December 2019

The Moral Response: Just and Sacred

Dear Friends, 

We hope you all celebrated a blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends. As this is our last newsletter of 2019, CLUE wants to express our deep gratitude for the witness, participation, and bravery you exhibited this year in our fight against injustice. It is thanks to your outpouring of support and energy that we have hope that 2020 will be a bright year of radical change rooted in faith, justice, and the common good. 

Our newsletter this month begins with beautiful testimony from Andrea Hodos, who joined 10 other clergy and community in risking arrest in protest of Amazon's disturbing collaboration with ICE against immigrants and refugees:

Last Monday I was one of 11 religious and labor folks who shut down the Amazon store at Century City Mall. Amazon hosts groups like Palantir, who contracts with big data analytics companies and ICE. Amazon is seeking contracts with ICE for its facial recognition software. We also heard testimony from a former Amazon worker about the conditions in the Amazon warehouses, which are also horrifying.

Even though they put us in handcuffs, there was very little at stake for me personally. I was thinking about the families who are still separated, and the trauma that will never be assuaged. I was thinking about Central American activists who will likely be tortured and killed if they are deported. This is not an issue which puts me in harm's way. 

But then I was reminded that what is happening in our country right now is happening to all of us on different levels, even though most of us (like me) are far from the heat of the flame.

This, my first arrest for civil disobedience, was in an Amazon bookstore, which meant that when they "put us up against the wall" it was a wall of books. And perfectly, I found myself face to face with Masha Gessen's The Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia. 

I have been listening closely to Masha Gessen as she has been observing her adopted home in the US from her perspective as a queer Jewish Russian dissident. She has been broadcasting warnings to us here about the way authoritarianism works – at least since early in 2016 – about the same time when my stomach got this queasy feeling which I ascribe to deeply embedded memories from my Jewish Lithuanian and Ukrainian ancestors. 

Seeing Gessen's book on the shelf reminded me that this is all interconnected, and even though I am not on the top of anyone's deportation list, or anyone's incarceration list, it's important that we all find our own ways of resisting (there are many, many ways) because if we don't stand in the way of authoritarianism and xenophobia, eventually everyone is impacted and everyone is implicated.

So, In the words of my holy partner:

Your well-being is my obligation.
My well-being is your obligation.
Your well-being is my obligation.

I really think this needs to be a mantra for us all right now.

— Andrea Hodos, Director of Moving Torah

Many thanks to Andrea for permitting us to share her powerful testimony. Please continue reading below for more on the Amazon action, November highlights, and action alerts for December.

In this issue

• CLUE’s 5th Annual Architects of Justice Gala is Thursday, February 13, 2020!

Economic Justice

• LAX food service workers and community send a strong message to Sky Chef executives with a huge Pre-Thanksgiving march and rally outside LAX
• STRIKE ALERT: NUHW Mental Health Workers Declare 5-Day Statewide Strike Dec 16th-Dec 20th, including facilities in Anaheim, Hollywood, Pasadena, West Los Angeles, and Downey
• ACTION ALERT: John Wayne Food Service Workers Reject Bad Deal, Authorize Picket & Strike
• Join Unite Here hospitality workers as we go before the California Coastal Commission
• #MeTooTerranea: Hotel owners spend over $1 million to oppose panic button measure; devastating loss for women hospitality workers in Terranea
• Census 2020: Organizing in Hard to Count Communities

Justice for Immigrants

• Hey Alexa, Shut Down ICE! Clergy & Community shut down Amazon store, demand Amazon stop enabling tech companies that collaborate with ICE
• Mark your calendar: Support for Asylum Seekers Forum in Santa Ana
• CHIRLA DACA Walkout turns out hundreds of LA students
• CLUE participates in Asylum Under Threat forum in Pasadena

Faith-Rooted Community Partnerships

• PETITION: Please Sign the Clergy Letter in support of the LGBTQ+ Student Bill of Rights in Orange County
• CLUE POWER
• Black & Brown Clergy & Community Coalition
• Black Jewish Justice Alliance
• THRIVE Santa Ana Community Land Trust: Community Meeting
• CLUE's Good Shepherd Energy Stewardship Program News

CLUE’s 5th Annual Architects of Justice Gala is Thursday, February 13, 2020!

At its 5th Annual Architects of Justice Celebration and Gala, CLUE is thrilled to honor the brave grocery workers of UFCW 324, who won an incredible contract victory this year with tremendous support from community and faith leaders, and the Rev. Samuel Pullen and Los Alamitos Community United, whose moral courage in standing with our immigrant communities inspires us all. We will be blessed with a keynote address from activist Guerline Jozef of the Haitian Bridge Alliance and will also feature special guest Apolonio Cortes, a longtime dedicated Santa Ana resident, to share a story of leadership and vision that is transforming our communities. 

RSVP for TICKETS and SPONSORSHIPS by February 3 

When: Thursday, February 13, 2020, 6-9pm
Where: Temple Beth Sholom, 2625 N. Tustin Ave, Santa Ana, CA 92705

Economic Justice

LAX food service workers and community send a strong message to Sky Chef executives with a huge Pre-Thanksgiving march and rally outside LAX

Photos courtesy of Sara Pooley

On Tuesday, November 26, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) food service workers leveraged their power on the busiest travel day of the year to demand better wages, working conditions, and healthcare plans from major corporate stakeholders in the airline industry. Airport workers, Unite Here members, and community allies took to the streets, shutting down a major intersection under the LAX sign to demonstrate the airport’s exploitation of, and dependance on, working people to make our economy function. In a show of deep solidarity with struggling workers, three CLUE clergy members were arrested along with union leaders and airport workers by the Los Angeles Police Department in an act of nonviolent civil disobedience. CLUE is committed to helping build a just and equitable LAX, and will devote more time and resources to our LAX/Inglewood committee throughout 2020. 

STRIKE ALERT: NUHW Mental Health Workers Declare 5-Day Statewide Strike Dec 16th-Dec 20th, including facilities in Anaheim, Hollywood, Pasadena, West Los Angeles, and Downey

For years, Kaiser Permanente’s nearly 4,000 psychologists, social workers, and therapists have worked in severely understaffed clinics that force many patients to wait months for needed therapy appointments. After working for over a year without a contract, NUHW mental health clinicians have filed advance notice that they will conduct a statewide strike against Kaiser Permanente beginning on December 16th at all facilities for five days. (We advertised their strike in last month’s newsletter, but it was then rescheduled to December.)

What are they fighting for? "Our comprehensive proposals for settlement include measures to improve access to mental health care, reduce unsustainable caseloads for clinicians, and give clinicians enough time during the day to communicate with patients who can’t get appointments. We are also seeking the same benefits and annual cost-of-living raises that Kaiser has already provided to 140,000 other employees who settled contracts over the past year."

For those of you in LA or Orange Counties, our Kaiser Mental Health clinicians need our support at the rallies and on the picket line at several locations:

* Mon. 12/16: Picket & Rally @ Kaiser Permanente in Anaheim

When: Mon. 12/16 - Picketing from 6am-2pm; Rally from 12-12:30pm
Where: Kaiser Anaheim Medical Center Anaheim, 3440 East La Palma, Anaheim, CA 92806

Can you join KP mental health clinicians at their picket or rally in Anaheim? If so, please contact our faith-rooted organizer in Orange County, Adam Overton at [email protected].

* Tue. 12/17: Picket & Rally @ Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles

When: Tue. 12/17 - Picketing from 6am-2pm; Rally from 12-12:30pm (please arrive at least 15 mins early if you’re just attending the rally)
Where: Kaiser Los Angeles Medical Center, 4867 Sunset Blvd (near the corner of Sunset and Edgemont.)

* Wed. 12/18: Picket @ Kaiser Permanente in West Los Angeles

When: Wed. 12/18 - Picketing from 6am-2pm
Where: Kaiser West Los Angeles Medical Center, 6041 Cadillac Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90034

* Thu. 12/19: Picket @ Kaiser Permanente Headquarters in Pasadena

When: Thu. 12/19 - Picketing from 6am-2pm; Rally from 12-12:30pm (please arrive at least 15 mins early if you’re just attending the rally)
Where: Kaiser’s Southern CA Headquarters in Pasadena, 393 E. Walnut St, Pasadena, CA 91188

* Fri. 12/20: Picket @ Kaiser Permanente in Downey

When: Fri. 12/20 - Picketing from 6am-2pm
Where: Kaiser Downey Medical Center, 9333 Imperial Hwy, Downey, CA 90242

Can you join KP mental health clinicians at any of their pickets or rallies in LA County? If so, please contact CLUE Los Angeles faith-rooted organizer, Ashley Gonzales at [email protected].

Thank you so much for supporting mental health workers’ efforts to achieve improvements to benefit our patients and communities!

ACTION ALERT: John Wayne Food Service Workers Reject Bad Deal, Authorize Picket & Strike

Several Unite Here union sisters came all the way from LAX to stand in solidarity with food service workers at John Wayne Airport on the day of their vote!

Over Thanksgiving, how many of you flew to see family, and while at the airport grabbed a coffee or a bite to eat? If you did, you were served by food service workers employed by a variety of different companies, depending on the airport.

For nearly two years at the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, these food service workers have been struggling with executives of HMS Host to achieve a fair contract. Workers were dismayed to learn that management’s best-and-final offer was⁠ filled with health care cost increases, elimination of commissions, and more, and⁠ would be a huge step backward in their fight for good jobs and justice. 

On November 20th, these brave workers came together under the shadow of the famous John Wayne statue to vote on whether it's time to take their struggle public. Their decision? John Wayne Airport food workers voted an overwhelming 93 percent to reject HMS Host's insulting final offer, and in favor of escalating their campaign, authorizing a strike if the Union Committee deems it necessary.

ACTION-ALERT: As a result of their vote, John Wayne Airport food service workers have scheduled a picket outside the airport for Wednesday, December 18th!

When: Wed. December 18, 2019, time to be announced soon
Where: John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, 18601 Airport Way, Santa Ana, CA 92707
(Exact location and parking information coming soon.)

Can you join HMS Host food service workers at John Wayne Airport next week? Please reach out to Adam Overton at [email protected] for more details and to get involved! 

Join Unite Here hospitality workers as we go before the California Coastal Commission

Please join Unite Here Local 11 members and community as we go before the California Coastal Commission next week to ask them to deny the Shore Hotel a permit to protect coastal access. The Shore Hotel in Santa Monica has been operating illegally for a decade after removing 35 percent of the city's low cost accommodations. We are asking the Commission to deny the Shore a permit unless they replace ALL the affordable hotel rooms they took from the public. We need to protect our democratic beaches and the ability of working people to access the coast by encouraging the Coastal Commission to send a strong message to developers like these. 

Here are two ways you can help:

1. Join us in Calabasas to deliver public comment directly to the CA Coastal Commission.

When: Thu. December 12, 9 am,
Where: King Gillette Ranch, 26800 Mulholland Highway, Calabasas
Transportation: You’re welcome to ride up with us in one of the members’ vans. For more details please contact Ashley Gonzales at [email protected].

2. Unite Here members are also requesting that everyone please send a letter to the Coastal Commission before their next session on December 12th about this issue. Click here to send one.

#MeTooTerranea: Hotel owners spent over $1 million to oppose panic button measure; devastating loss for women hospitality workers in Terranea

On November 5th, Rancho Palos Verdes voters rejected Measure B, the Hospitality Working Conditions Ordinance that would have required panic buttons, humane workloads, and protection from retaliation at the city’s two largest hospitality employers, Terranea Resort and Trump National Golf Club. Efforts to organize the community in support of Measure B were frustrated by over $1.25 million in opposition spending by the resort’s parent company, Long Point Development. 

Despite this setback, we are not giving up our concerted campaign to improve wages and working conditions at Terranea. Contact Jeremy Arnold at [email protected] to find out about upcoming actions related to the #MeTooTerranea campaign.

Census 2020: Organizing in Hard to Count Communities

Please consider dedicating your next birthday on Facebook to CLUE! Did you know that you can support CLUE's work by creating a simple birthday fundraiser on Facebook? It's easy to do, just visit https://www.facebook.com/fund/CLUEJustice/. Thanks!

Justice for Immigrants

"Hey Alexa, Shut Down ICE!" Clergy & Community shut down Amazon store, demand Amazon stop enabling tech companies that collaborate with ICE

On Monday, November 25th, our faith and labor communities joined with families and immigrant allies at the Amazon Store at Westfield Century City Mall to demand Amazon stop profiting from the pain of migrants. Eleven clergy, laity, and community members were arrested for refusing to leave the store until Amazon agrees to stop providing web hosting to the Department of Homeland Security as well as trying to sell its controversial facial recognition software, “Rekognition,” to ICE. We also called on Congress to oppose any increase in the ICE and CBP budgets this year, and to instead support significant funding cuts to ICE and CBP. 

The Talmud teaches us that one is not allowed to sell weapons to those that might use them for ill intent, or to those who might sell them to others who will use them for ill (Tractate Avodah Zarah). We must demand accountability for companies that supply DHS and ICE with tools that allow them to cage and torture our undocumented brothers and sisters.

This powerful protest was made possible by collaboration between CLUE, Bend the Arc Jewish Action, Sacred Resistance of LA Episcopal Diocese, LA County Federation of Labor, California Pacific Conference of the United Methodist Church, Presbytery of the Pacific, LAANE, CHIRLA, and CARECEN.

To read more about this action, please see these links below:

- Univision video clip
- Telemundo 52 video clip
- La Opinion article

To get involved with our immigrant justice work in Los Angeles County, please reach out to CLUE’s faith-rooted organizer, Jeremy Arnold, at [email protected]. And for our immigrant justice work in Orange County, please contact to CLUE’s faith-rooted organizer, David Jaimes, at [email protected].

Mark your calendar: Support for Asylum Seekers Forum in Santa Ana

Please join us next week for our last Asylum Seeker forum of the year. We will introduce congregations and communities to the struggles of asylum seekers, explain the legal complexities surrounding this issue, and describe the many ways that the community can assist our brothers and sisters who are being targeted by this President as they attempt to escape imminent danger.

When: Friday, December 13th, 10am-12pm
Where: Temple Beth Sholom, 2625 N. Tustin Ave, Santa Ana, CA 92705
RSVP: [email protected] or 714-392-8840

CHIRLA DACA Walkout turns out hundreds of LA students

On November 12th, the day the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on DACA, the CLUE community joined hundreds of Los Angeles students as part of CHIRLA’s city-wide walkout in support of DACA recipients.

Read about the walkout in the LA Times.

CLUE participates in Asylum Under Threat forum in Pasadena

On Sunday November 10th, CLUE presented our work as part of Asylum Under Threat: An Update and Call to Action, hosted by the Social Justice Committee of the Pasadena Jewish Temple & Center. Speakers included Public Counsel, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS), and Al Otro Lado. The event provided updates on recent policy changes affecting migrants seeking asylum, and presented options for individuals and faith community to help.

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Faith-Rooted Community Partnerships

PETITION: Please Sign the Clergy Letter in support of the LGBTQ+ Student Bill of Rights in Orange County

As people of faith, we believe everyone is created in the image of God and are worthy of being treated with love and respect. Orange County Clergy and religious leaders from across the religious spectrum call for the equal rights and protection of all students, especially those who are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, or Questioning their sexual and/or gender identity.  We further call on all schools and districts to have inclusive and affirming school policies, and data driven curriculum on the subject, for the benefit of all students and families. Accurate and informed education is the best weapon against extremist, hateful misinformation, and the spread of inaccurate medical research regarding LGBTQ+ students.

This initiative is led by Youth First Orange County (YFOC) & the Anti-Defamation League Orange County.

Sign the clergy sign-on letter and get more information on LGBTQ+ Student Bill of Rights here: https://orangecounty.adl.org/lgbtq-bill-of-rights/

CLUE Power

Our CLUE Committee dedicated to women’s economic empowerment, CLUE Power, will meet on Wednesday, January 8, 2020 from 11:30am-1pm at Village Church, 343 S. Church Lane Los Angeles, CA 90049. Please contact faith-rooted organizer Ashley Gonzales at [email protected] for more information on the campaigns we’re working on and to RSVP.

Black & Brown Clergy & Community Coalition

On November 19, we held CLUE’s Black & Brown Clergy & Community Coalition meeting with 30 students at Cal State LA. We discussed doing a forum on gun violence and other issues affecting Black and Brown communities.

On November 21, CLUE’s Black & Brown Clergy & Community Coalition marched for housing outside of buildings with luxury apartments that remain 70%-97% vacant. This practice by developers only serves to decrease the already dwindling amount of housing our community needs to make sure everyone has an affordable home.

Black Jewish Justice Alliance

On December 1, 2019, CLUE’s Black Jewish Justice Alliance received an award from the National Lawyers Guild, recognizing our work as part of the Check the Sheriff Coalition, along with allies such as the ACLU, Youth Justice Coalition, and others who also received an award.

Please get involved with either our Black & Brown Clergy & Community Coalition or our Black Jewish Justice Alliance by contacting CLUE’s faith-rooted organizer Pastor Cue JnMarie at [email protected]. 

THRIVE Santa Ana Community Land Trust: Community Meeting

On November 11, CLUE joined THRIVE Santa Ana in a community meeting to discuss how we can build the momentum needed to achieve the community’s goal of setting aside the public land at Walnut and Daisy to build a micro-farm. THRIVE Santa Ana board member, Apolonio Cortes, shared the experience of his recent trip to Pittsburgh to visit and study a local micro-farm there.

Please learn more and get involved with making this community project a reality by contacting faith-rooted organizer Lucero Garcia at [email protected]. 

CLUE's Good Shepherd Energy Stewardship Program News

Last month CLUE, in partnership with Energy Upgrade CA, visited congregations across the region to educate them about how to protect our natural resources in California, specifically Energy Upgrade California’s "Time of Use" program. For more information on how you, your family, and congregation can keep California Golden, please visit www.energyupgradeca.org.

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CLUE's Mission is to educate, organize and mobilize the faith community to accompany workers and their families in their struggle for good jobs, dignity, and justice.
http://www.cluejustice.org/