ABOUT THOSE MILAGRO CHIPS YOU LOVE

 This information arrived on Sept. 24th from Arise Chicago.

 

With strategic support from Arise Chicago, this morning the El Milagro workers held a press conference announcing that, after staging a lawful walk-out yesterday afternoon, they had been unlawfully locked out of their production plant last night. The night shift arrived and showed solidarity by joining the walk-out. This morning all workers who walked out presented themselves to Human Resources to return to work, as the company requested. 

 

Following the press conference this morning, the company informed the workers that the lock-out had ended and workers would be compensated for the six hours of lost time! Victory to the workers!

 

However, when the workers returned to the plant, they were met in the parking lot by hostile security guards, 1 armed with a gun. These tactics will not intimidate the workers but do reveal the maliciousness of the company against their workers, many of whom have given decades of loyal service. So the struggle continues.

 

The workers are demanding that management meet with their Workers Committee by Wednesday, September 29 to discuss safety, wages, and to end sexual harassment. 

 

YOU CAN DO TWO THINGS IN ONE MINUTE TO SUPPORT THE EL MILAGRO WORKERS.

1. Call Raulinda Sierra at El Milagro at (773) 579-6120. Select your language and then the option for HR. Tell her you are a concerned customer and you want her to meet with the Workers’ Committee by September 29.

2. Show support by signing and sharing the Arise petition and spreading the word on social media using @AriseChicago #ElMaltratoTortillas #ElMilagroElMaltrato

 

See more news updates from Univision National, ABC, In These Times, Chicago Tribune, Eater, Block Club Chicago, Crain’s

Support abuse-free tortillas!

Support the El Milagro workers!

 

Another Letter from Leah Greenberg about the Recovery Package

 (Note: I copied and pasted this from an email I received today. I wanted everyone to be able to read this.  Etta.)

Let’s talk about what’s going on with prescription drugs reform right now.

First, the obvious. We all know prescription drug costs are way, way too high in this country. Pharma companies get mountains of money from taxpayers to manufacture drugs mostly developed by public research. Then they use their monopoly power to gouge those same taxpayers on drug prices. Big Pharma makes eye-popping profits while seniors skip meals to pay for the drugs they need. It’s a racket and it has to stop.

Democrats have been promising to allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug prices for more than a decade. They ran on prescription drugs reform in 2018. They ran on it again in 2020. There’s a reason for that -- prescription drugs reform is MASSIVELY popular. Approval ratings for prescription drug pricing reform are right up there with approval ratings for adorable fluffy puppies like this one. 

The path to reforming this situation lies in the big recovery package that’s currently being debated in Congress. And here’s where we hit the problem.

The pharma companies have spent the last several months absolutely FLOODING Washington D.C. and members of Congress’ home districts with money -- campaign contributions, ads, you name it. They know they can already count on Republicans to have their backs, so they’re trying to peel off enough Democrats to prevent the Democratic party from acting.

And they won one battle earlier this month. Before a bill is voted on by the whole House, the language is drafted and voted out of the relevant committee. And in Energy and Commerce -- one of the committees responsible for drafting the bill language -- three House members -- Rep. Kathleen Rice of New York, Rep. Kurt Schrader of Oregon, and Rep. Scott Peters of California all voted to prevent Medicare from negotiating on drug prices. All the Republicans in the committee also opposed this, of course (they’re Republicans!) and so that meant that strong prescription drug pricing reforms couldn’t pass out of the committee.

This was a very disappointing setback. And frontliners -- the Members of Congress in purple and red districts, with uphill races next year -- were the first ones to call it out and to demand that the ultimate recovery package include the reforms. They want to pass this legislation, because they need to deliver on their campaign promises. After all, the best way to win in 2022 is to go big, go bold, and pass policies that make a difference in people’s lives.

"This isn’t a fight between progressives and moderates. It’s a fight between people who want to deliver on the Democratic agenda and make Americans’ lives better and people who want to keep getting big old Pharma checks."

But it’s not over, and I want to talk about what happens next. 

The folks who voted against this in committee probably thought it would fly under the radar. Members of Congress expect that their constituents will pay attention to their votes on a few huge pieces of legislation, but they usually think the stuff they do in committee will fly under the radar.

That’s why local Indivisible groups are so crucial. Indivisibles know their reps and watch them like hawks -- and we at the national level work together to make sure they’ve got the latest intel and support for their actions.

In Oregon, five local Indivisible groups sprang into action to share their disapproval with Rep. Schrader in a coalition letter calling him out for pocketing big money from Big Pharma. This week, Indivisible Clackamas CD-5 hosted another rally outside his office -- this time working with local partners groups like Our Revolution, Health Care for All, American Federation of Teachers, Rhythm Nation, and more. Wednesday's rally brought over fifty locals out on the sidewalk in front of Rep. Schrader's office, and featured local leaders and activists like Milwaukie Mayor Mark Gamba and this 9-year-old, who knows what’s up:

In New York, Rep. Rice tried to explain away her vote with a word salad letterto constituents. New York Indivisibles weren’t having it. Indivisible groups like Indivisible Nassau County joined with prescription drug activists across New York to protest outside her office. At the rally in front of her office, a rolling billboard passed by with a piece of simple truth for all of Rep. Rice's constituents to see: “Rep. Kathleen Rice voted to keep your drug prices high.” In addition to the calls and rally, Indivisibles in NY-04 have taken over their Twitter pages with a #FullPriceRice campaign that calls out Rep. Rice's hypocrisy for breaking her campaign promise from just a year ago to lower drug prices for her constituents.

Despite the disappointing vote in the Energy and Commerce Committee, House Democrats have used another committee to add the stronger prescription drug reforms language back into the final recovery bill. And in just a little while, that bill will come to the floor. When it gets there, these reps - and others, often in blue districts, who’ve gotten way too comfortable with pharma money -- will have to vote on it again. But thanks to the actions of Indivisibles on the ground, they’re going to know: they can vote the wrong way, but they can’t do it without real blowback from real people.

And of course, this is just one industry out of many that are currently doing their best to derail the recovery bill. Big Pharma isn’t the only group trying to buy off Democrats. Big Oil is balking at necessary climate action and the ultra-wealthy across the board are funding a lobbying spree to ensure their free ride doesn’t end. The days ahead might be choppy, but we know Indivisibles will be ready at every turn to expose the corporate influence and demand their Representatives and Senators deliver for people. 

If you want to be part of ensuring that our recovery is inclusive, click here to call your member of Congress today and demand they move the reconciliation package forward. This is important no matter who your elected official is -- every one of them needs to hear that their constituents demand a recovery package that will help us all. 

In solidarity,
Leah Greenberg
Co-Executive Director, Indivisible

Things changed. Here’s the deep dive into the legislative strategy for September

THIS IS FROM AN EMAIL THAT JUST CAME FROM INDIVISIBLE CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LEAH GREENBURG

Hi Indivisibles,

Leah here. You know that when it comes to legislative strategy, we try to give it to you straight. Our goal is to demystify what’s going on in D.C. so you can best strategize on the ground for impact. Well, we’ve gotten new intel that’s changing our analysis and shifting timelines, so we wanted to loop you in now. 

The major takeaway is this: due to some Congressional shenanigans last week, there’s now a scramble to finish and pass Biden’s big recovery package by September 27. That means two things for us:

1. Grassroots advocacy over the next month is going to be absolutely critical in winning an inclusive recovery package that fights climate change and makes peoples’ lives better;
2. The showdown on democracy and filibuster reform that we’ve been preparing for is likely going to be delayed until after the reconciliation package is done.

The remainder of this email goes into the specifics of what the recovery bill is, why this shift occurred, what’s at stake, and what our role is in the coming weeks to increase the likelihood of success so we can head into October and November with the wind at our backs for democracy reform.

What is the recovery bill?

House Democrats are currently working on what could be a truly transformational bill. It’s called different things -- reconciliation, recovery, Build Back Better, and more (all those things refer to the same bill). It’s structured as a “Budget Reconciliation” bill, which means that it’s not subject to the filibuster and can pass the Senate with just 50 Democratic votes. 

This trifecta is a generational opportunity for progressive policies. And so far, because House Progressives have stuck together and demanded it, the outlines of the legislation look really good. Among other things, it includes:

• Dramatic climate action, including a transition to clean energy
• Lower prescription drug prices
• Expanded Medicare
• A pathway to citizenship for DACA recipients and essential workers
• Paid family leave and childcare
• Major support for affordable housing

No matter who you are, there’s something in this bill that could make a big difference in your life. And that’s what Democratic governance should be about -- passing bold policies that make peoples’ lives better.

But that’s only if it passes in its current, bold form. Right now, House Democrats are working to decide the details of what’s in the reconciliation package. Most of that work will happen in committees. This is the period when conservative Democrats will try to undermine the biggest and boldest parts of the bill, and we can’t let that happen.

How and when is this getting done?

The plan to pass this reconciliation package depends on another piece of legislation: the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill (BIF), which has passed the Senate and is currently sitting in the House.

Why is September 27 important? Because conservative Democrats love the BIF. They’re desperate to pass it. And they’re, at best, lukewarm on the reconciliation package. So our best leverage to pass the reconciliation package is to demand that it passes together with the BIF. If the BIF passes before the reconciliation package, there’s a real risk that conservative Democrats in the House and Senate will declare themselves satisfied, start fretting about “the deficit,” and refuse to move on a big reconciliation package. And that would be very, very bad.

Last week, a revolt by ten conservative Democrats forced a commitment by leadership to an up-or-down vote on the BIF on September 27. That means we need the reconciliation bill ready to go on the same timeline.

What does this mean for our fight for democracy?

We don’t like it, but the showdown for democracy is getting pushed back because the new deadline for recovery is going to suck up most of the oxygen on Capitol Hill for September. We expect that sometime in September, Sen. Schumer will bring Sen. Manchin’s compromise version of S.1 (the For the People Act) to the floor, and Republicans will once again filibuster it. This is designed to demonstrate to Manchin that there’s no room for compromise here -- the only way forward is filibuster reform. At that point, Senate negotiators will return to their talks about how to actually get to filibuster reform and pass S.1 in October.

Why doesn’t Congress take care of democracy before the recovery? Here’s the problem: Sen. Sinema and Sen. Manchin are the key waffling votes for both recovery and S.1. What we’ve seen so far is that the White House overwhelmingly prioritizes securing their support for this package over twisting their arms on S.1 and the filibuster. We don’t like that -- we think it’s terribly shortsighted. Every day that passes without S.1 is a day that gerrymandering is moving forward in Republican states, and that’s really bad. But that’s the political reality we face right now -- we think our best chance of winning involves Biden getting in the game to twist arms, and that’s unlikely to happen until after the recovery bill is done.

Our commitment is to tell you how you can have the greatest impact for justice at any moment -- and right now, there’s a huge amount at stake on recovery and democracy reform won’t be moving until after. So our plan is to fight like hell for recovery in September, and push Biden to join this fight for democracy once his top priority, the recovery package, is done.

OK, so how do we win a strong recovery bill?

Here’s what we have to do to ensure the recovery bill actually passes in its strongest form:

1. Support House progressives to hold the line. We’ve gotten this far because progressive members of Congress have negotiated as a bloc. They’ve been clear that they will only vote for a bill that’s genuinely transformational -- and that they won’t vote to pass conservative Democrats’ top priority, BIF, until the recovery package is agreed upon and passes. That might mean going against leadership, if necessary -- which makes it even more crucial that they know they’ve got the support of the grassroots. In short, progressives are flexing their power -- and they need us to have their backs. If you have a Democratic member of Congress, click here to call them and tell them you support the progressive bloc, and expect them to support an inclusive recovery package, and to pass it before voting on the bipartisan infrastructure bill.
   
2. Put the heat on conservative Democrats. You might be wondering why those ten conservative Democrats staged an internal revolt focused on delinking the BIF from the reconciliation package. It’s because their corporate and private equity donors want to kill the reconciliation package, especially its provisions that raise taxes on the rich. So it’s going to be crucial to hold them accountable for their obstruction and make sure they get in line for the final bill -- and from Hawaii to New Jersey to Oregon, Indivisible groups have been doing just that.
   
   Here’s the list of Democrats obstructing this bill: Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-05), Rep. Vincente Gonzalez (TX-15), Rep. Filemon Vela (TX-34), Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX-28), Rep. Jared Golden (ME-02), Rep. Ed Case (HI-01), Rep. Kurt Schrader (OR-05), Rep. Jim Costa (CA-16), Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux (GA-07), Rep. Stephanie Murphy (FL-07). If your representative is one of the conservative Democrats we’re worried about (list above), click here to call and tell them to stop their obstructionism and vote to pass the reconciliation bill.
   
3. Work the committee process to protect our priorities. We’re going to be bringing together Indivisible groups whose members of Congress sit on key committees that have the power to determine what’s in the reconciliation package (Ways & Means, Energy & Commerce, and Education & Labor, for the congressional nerds among you). On all of the issues we’re fighting on -- climate investments, a clean energy standard, affordable childcare, Medicare expansion, lowering prescription drug prices, tax fairness, pathway to citizenship and more, we’ll fight off threats in committee to make sure that the bill that goes to the floor is as strong as possible. We need all the help we can get on moving this bill forward. Join us on September 9 at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT for a special combined Climate, Healthcare, and Econ Justice Working Group focusing on our strategy for passing this all-important recovery bill. 

If we do these things -- protect the bill through the committee process, scare the obstructionist conservative Democrats into backing off, and hold strong as progressives -- then we can get the kinds of change we need. 

We built a trifecta so our electeds could unrig the rules and deliver policies that would change lives. This fall -- if we keep the heat up -- we can do both.

In solidarity,
Leah