Dear ones,
I’m aware of a miasma of crankiness that needs clearing. Or maybe it’s just me. Luckily, it’s Tuesday, which is our day for good news.
Los Deliveristas Unidos — the folks who deliver take out, newspapers, groceries, etc. — have gotten some much-needed attention of late. They are demanding paid sick leave, an end to wage theft, health insurance, and unemployment insurance. The State Senate has already passed (S7256), the so-called SWEAT Act, “a bill to hold shareholders personally liable for wage theft.”
Call on your Assembly representative to vote for the SWEAT Act (A9008).
Donate to the Workers’ Fund, to provide organizing support to their fight to gain basic protections as essential workers in New York City.
No doubt, you’ve read about the community fridges that New Yorkers have been maintaining to fight food insecurity. A number of us are part of the steering committee, in cahoots with Kensington Windsor Terrace Mutual Aid, to get a community fridge up and running at 825 Caton Avenue, outside the Windsor Terrace Food Coop. There will be plenty of work to do once the fridge is installed — food outreach, stocking, fridge cleaning, and so on. Watch this space for more news about this beautiful project.
Community fridges and mutual aid groups are valiantly trying to meet the tremendous needs of struggling Americans, but a government response is needed. I know I expressed some skepticism about the relief bill, but it has a few choice bits worthy of mention:
The bill will increase Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits by 15% for six months for all participants. This will be a real increase because the bill stipulates that unemployment compensation will not be counted as income when determining eligibility for the program.
The bill includes more than $4 billion for the MTA, which will avert mass layoffs and major service cuts for another year. I am counting on the President-elect’s love of train travel to translate into more consistent funding for mass transit.
Pell grants for those students completing their education behind bars will be restored, ending a lengthy and reprehensible ban on aid for prison education programs.
Another antique injustice is also being corrected: until now, Marshall Islanders, have been excluded from Medicaid in spite of a commitment made in the 1980s, after contamination from US nuclear testing left many of the islands uninhabitable. The islanders were allowed to resettle in the United States. The new relief bill will finally make good on the promise of access to Medicaid.
It seems useful to remember the fine art of cherry-picking — to find the sweet bits rather than dwelling on all the things we’re missing. We get three more seconds of daylight today than yesterday. Jupiter and Saturn are in a great conjunction. Even if you can’t see it, know that it’s happening.
with love,
L