Dear friends,
It looks bad for the union at Amazon’s Bessemer warehouse, but the counting continues today.
I read that today is the deadline for NYC public school families to opt back in for hybrid learning. I am assuming that this deadline is for 3K, PreK, elementary, and special needs students, but the reporting is vague and the DOE website was no help. The big news is that the two-case rule that led to frequent school closures has been altered:
Starting Monday, individual schools — not entire buildings — will shutter if there are four or more cases within a week in different classrooms, and if test and trace investigators find that these cases were contracted inside of the school, officials said. The city will now ramp up testing to 40% of students and staff when there are two to three new cases detected inside of a school.
I am hoping that this will reduce chaos for teachers, students, and families and that it will keep people safe as well.
Many months ago, one of you asked me about the efficacy of petitions. It was a reasonable question and my research turned up an interesting response: petitions themselves are not very effective but signing them often leads people to more significant actions. I am interested in how we move ourselves to work for justice, especially when we are encouraged to believe our actions will be futile, particularly when we talk about climate action.
Yesterday, on a call with NYS Senator Kevin Parker, someone asked him about the efficacy of petitions (“don’t bother”). He confessed that he doesn’t read emails (“email is the worst!”). Of course, there are variations among elected leaders. I have received multiple personal emails from council members (not my own, however) and their staff in response to my emails. What gets Parker’s attention? Ten or twenty calls on one day about the same issue.
While the sting of almost-but-not-quite support for Fair Pay for Home Care is still fresh, I am calling on you to make some calls. Content warning: We are all going to get old or unwell and many of us will need care.
Paying caregivers fairly is a racial justice and workers’ rights issue. It’s also part of securing a just transition for workers who leave jobs that don’t need doing (e.g. building fossil fuel infrastructure) and need jobs that do need doing.
Use the scripts to make some calls to keep Fair Pay for Home Care on the agenda.
Parker also said that postcards are “very effective.” We were talking to him about bringing assembly members state senators on board to co-sponsor the Community Climate Investment Act (CCIA). I am thinking about printing some postcards for us to use to reach state legislators.
On top of Parker’s list of effective strategies were official memos of support from community organizations, sent to every legislator on organizational letterhead. Before I print some letterhead, I need to be sure that I can send an official memo of support on your behalf in good faith.
Please review these materials: an executive summary of the CCIA, an explanation of the polluter penalty, and the methods for ensuring that the CCIA is progressive.
Then, tell me what you think about sending an organizational memo in support of the CCIA from us, Work from home for justice.
Last night, I spent over two hours with Brooklyn WFP members who all sat in on the interviews with mayoral candidates seeking the Working Families Party endorsement. Our process yielded an endorsement for three candidates: Dianne Morales, Scott Stringer, and Maya Wiley. We ranked the candidates and Morales was the clear leader of the pack: progressive, impressive, inspiring. The process is not over; it continues with the other chapters and the organizational partners.
Volunteer with Dianne Morales’s campaign for Mayor!
Have a good weekend!
with love,
L