American Rescue Plan anniversary, MLB lockout ends, and more from Arizona's Labor Movement

john,

This week marks a painful anniversary for many working Arizonans as we remember the severe, nationwide outbreak of COVID-19. As we all reflect on that difficult, disturbing time, I wanted to highlight some of the work that we have done to uplift working people throughout the pandemic.

Our readers know that when the COVID-19 pandemic began, those who were affected most immediately were frontline workers. People who worked in healthcare, food service, retail, and other essential industries kept our communities running each day, despite the unprecedented public health risk and insufficient public health response from our leaders in government.

Galvanized to elect leaders that prioritized the health, safety, and economic prosperity of working Arizonans, we mobilized in unprecedented numbers to elect Senator Mark Kelly and President Joe Biden on the promise of Building Back Better. Immediately, the Biden Administration went to work to guide the American Rescue Plan (APR) through congress in order to get working people the support they needed to survive the global health crisis. 

One year ago today, the American Rescue Plan was signed into law and to date, the APR has been instrumental to our continued recovery from the economic fallout of COVID-19. Over the last year, the APR created 6.7 million jobs, reduced the unemployment rate from 6.4% to 3.8%, provided 4 million families with rental assistance payments, subsidized 100% of health care premiums for COBRA-eligible individuals who lost their job or had their hours reduced, and distributed 200 million vaccines to fight COVID-19, just to name a few of its accomplishments. 

Although the accomplishments of the Biden Administration have provided unprecedented federal support to working people and their families, we must continue to push for our leaders in Washington to pass key pieces of the President’s pro-worker, pro-family agenda including and especially the PRO Act and the Build Back Better framework. 

I look forward to standing shoulder to shoulder with you all as we continue our collective fight for economic justice for all working people.

In solidarity,

 

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