View this email in your browser ([link removed])
Dear allies,
We wish everyone a wonderful start to the new year! We have so much to look forward to as we jumpstart the new year welcoming Governor Maura Healey and her administration, raising the minimum wage to $15/hour, implementing the Fair Share Amendment, and continuing to push for a fairly funded MBTA low-income fare. These 2023 milestones and more are outlined in further detail in the Campaign Updates and Partner News sections of this email. We’re excited about new opportunities to unite for change in 2023, and look forward to fighting alongside you.
Below you will find opportunities to engage and continue the fight on many issues that affect our communities and allies. Please spread the word by sharing our Facebook ([link removed]-) posts as well as following and retweeting us on Twitter ([link removed]) . You can sign up here ([link removed]) to receive regular updates from CLU.
In solidarity,
Community Labor United
Campaign Updates
A hopeful year for the MBTA
PTPG embarks on the new year with a strong vision to make our public transit system safer, fairer, and more affordable for working people. In 2022 we voted for a fairer future in Massachusetts by passing The Fair Share Amendment ([link removed]) , making the very rich pay their fair share toward public education and transportation. This measure took effect on January 1, and will provide over $2B in state revenue. Now, we must ensure that new funds can make a real difference at the MBTA. In 2023, we’ll continue to fight for affordable transit on all modes, adequately funded safety initiatives, and ensure workers and riders have a seat at the decision-making table. Sign our petition ([link removed]) urging Governor Maura Healey to include these priorities in her fist budget as Governor.
To sign our petition, visit Public Transit Public Good ([link removed]) .
––––––––––––––––––
News clips
3 steps for turning around the MBTA ([link removed])
Commonwealth Magazine – 12/27/22
With a new administration on the horizon, however, our hopes are high for real and lasting change. On the campaign trail, Gov.-elect Maura Healey shared a vision for transportation that foregrounds equity and safety. As she and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll take office, there are three steps they can take right away to begin making that vision a reality.
New year brings new tax ([link removed])
Boston Herald – 1/1/23
“On January 1, Massachusetts will gain powerful tools for equitable economic growth: a fairer tax system that asks more from those at the top, and a dedicated source of revenue for new investments in our schools, colleges, roads, bridges, and public transit,” Raise Up Massachusetts, the coalition behind the amendment, said in an emailed statement.
Gov. Maura Healey spotlights housing, transportation in inaugural address ([link removed])
WGBH – 1/5/23
In her inaugural address, the new governor highlighted steps toward tackling two areas she described as “unacceptable”: the state’s high housing costs and condition of its transportation infrastructure. Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, who until Wednesday was the mayor of Salem, said the state cannot thrive without meeting its housing and transportation needs.
Maura Healey sworn in as governor of Massachusetts ([link removed])
WAMC Northeast Public Radio – 1/5/23
The first state budget Healey will file about two months from now will include funding to hire 1,000 more people to work at the MBTA, she announced. While fixing public transportation in Boston, Healey promised the crumbling roads and bridges in the rest of the state won’t be ignored. She plans to create a special task force to pursue funds available to the states from the federal infrastructure law.
Building workforce equity in the trades and our care economy
This year, Care That Works is excited to build on our movement to provide affordable and flexible child care to working parents on pathways to a union career in the construction industry and other family-sustaining careers. In 2023, we’re strengthening and growing our network of child care providers, and working to transform the child care economy through the empowerment of child care providers, including family, friend, and neighbor caregivers.
––––––––––––––––––
News clips
Speaker Mariano and President Spilka share some top priorities in new legislative session ([link removed])
WGBH – 1/4/23
Mariano and Spilka voiced mutual interest Wednesday in addressing the slow-burning crisis in the early education and child care sector, where providers are coping with widespread staffing shortages, workers are languishing on low wages and families are struggling to pay for care, if they can even find available slots.
Healey, Spilka, Mariano agree: housing, child care, and public transit need action ([link removed])
MassLive – 1/5/23
Child care has also been top of mind for the three leaders, each saying in their own way that the service is expensive and the workforce, mostly made up of women, is overworked and underpaid.
We’re Hiring!
CLU and our partners are seeking experienced individuals to join our teams! If you know a social justice leader who is looking for a new role, please send them our way.
Visit our website today to view all job opportunities: MassCLU.org/Careers ([link removed]) .
Partner News
Clean Water Action: Op-ed: As winter energy prices soar, we can do more to support low-income communities
Heating is an essential need, and we can do more to support low-income families during colder winters. Read an op-ed by climate justice organizer Paulina Casasola of Clean Water Action and sustainability and resiliency coordinator for the city of Salem, Esmeralda Bisono to learn more on how investing in energy efficiency measures is a viable way to reduce the overwhelming costs of heating our homes while helping fight climate change!
Read the op-ed at Boston Business Journal ([link removed]) .
SEIU Local 509: Congratulations to Local 509 child care providers on their new contract extension!
Local 509’s family child care providers have voted to ratify a one-year contract extension that includes a historic 10% rate increase and Juneteenth as a paid holiday! Caregiver work is vital to individual, household, and economic stability – family child care provider wages and working conditions must reflect that! We celebrate with SEIU 509 workers who fought to win better wages and working conditions that child care providers deserve.
RaiseUp Massachusetts: Our partner helps MA ring in the new year with a $15 minimum wage
Our partner at RaiseUp Massachusetts coalition has worked hard with community and labor organizations to win a milestone wage increase of $15/hour starting in 2023, a guide activists have long pushed to meet the growing cost of living. We salute these organizations, allies, and individuals who continue to fight for true economic justice across the Commonwealth.
Learn more at The Boston Globe ([link removed]) .
Local news: Council votes to study reparations for Black Bostonians
Last month, the Boston City Council voted to form a task force to study how it can provide reparations to Black Bostonians for the city's role in slavery.
“This ordinance is only the start of a long awaited yet necessary conversation,” City Councilor Julia Mejia said. “The City of Boston, like many areas around the United States, has profited from the labor of enslaved African Americans and has further disadvantaged them by barring them from participating in the same economic mobility opportunities as their white counterparts."
Learn more at WBUR ([link removed]) .
============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
Copyright © 2022 MassCLU, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
MassCLU
8 Beacon Street, 5th Floor
Boston, MA 02108
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
