Did You See This Video

A message from the Rev. D. William J. Singer. This is something you should listen to.
 (It starts about 2 minutes into the video.)

And, while you are thinking about it, will you sign up to go the the Mass Digital Rally on Saturday, June 20th. There will be two opportunities, one between and 9 and 11 AM and the other between 5 and 7 pm.  Register here for this live stream.

 
Don't forget. June 20, 2020.

MAY 7 IS ESSENTIAL WORKERS BILL OF RIGHTS DAY OF ACTION

MAY 7 is

Essential Worker Bill of Rights Day of Action!

· Hosted by Greenpeace USA

·  Presente.org

·  Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA)

·  Center for Coalfield Justice

·  Rising Tide North America

·  Indivisible Guide

    New/Mode

THURSDAY, ALL DAY

On May 7th, millions of people and over 30 national organizations will take online action and demand Congress support an Essential Worker Bill of Rights. If we’re loud enough, we can help #ProtectEssentialWorkers. Join us!

HERE'S HOW TO PARTICIPATE ON MAY 7TH
⚡ Call your House Representative by dialing 855-300-3836. Need a script for your call? See below.

⚡ Email your House Rep by filling out this form: https://bit.ly/message-EWBOR. It will send directly to Congress.

⚡ Tweet at your House Rep by clicking here: https://bit.ly/tweet-ewbor. Tell them just how important an Essential Worker Bill of Rights is for everyone across the U.S. Need tweet inspiration? See below!

⚡ Take a video of yourself clapping for Essential Workers and post it on social media or by using this tool: https://indivisible.soapboxx.us/prompt-single/ewbor

SAMPLE TWEETS

⚡ Dear Congress, essential workers are our path out of this pandemic! We need an Essential Workers’ Bill of Rights #EWBOR to ensure they have health, safety, job, and compensation protections. #ProtectEssentialWorkers

⚡ Right now, millions of essential workers are on the #COVID19 frontlines saving lives, delivering necessities, sanitizing spaces, and staffing businesses. They aren’t just numbers in the news. They’re our friends and family, and they deserve better. #ProtectEssentialWorkers #EWBOR

⚡ As part of the next #COVID-19 relief package, Congress has a moral responsibility to #ProtectEssentialWorkers and their families. Give them the compensation and job protections they deserve! #EWBOR

⚡ Not one more. Essential workers are dying from the coronavirus as Congress negotiates the next relief package. There is no time to waste. We need an Essential Workers Bill of Rights.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW?
Right now, millions of essential workers are on the COVID-19 frontlines saving lives, delivering necessities, sanitizing public spaces, and staffing essential businesses. They aren’t just numbers in the news. They’re our friends, family, and neighbors — and they’re risking their health to care for us and keep our cities functional so the rest of us can safely shelter-in-place and flatten the COVID-19 curve.

Yet instead of giving these workers what they need, essential workers are being placed in high-risk conditions without appropriate equipment, safety standards, or job protections by the very corporations who profit from the services these workers provide. Many essential workers don’t even make a living wage!

Very soon, House Democrats will introduce the next economic recovery bill (CARES Act 2.0). They have a HUGE opportunity to add in fair compensation, real job protections, paid sick leave, workplace protections, health care, and more by supporting an Essential Workers Bill of Rights. People all across the U.S. are demanding action for workers. 75% of U.S. voters support an Essential Worker Bill of Rights, even across party lines.

That’s why on May 7th, millions of people and over 30 national organizations will take action online to push Congress to support an Essential Worker Bill of Rights in the next economic relief package. If we’re loud enough, we can help #ProtectEssentialWorkers when they need it the most!

The next bill must include an Essential Worker Bill of Rights that provides workers with:

1. Health and safety protections;
2. Robust premium compensation;
3. Protections for collective bargaining agreements;
4. Truly universal paid sick leave and family and medical leave;
5. Whistleblower protections;
6. An end to worker misclassification;
7. Health care security;
8. Childcare support;
9. Treat workers as experts; and
10. Holds corporations accountable for meeting their employer responsibilities.

The list of essential workers who are working without a net include: health and home care workers, grocery and drug store employees, domestic workers, food service workers, government employees, janitorial staff, farmworkers, delivery drivers, warehouse workers, transit workers, and child care workers.

The impacts of this COVID-19 crisis low-wage frontline workers go even deeper too. Not only are low-wage workers most frequently exposed and unprotected, they’re the same Black, Brown, Indigenous, and migrant people who live in the most environmentally polluted and under-resourced areas. In the U.S., Black people are three times more likely to contract and die from COVID-19 than white people because of continual exposure to pollution which directly contributes to higher rates of cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases as a result.

posted by Etta Worthington, not original material

We must #ProtectEssentialWorkers as they protect us from COVID-19!

We Need Better PPE Distribution

Tell Congress to Improve PPE Distribution
 
The Federal response to the Covid-19 pandemic has been unpredictable and inadequate to meet the needs of states, cities and hospitals seeking supplies. Nowhere is this chaos more evident than in the distribution of personal protective equipment (PPE) and testing supplies throughout the country. Efficient distribution of PPE and tests is essential to protect front line health workers, limit the spread of the virus and help the country reopen the economy safely. Yet the Trump administration's response has been incoherent and inconsistent not unlike Trump's daily press briefings.
Reports that federal authorities are confiscating supplies of PPE from states raise questions of whether the Trump administration is merely disorganized or if political motives are at play.  

As states and local authorities come up with creative ways to procure PPE and testing supplies, states have formed alliances to decide collectively about reopening their economies because there has been no plan at the federal level. A robust system for testing and contact tracing is an essential component of reopening in addition to efficient distribution of PPE. The chaotic response so far gives little assurance that the ongoing response will be any better.
The CARES Act provides funds to hospitals and physicians to purchase PPE and testing supplies, but while there is funding, there is also a lack of coordination and support by the executive branch that undermines this law. Congress must act swiftly and decisively to address the disorganized and disjointed Federal management of this crisis.

• Senator Duckworth | DC: 202-224-2854 | Chicago 312-886-3506 | Email Sen. Duckworth or call another office
  
• Senator Durbin | DC: 202-224-2152 | Chicago 312-353-4952 | Email Sen. Durbin or call another office
  
• And your Representative (Find your representative )
  

Script: Hi, my name is [NAME] and I’m calling from [ZIP CODE]. I'm calling to urge [NAME] to increase oversight and provide Americans with information about the Federal response to the coronavirus pandemic. I am particularly interested in measures like... [PICK 2-3 ITEMS TO HIGHLIGHT]:

• Clear information about what, when and why the Federal government is confiscating PPE and testing supplies from states and other local authorities, and where is that equipment going (and),
  
• Testimony from FEMA, HHS and other federal officials regarding the reasons behind the confiscations, to rule out political motives (and),
  
• Testimony from FEMA officials about the way contracts are being awarded and managed (and),
  
• Recommendations for states to follow for reopening economies, and measures that assist them in testing and contact tracing.
  

Congress has oversight responsibility over the executive branch and should be leading the call for accountability. Thank you for your time and consideration.


Thanks to 5 calls for this info.

At Home Activism for This Week

Hi Friends,

Good morning, and good new week!  I hope you had the opportunity this weekend to go outside and go for a walk, or a bike ride. Or sit outside in your backyard or on your balcony. The sun and warm weather make things seem more positive. But also present a possibility of more infection, so please be safe and stay away from people and gatherings.

DO YOU TWEET? DO YOU WISH YOU DID?

Well, we have an opportunity for you. This morning at 11 AM we are having a Twitter workshop.  Don’t worry if you can’t make this one, we’ll have more.  If you do have a Twitter account, please follow us at @WFIndivisible. Please join us if you can at this meeting by clicking here.

Why tweet you may ask? Well, it’s a way to share information, raise awareness, and comment directly to our lawmakers.  It’s also a way to join with others who are tweeting about a specific issue. In the last two weeks, we have participated in two twitter storms, and have seen the hashtags were using, start to trend.

If you are intrigued about how to use Twitter for activism, please join us at 11 AM today on Zoom. If you can’t make this but want to start using Twitter or improve your skills, please email us at westernfrontindivisible@gmail.com

HOW ABOUT WRITING POSTCARDS?

Yes. They are here!  We are participating in a 2 million postcard-writing campaign that will get hand-written postcards in the hands of voters in Wisconsin and Michigan.  Projections are that this could mean an extra 20,000 votes for Democrats, and to swing those states blue, we need 30,000 more votes. If you are interested in learning more about these projections and what has been learned about the impact of postcards to voters, listen to this podcast from Indivisible Chicago with Jason Rieger and Reid McCollum.

You can be part of this!  I picked up 12,000 postcards on Thursday. I passed on 3,000 to another group, but we have 9,000 left to distribute. Pre-pandemic, we would have postcard writing parties and sit in person and maybe eat or drink and chat and write postcards.  Well, we can’t do that now.  But we can still get together and write postcards.  The first of our Virtual Postcard Writing parties is this Saturday at 1 PM.  First you must either pickup postcards (contactless pickup by the way) or arrange for a delivery if you are not able to come pick them up.  To request cards, please email us at westernfrontindivisible@gmail.com 

And to join the party, here’s the Zoom info:

Virtual Postcard Writing Party  May 9, 2020 01:00 AM Central Time 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85903018786

Meeting ID: 859 0301 8786

Or by phone  +13126266799

You don’t need to attend parties to write cards.  You can do this on your own. And you don’t have to write cards to support this effort.  We are raising money for stamps for the postcards and you can make a contribution by credit or debit card to our ACT BLUE account. Please consider helping out and sharing this link with others who may want to contribute.  We have part of the money we need, but I estimate we need another $1300 dollars. Can you help us? Please Contribute here.

ZOOM WITH US

We have some regular meetings scheduled each week. These are ways to stay connected and to figure out how to help others and to stay engaged as activists. You can join us for:

Tuesday morning Coffee Klatch

Friday afternoon Happy Hour

Click on the above for Zoom Connection information,

And put this on your calendar: our next regular Western Front meeting is on Saturday (yes that’s Saturday, not Sunday), May 16 at 2 PM. Join us on this Zoom link.

We’ll have several special guests and have current information about issues and pending legislation and what we can do.  I hope to see you face in one of those squares.

THERE ARE THINGS TO DO

Tell Congress to fully fund election safety and security. Sign: This Brennan Center petition asking Congress for $4 billion in election funding. The previous stimulus package included $400 million for elections—much less than the $4 billion needed to fully fund vote-by-mail efforts, protect polling places and poll workers, and expand voter registration online.

That one was easy. You can also make a phone call, send a message through ResistBot, write an email or a letter to our legislators. And there are important issues to raise with them. And here are some of the possible actions you can do:

• Call for additional pandemic protections
• Protect health care and civil rights in the judiciary.
• Support tribal advocacy for just COVID-19 aid distribution.
• Advocate for equal protection from discrimination.
• Advocate against proposed process revisions that would burden immigrant families in America.
• Call for fair compensation of all essential farm workers during the pandemic.
• Support access to COVID-19 resources for everyone in the country.
• Call (again) for the release of all detained aspiring Americans as COVID-19 spreads.
• Sew masks for aspiring Americans released from detention

I have parked all the information about these issues and who you can call or write to at the following blog page.  Please make a difference this week by doing these actions.

HOW ABOUT PHONE BANKING?

Indivisible Chicago is offering some phone bank training sessions.  This might be a good time to develop some phone bank skills. After all, we don;t know that we will be able to canvass this fall, so postcard writing and phone banking may be the options we have for getting the vote out.  Sign up for these sessions, which are held on Mondays, by going here.

And you can use your phone to check in with others in our area through Community Cares program. There are a number of dates and times for this month.

Please go to this webpage to sign up to be part of this important program. We will be calling seniors in the 7th Congressional District plus Berwyn and Cicero, and checking on how they are doing. No solicitation for a commitment to vote someone--just a friendly call making sure the person is okay.  Please sign up for a shift by going here.

There! Who says you can’t be an at-home activist?  There’s lots to do to make a difference.  But please make it a priority to take care of yourself.  Have some down time. Dosomething for yourself. Get lost in a book. Do yoga. Go for a walk. Do a guided meditation.  

And let us know how you are doing. Come to one of our Zoom meetings. Or write us an email at westernfrontindivisible@gmail.com

We’re in this together, separately,

Etta