INSIDER NEWS FROM THE FRONTLINES OF THE POLITICAL REVOLUTION
HEADLINES: Progressive Mayor in Chicago? | St. Louis Slate — Vote Tues! | Raise the Wage Actions | CPC vs. ‘Other NRA’ | CA Senate Poll | PRO Act Push | SF Ed Alliance Launch | M4A Support in NJ | & MORE!
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As the country's largest grassroots-funded progressive political action group, Our Revolution relies on our members to organize on the outside and inside the halls of power.
Make a recurring gift of $5 or more to support our work and get your Official 2023 Our Revolution Membership card. For $10, you'll also get our new sticker pack; and for $15, we’ll send you the Bernie HELP poster too!
For $27 a month, you’ll receive all of these great gifts plus a tote bag — and at the $50 level, we’ll send you an official Our Revolution t-shirt, too.
BECOME A MEMBER TODAY!
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ELECTING A PROGRESSIVE MAYOR IN CHICAGO!
All eyes are on Chicago where progressive Brandon Johnson advanced to the runoff for mayor this week — and we’re uniting our movement to help him win!
As a former public school teacher, union organizer, and county commissioner, Brandon knows the pain caused by disinvestment in education, infrastructure, and health care — and the violence left in its wake.
His opponent? Conservative Paul Vallas, a public school privatizer who calls himself “more of a Republican than a Democrat” — and he has the rightwing mega-donors to prove it.
Brandon Johnson can win this race. Help us mobilize nearly 100,000 Our Revolution members in Chicago and make 250,000 voter contacts by Election Day April 4!
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CALIFORNIA SENATE POLL
California is getting ready to elect a new Senator, and we want to know who YOU think it should be?
So far, US Reps. Barbara Lee, Katie Porter, and Adam Schiff have thrown their hats in the ring. Tell us who you’re rooting for and who you think should fill their seat in the House of Representatives!
TAKE OUR POLL
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Tuesday is Election Day in St. Louis, where Our Revolution and our coalition have been working for years to build power and strengthen our progressive majority!
The whole St. Louis Board is up for grabs in redrawn districts, and Our Revolution has a powerful slate on the ballot to hold the progressive majority — from re-electing Board President Megan Green to candidates in 10 ward races.
Our team is making 100,000 voter contacts in the city and hearing excitement on the ground around our slate!
Ward 7 candidate Alisha Sonnier began her activism following the murder of Michael Brown in 2014. Since, she’s worked with Fight for $15, Pro Choice Missouri, as political director for Green’s campaign, and now on the St. Louis Board of Education.
“When we’re building this political movement, we’ve got to advocate for our people and our city like it’s do or die because it is,” Alisha told us. “We can show a national model of what progressive leadership can look like.”
PHONEBANK FOR OUR ST. LOUIS SLATE!
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Power is up for grabs in major cities across the country, and we’ll be working to elect progressives in St. Louis, NYC, Philly, Nashville, Dallas, and more.
JOIN OUR ELECT PROGRESSIVES TEAM
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We’re partnering with One Fair Wage to end the subminimum wage and raise wages state by state. It’s time to pressure elected officials to pass legislation — and we’re taking on the restaurant lobby to do it.
We have bills on the table in 3 states so far, and more are being introduced. If you live in New York, Maryland, or Illinois, call your State Reps!
In Maryland on Thursday, Our Revolution leaders and restaurant workers testified at a State Senate hearing to make sure tipped workers aren’t left behind as we raise the wage in Maryland.
OR Maryland’s Hal Ginsberg noted: “Most Maryland minimum wage workers received an hourly pay increase for 2023 from $12.50 to $13.25, but tipped workers saw no change from the measly $3.63 they’ve been paid for 14 years.
OR Political Director Aaron Chappell emphasized that Raising the Wage to a Living Wage was ranked in the Top 3 priorities by Our Revolution members.
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We need to hear from you! If you’ve ever worked in the food service industry and experienced low wages, please speak out — we’ll have your back! Especially if you’re in one of the states we’re working in right now to raise the wage — MD, MI, NY, IL, OH, AZ!
SHARE YOUR STORY
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Last week, Our Revolution members in Chicago joined Illinois state lawmakers to rally around a new bill to phase out the subminimum wage for tipped workers!
“Our workers here in Illinois deserve quality of life, and the subminimum wage does not allow that,” State Rep. Camille Lilly to Public News Service.
Nearly 70% of Illinois’ 215,000 tipped workers are women — and 1 in 8 left the industry during the pandemic.
“Tips were down, harassment was up,” said State Sen. Cristina Pacione-Zayas. “Of those who have stayed, over half say they’re considering leaving due to pay and exploitation of their labor.”
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This Thursday — Our Revolution, One Fair Wage, and members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus are gathering to organize to raise wages for tipped workers!
Reps. Jan Schakowsky, Ro Khanna, and other House progressives will join us for a breakfast and press event to support millions of restaurant workers deceived by the National Restaurant Association into funding their own wage suppression.
The ‘Other NRA’ used millions of dollars that workers paid for food safety training to lobby against these workers' wage increases without their knowledge. Help us hold them accountable!
RSVP NOW
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Call your Reps and demand they reject dirty money from ‘Other NRA’. US Reps. Ro Khanna and Greg Casar, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and others have already signed on!
Thanks to NRA lobbying, the federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25/hr for 14 years, and the federal tipped wage has remained $2.13/hr since 1991!
CALL YOUR REP!
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If you’re near Albany, NY on Wednesday, join us for a lobby day action in solidarity with workers fighting for better pay and working conditions!
Our Revolution is partnering with One Fair Wage, Raise Up, and the Fund Excluded Workers Coalition in the fight for worker dignity in New York through higher wages and stronger social safety net programs.
RSVP HERE
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Worker activists joined Bernie Sanders and Senate Leader Chuck Schumer to reintroduce the ‘Protecting the Right to Organize’ Act on Wednesday.
The PRO Act will empower workers to freely and fairly form a union and bargain together for their rights at work. 71% of Americans support unions and millions of Americans would join a union today if they could.
As a reminder, President Biden can use the power of the pen to deliver on workers rights — as well as housing, higher wages for care workers, drug prices and much more!
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CHAIRMAN BERNIE & FEDERAL FIGHTS
In response to growing pressure, Eli Lilly announced plans this week to cap insulin prices at $35, and we’re joining Bernie in the push to drive prices even lower.
As Chairman of the Senate HELP Committee and with our movement at his back, Bernie also successfully shamed Moderna out of quadrupling vaccine prices!
And, this week he’s preparing to subpoena Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz to answer for his illegal union-busting. Bernie is also working to expand Social Security and he introduced a bill for $60k minimum pay for teachers!
This is why our work matters! With Our Revolution and our movement organizing on the outside, and Bernie using his position on the inside — we are making a difference for people’s lives.
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Because of worker organizing and grassroots pressure, 4 of the 5 big rail carriers have now agreed to provide 4 paid sick days — the bare minimum, but a start.
Also this week, US Reps. Ro Khanna and Chris Deluzio introduced a bill to reduce the chances of another Norfolk Southern-like disaster.
“The lesson from East Palestine is clear,” said US Rep. Ro Khanna. “The failure to properly regulate rail companies had disastrous consequences on the lives of people and the environment. That's why we are introducing a bill to enforce higher safety standards on our nation’s railways.”
Become a monthly donor to support Our Revolution and our inside-outside work with progressive partners in Congress!
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LOCAL VICTORY! This week, Our Revolution New Jersey and our coalition celebrated the passage of the state’s 15th local resolution supporting Medicare For All!
Newark City Council unanimously passed our M4A Resolution, joining more than 100 cities and counties around the country in sending a strong message to end for-profit health care in favor of a universal system, Common Dreams reported.
“Medicare for All represents conscientious policy that is not based on zip code, class, economic status, etc. but is designed for everyone,” said Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who championed the resolution alongside ORNJ and our coalition.
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On Tuesday, Our Revolution New Jersey joined an action with workers at a Strike Ready event at Rutgers University!
Our NJ Chapter is proud to stand in solidarity with Rutgers faculty, students, union members and the entire community fighting for a fair contract, living wages, equal pay for equal work, healthcare, and job security!
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The new San Francisco Education Alliance, powered by Our Revolution, is generating a lot of excitement!
At the big launch event Wednesday, organizers kicked off a campaign to stop cuts to ESL classes and laid out the group’s vision: protect public schools, advance progressive policies, mobilize the community, and hold elected officials accountable.
“Pushing back against recalls and privatization, the alliance is...‘proudly left-leaning, anti-racist, anti-fascist, anti-carceral, and pro-union,’” the San Francisco Standard reported.
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Make a recurring gift of $5 or more to support our work and get your Official 2023 Our Revolution Membership card. For $10, you'll also get our new sticker pack; and for $15, we’ll send you the Bernie HELP poster too!
For $27 a month, you’ll receive all of these great gifts plus a tote bag — and at the $50 level, we’ll send you an official Our Revolution t-shirt, too.
BECOME A MEMBER TODAY!
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Half a million Americans go bankrupt every year from Medical Debt — a foreign concept to countries with single-payer healthcare. We’re compiling stories to bring pressure and we need folks to stand up and speak out!
SHARE YOUR STORY
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Be part of the action and help our coalition push Congress and the White House to deliver for all of us. Even with a Republican-controlled US House, we can get action on our progressive priorities.
JOIN THE FEDERAL ACTION TEAM
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Progressives now hold leadership positions in 20 state parties, and we’re fighting for progressive leaders in Nevada, Florida, and Oregon! Join our Party Transformation Team to help make a more democratic party that’s responsive to the grassroots.
JOIN THE TEAM
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Our Revolution Phonebank Force is recruiting! Join our growing team of callers to build support for policy campaigns and help elect progressives up and down the ballot!
SIGN UP TO MAKE CALLS!
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WHEN WE ORGANIZE, WE WIN!
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