|
|||
An opportunity for D.C. residents to meet with artists from outside of the region who are actually interested in working for D.C. Statehood. So if you have the time this weekend, please show up. . . . → Read More: D.C. Statehood, the Minimum Wage and a Guided Tour 
[re-posted from the Washington Peace Center’s weekly “Activist Alert” e-newsletter]: Last week, more than 40 million people’s food stamps benefits were cut. As wealth continues to concentrate and poverty continues to grow, Congress has decided that it’s acceptable to reduce the monthly allotment for food stamps (or SNAP benefits) more than thirty dollars a month for low-income individuals and families. Over and over again, we’re reminded that many, if not most, of our elected officials are more interested in getting reelected than empathy. More interested in maintaining tax shelters and keeping donors than the safety and well being of their constituents. Not to mention, the rhetoric that they’re putting out – about private charities making up for the gap – is misguided at best. The nation’s food banks are already struggle to meet the needs of their clients, and a reduction in food stamps is just going to make the problem worse. Charitable organization’s can’t be expected to make up for the lack of resources that are aggravated by a broken financial system. It feels hopeless a lot of the time, but fortunately here in DC, there are folks working towards employment justice. Now’s the time to get involved with a local campaign that we have a good chance of winning. Then, we can show the feds how to do it! Join the Paid Sick Days Rally on Friday to make our collective voice louder – folks deserve living wages, and to be able to take care of themselves — whether that means feeding their families of taking time off to get healthy. In Solidarity, Kat, Ryn, Candice, Sonia & Dany
 Comments are closed  Social Services  Action Alert, Congress, DC City Council, food stamps, living wage, minimum wage, Paid Sick Days Coalition, Respect DC, SNAP, Washington Peace Center 
By now we’ve told you how the bill made its way through Council, the heavy-duty organizing and coalition-building that’s taken place over the summer, and even how you can get involved — no matter how you feel about the bill. We’ve heard strong opinions for and against the bill in Council, hints from the Mayor on how he’ll vote, and continued threats from Walmart to leave DC and drop development if the Large Retailer Accountability Act (i.e. the LRAA or “Living Wage” bill) were signed into law. In other words, we know pretty well how the politicians and corporate executives feel. But what about those most impacted by the bill, like DC residents and retail employees themselves? GrassrootsDC brings you this mixtape of voices collected from actions in support of the Living Wage bill across the District. We hope you enjoy! Living Wage Bill Mixtape Mixed with Head Roc’s 2012 track “Keep DC Walmart Free,” these are the voices of: Reverend Virginia Williams (native Washingtonian, Ward 7 resident), Kimberly Mitchell (Macy’s employee, UFCW Local400 member, lifelong Ward 7 resident,), Tonya C. (former Walmart employee, fired from a Laural, MD location), Cindy Murray (13 year Walmart associate at Hyattsville, MD store, member of OUR Walmart), Mike Wilson (organizer with RespectDC), and Inocencio Quinones (Ward 7 resident and organizer with OurDC) We thank everyone who contributed to this mixtape, including all the speakers listed above, Head Roc for the musical element, and the folks that live-streamed a protest from a Hyattsville, MD location on September 5th, 2013. Audio download available here (Living Wage Bill Mixtape), please share freely!
Cross-Posted from the DC Independent Media Center by Luke Petitions for LRAA (living wage) act delivered to Mayor after press conference On the 3rd of September, DC Councilmember Vincent Orange held a press conference in front of the Wilson Building along with supporters of the Large Retailer Accountability Act (LRAA). They were demanding that Mayor Gray sign the LRAA instead of bowing to Wal-Mart’s brazen threats to leave the city if the bill is signed into law. Speakers pointed out that in 1963 during the Jobs and Freedom March, Dr Martin Luther King demanded a minimum wage of $2 an hour. In 2013 dollars, that is over $15 an hour, yet the LRAA only mandates $12.50 an hour inclusive of benefits. Several speakers also pointed out that longtime District residents, who held out through the Crack Wars and the lean years to stay in the city, requires more than $8 and change an hour now that all those condos are going up. At the conclusion of the press conference, a box containing 36,917 (according to speakers) signed petitions asking the Mayor to sign the LRAA were taken inside and delivered to his office.
Town Hall meeting in Anacostia demands that Mayor Gray sign Living Wage bill On the evening of the 27th of August, community members and activists packed into the Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church to demand that Mayor Gray sign the Large Retailer Accountability Act. DC Councilmembers Phil Mendelson and Vincent Orange both spoke to support the LRAA. Both Mendelson and Reverend Curry (senior pastor at the Church) held up pens and demanded that the Mayor sign the bill. Phil Mendelson bluntly condemned the Mayor’s hypocrisy in appearing at the Martin Luther King and Statehood events on Saturday, yet leaning towards vetoing the LRAA. Other speakers debunked the lies Wal-Mart has been spreading with facts about how states and cities that raised their minimum wages over the past 20 years have not had higher unemployment than those that did not. One of the speakers pointed out that the $2 minimum wage demanded by organizers of the original 1963 March for Jobs and Freedom would be worth $15 an hour today, and the LRAA is only asking for $12.50 an hour. Near the end, Reverend Hagler condemned Mayor Gray for taking “30 pieces of silver” from Wal-Mart. Those 30 pieces of silver will drag Mr Gray out of office and right into the gutter, ending his career if he vetoes a living wage for workers at Wal-Mart, Target, and Home Depot! One comment - (Comments are closed) Gentrification, Labor, Walmart Large Retailer Accountability Act, Living Wage Bill, LRAA, minimum wage, Phil Mendelson, Reverend Hagler, Vincent Gray, Vincent Orange |
|||
|
Grassroots DC | 202-239-2949 | info@grassrootsdc.org Powered by WordPress & Atahualpa |
|||
