/2019


[Grand reopening at MOMA met with protests]([link removed])

1010 Radio, 10/21/2019


[Activistas de la diáspora dicen que las enmiendas de Grijalva no son suficientes]([link removed])

El Nuevo Día, 10/22/2019


[Puerto Rican Diaspora Activists Say Even With Proposed Changes, ‘PROMESA Is Poverty’]([link removed])

Latino Rebels, 10/22/2019


[Addressing an image problem?: American Investment Council highlights positives of private equity in Ohio and the rest of the U.S.]([link removed])

Crain's Cleveland Business, 10/22/2019


[As automation grows, grocers need an employee game plan]([link removed])

Grocery Dive, 10/22/2019


[GOP Sen. Collins says she will oppose controversial Trump court pick]([link removed])

The Hill, 10/23/2019


[Chicago Fed Board Chief Can Continue After Exit From Private Sector Firm Under Investigation]([link removed])

Wall Street Journal, 10/24/2019


[A neurodegenerative disease took this man's future, but his legacy might be the 2020 election]([link removed])

CNN, 10/25/2019


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