International Tele-Townhall Report

Yesterday 5,500 workers all over the US and Canada joined IU president D. Taylor and Senator Elizabeth Warren in a tele-townhall. Our Union will continue pushing on the local, state and federal levels to win the protections workers need now more than ever. From this single call we were able to recruit 500 volunteers to the election campaign and garner international support for our 5 economic essentials.
1)Protect and Expand Healthcare
2)Protect Worker Health and Safety
3) Protect Pensions and Jobs
4) Keep Schools and USPS Going
5) Bring People Back to Work

$500 Relief for Immigrant Workers

Labor leaders pushed the State to pass a one-time $500 financial relief for undocumented workers with a maximum of $1000 per household. The funds will be distributed through non-profit organizations. Visit the California COVID 19 website to learn how to apply.

 

Read more from the SF Chronicle.

Concessions workers at Oracle Park and Chase Center are part of the team-and we’re speaking up to make sure we are not left behind during COVID 19. Read more from the SF Chronicle.

 

D. Taylor to Working People- We Are in this Together!

We are no strangers to crisis from setting up a tent in the rubble of the 1906 earthquake to the economic meltdown of 2008 to the coronavirus and Trump presidency. We will continue facing the companies head on, fighting for healthcare and fairness for all people. We will keep organizing new members and growing stronger in the face of adversity. We are all in this together! Click here for the video.

Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, Take Action From Home!

Despite the urgent need for health and economic protection during the pandemic, some members of the federal government are resisting much needed protections for working people. Unions are pushing our politicians nationwide to step up and provide protections to workers during the crisis. We have 5 national demands:

(1) Expand health insurance for all workers,

(2) Keep frontline workers safe and secure,

(3) Keep workers employed and protect pensions,

(4) keep public schools, the post office and state and local governments running,

(5) keep America competitive and hire people to build infrastructure.

Click here to tell your congressperson to protect working people.

Free testing available for SF workers

If you are currently working in a San Francisco hotel, grocery stores, or other workplace, you can now get free COVID-19 testing without a doctor’s note. Click here to visit the City’s website for more details and to schedule an appointment either in South of Market or on the Embarcadero. 

UNITE HERE President D. Taylor on CNN

D. Taylor tells Anderson Cooper of CNN how Unite Here is handling the COVID crisis nationwide. Members of Unite Here from hotels, casinos, and airports have died or been hospitalized. Our national priorities are health and safety, personal protective equipment (PPE), healthcare, and access to unemployment, food banks and help with shelter and evictions. Click here to watch the video.

 

Marriott CEO Arne Sorensen, actions speak louder than words!

Marriott Marquis Housekeeper Larrilou Carrumba speaks out about how the health crisis is impacting her family. She had nearly saved up enough money to move her family out of her sister’s crowded apartment into their own home when the coronavirus hit, making that plan impossible in the near future. Meanwhile, Marriott CEO Arne Sorensen broke his promise to invest in the workers. Marriott bought back $16 BILION in stocks this last decade since Arne signed the pledge making investors richer. To date Marriott has not stopped stock buybacks even at the peak of the pandemic. On March 19th Sorensen promised again to stop the practice of paying stock dividends to investors “for the time being.” He acknowledges that the public is unhappy and in the same breath paid shareholders their “last dividend” on March 31st. But what is Marriott actually going to do? Click here for the full story and stay tuned.

Airline catering workers deserve affordable health care now!

“This largely hidden workforce, made up primarily of immigrants and people of color, many of whom can’t afford health insurance, is at great risk of contracting the virus.”

Airline catering workers are speaking up – because we deserve affordable health care and safety at work. Read the Boston Globe report.

The 1% are once again up to no good

Ten years after the Great Recession of 2008, billionaire’s wealth increased by 80% — leaving the rest of us behind. Now the “pandemic profiteers” are positioned to take similar increases on a much shorter timeline. At least 8 billionaires made another $1 billion since the start of the crisis, and in the same amount of time Jeff Bezos of Amazon made more than the entire GDP of Honduras. Billionaires then use this money to influence politics and make themselves even richer. Read more here.