Campaign News

In July, Andrew Bird began a new series called “Live From the Great Room,” where he performed an acoustic set in his living room with a guest. Today, he’s released an updated version of Soldier On’s “Sic of Elephants,” he originally played with My Morning Jacket’s Jim James for the series. The updated song is being released as part of the anti-Trump 30 Days, 30 Songs series, and it is Jim James’ second release for the program. Below, watch them perform “Sic of Elephants.” Read Bird’s statement on why he updated the song here, and revisit Bird and James’ full living room performance here.

30 Days, 30 Songs will continue to release at least one new song or video daily until Election Day (Tuesday, November 8). The entirety of 30 Days’ proceeds will go to the Center for Popular Democracy and their efforts toward Universal Voter Registration for all Americans. Previous 30 Days releases include songs from Sun Kil Moon and Jesu, EL VY, Filthy Friends, Death Cab for Cutie, Franz Ferdinand, and others.

By Kevin Lozano

Source

Fox News Latino – October 24, 2013 -

A disproportional number of Latino construction workers in New York City die while on the job compared to their coworkers of other races, according to a new report.

From 2003 to 2011, three-fourths of construction workers who died were either U.S.-born Latinos or immigrants, according to a review of all of the fatal falls on the job investigated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, an agency of the federal Labor Department.

“The data we have demonstrates that Latinos and immigrants are more likely to die in these types of accidents,” Connie Razza, from the Center for Popular Democracy, which compiled the report, told the New York Daily News.

Construction safety advocates and a study by the New York State Trial Lawyers Association cited safety violations on job sites run by smaller, non-union contractors and an unwillingness by some undocumented workers to report violations as main reasons for the high number of deaths among Latino workers.

“Contractors aren’t taking simple steps to protect their workers,” said Razza. “They are not providing the training and the safety equipment that are required by law.”

While New York may have a surprisingly high number of deaths of Latino construction workers, numbers nationwide for Hispanic deaths on the jobs are also greater than any other group.

OSHA reported that 749 Latino workers were killed from work-related injuries in 2011— more than 14 deaths a week or two Latino workers killed every single day of the year. While 12 percent of all fatal work injuries in 2011 involved contractor work, Latinos made up 28 percent of fatal work injuries among contractors — well above their 16 percent share of all fatal work injuries in 2011.

Advocacy groups in New York are working to combat any changes to the state’s scaffolding law, which organizations like Razza’s the Center for Popular Democracy say gives incentive to keep workplaces safe.

Contractors argue that the law, which holds owners and contractors who did not follow safety rules fully liable for workplace injuries and deaths, has caused their insurance costs to skyrocket.

New York lawmakers, however, has historically blocked any of the proposed changes to the law.

“All we’re looking for is the ability to have the same right as anybody else would in the American jurisprudence system,” said Louis J. Coletti, president and CEO of the Building Trades Employers’ Association.

Source

Over the past year, millions of workers have earned a raise as a result of the growing boldness of workers and organizers across the country. The success of the Fight for 15 and similar movements is no accident. Rather, it is the product of years of experimentation, perseverance, and creativity—and today, organizers may have finally hit on a powerful formula for helping workers take back some measure of power.

This success stems first and foremost from a basic reality: The economy in its current state is just not working for Americans. Nearly a decade after the 2008 recession, millions of families around the country have yet to be even touched by the recovery. Wages have stayed flat even as worker productivity has soared. Too many are stuck in jobs that don’t pay the bills, working hard and failing to even stay afloat.

Moreover, it has become increasingly clear that their suffering is by design, not a product of simple economics. The bad behavior of major corporations has been a driving force. Walmart and McDonald’s have come under fire for paying workers wages that force them onto public assistance to cover their basic needs. Pharmacy chains like Walgreens “promote” workers to salaried positions that require more hours without the chance at overtime pay. And countless businesses, from pizza chains to car washes, rob workers of an honest day’s pay through different forms of wage theft.

This atmosphere is ripe for the emergence of policies that give workers the pay they deserve. Getting these policies in place, however, requires a fight.

For years, community and labor organizations around the country supported workers by helping them organize themselves, going store by store, employer by employer. More recently, though, organizations such as Make the Road New York, Working Washington, New York Communities for Change, and others have begun to target entire industries—and, in turn, the economy as a whole. Pinning the blame on bad practices that are common to all companies—rather than one individual employer—allowed them to make the case that the problem demanded a widespread response.

Moreover, the demands have grown bigger, escalating from modest increases in the minimum wage to $8.75 to a more ambitious $10.10 and then all the way to $15. And while minimum-wage fights were traditionally separate from those for paid sick days, many organizers realized linking the two made for a far more powerful and galvanizing campaigns. The more ambitious our demands became, the more effective we have become, demonstrating the political salience of transformative demands.

Finally, more money for robust field campaigns was a critical part of the solution. Unions like the Service Employees International Union made a strategic decision to invest big in campaigns that would lift up the needs of all workers—including those who weren’t part of their union, a fundamentally new approach to organizing. As momentum grew, other unions and foundations have joined the cause, recognizing that helping working women and men to stand up for themselves and their families helps the whole economy. This funding has enabled organizations to launch bigger, more ambitious campaigns and to have the firepower needed to win them.

The results have been nothing short of extraordinary. Just a few years ago, when fast-food workers first went on strike in New York City, a $15 wage was unimaginable. This year, it became a reality in two of the largest states in the country—New York and California—affecting nearly nine million workers. Nearly 30 states have taken action to lift their minimum wage above the federal threshold of $7.25—and almost ten have done so for tipped workers. Ten states and more than a dozen cities have passed paid sick days for workers.

In the coming year, more than a dozen states and cities ranging from Wisconsin to Pennsylvania will be seeking a raise for their residents, reaching as high as $15 in many places. And, with half the country concentrated in America’s top 35 metro areas, the impact of these local laws has been disproportionate.

Today, organizers around the country are setting their sights on bigger goals, applying the lessons learned from the push for higher wages. We will be working to improve access to affordable housing, enact fair scheduling reforms that protect workers from unpredictable hours, and reduce the parasitic power and tax avoidance of hedge funds and other major corporations.

Yet individual victories are not enough. To truly convert this energy into lasting change, we will need a unified, nationwide movement that situates economic justice as just one part of a broader agenda of opportunity. And we will need this movement to be rooted in resilient, democratic people’s organizations on the front lines, all across the country.

This weekend, the Center for Popular Democracy is convening a People’s Convention that will bring together thousands of organizers from community groups across the country. The weekend will provide an opportunity to share lessons learned, to strategize together and to harness the energy of the past year into a powerful organized movement for progressive change through the next decade.

By providing the space for community leaders and organizers to begin working as one, we will begin to shift the balance of power back to working families and ensure the voices calling out for a future with dignity and justice will not fade out.

By Andrew Friedman

Source

Las ciudades han sido los principales puntos de resistencia contra la política de Donald Trump, en particular sus planes de tomar medidas contra los inmigrantes.

Las ciudades se han mantenido firmes y proclamado orgullosamente ser santuarios de inmigrantes ante las amenazas de la Casa Blanca de quitarles fondos federales. Han prometido apoyar el acuerdo de París sobre el clima después del sorpresivo anuncio de Trump de que Estados Unidos dejará de respaldar el histórico pacto.

Lea el artículo completo aquí.