March 3, 2023
Rights, guns, heat, and more!
Contact all members of Congress:
- By phone: (202) 224-3121
- By email: democracy.io
- By US mail: Representatives / Senators
- By fax: Representatives / Senators
- By Resistbot: Resist.bot
Contact White House or other federal agencies:
- SUPPORT WORKER’S RIGHTS TO ORGANIZEMembers of the House and Senate have reintroduced the Protecting the Right to Organize Act (PRO Act–H.R. 20) which would make it easier for workers to join unions, a right that has been whittled away by corporate threats and retaliations. According to the Economic Policy Institute, the number of unions in 2022 was at an all-time low. While most of the sponsors are Democrats, the bill does have some bipartisan support. Let’s tell our MoCs that we want them to abide by the wishes of the 71% of the population who approve of labor unions and pass this important piece of legislation.
- CONSEQUENCES FOR CONGRESSIONAL RESUME LIES
While we are still learning more about the lies and possible criminal actions of Rep. George Santos, we’ve learned that he isn’t the only freshman GOP representative who has misled us about their background and resume. In the last week we’ve found out Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) did too. With the Republican Party unwilling to hold its own accountable, there’s a need for some formal structure to stop this from happening. Reps. Ritchie Torres and Dan Goldman (D-NY) have introduced the SANTOS (Stopping Another Non-Truth Office Seeker) Act, which would require House and Senate candidates to provide information about their credentials and subject them to fines or prison time if they lie. Let’s contact our members of Congress and urge them to sign on to the bill or come up with other creative ways to address this problem.
- TRANS RIGHTSLast month, over 1,000 New York Times contributors sent a letter to the publication’s managing editor for standards, condemning the Times’ coverage of trans, non-binary, and gender non-conforming people. The letter cited a pattern of editorial bias against trans issues and expressed concern over the role the Times has played in recent court cases brought by anti-trans hate groups. In response, the New York Times has dismissed these concerns and sent an internal memo, scolding the contributors who signed on to the letter. Let’s join these contributors and tell the New York Times that their biases are feeding into bigotry in our communities and throughout our courts. We can sign the letter, then express our concerns on Twitter to NYT’s Executive Editor Joe Kahn @nycscribe, and Standards Editor Philip B. Corbetter @CorbettNYT
- GUN OWNERS FOR GUN SAFETYGiffords, the anti-gun violence organization, is building a coalition of gun owners who reject gun “rights” extremism and want to advocate for commonsense gun laws, responsible gun ownership, and gun safety. If we are gun owners who want to save lives while supporting the Second Amendment, let’s get involved.
- KEEP WORKERS SAFE FROM EXTREME HEAT
It may not seem like it, but summer is around the corner, and with it more dangers for America’s workers. Between 600-2000 American workers die on the job as a result of extreme heat every year, and this threat is likely to get worse with the number of days with unsafe heat conditions expected to double between now and 2050. The federal government has long been dragging its feet on issuing an occupational heat stress rule to account for this increasing risk, and only California, Oregon, Washington and Minnesota have heat standards for labor at the state level. Let’s contact the White House and the Labor Department and let them know we want to see this rule in place as soon as possible, and reach out to our state legislators and governors to insist they take action closer to home. - LAST CHANCE TO OPPOSE NORTH SLOPE OIL DRILLING
We are closing in on the deadline for the Biden Administration to make their final decision on whether to permit a massive oil drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope. The Willow Project would create the same emissions as putting two million additional gas cars on the road. President Biden and Secretary Haaland are under pressure from local political forces to approve it before Monday’s March 6th deadline. Let’s join 350.org, who have provided call scripts, in calling the White House and the Bureau of Land Management to make sure they know we want them to #StopWillow.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
- MOST: THE BATTLE OVER AP AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDIESFour more states—Virginia, Arkansas, Mississippi, and North Dakota—are reviewing the new AP course in African American Studies to see whether it violates state laws governing the teaching of race; four others—Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, and Montana–are considering launching such reviews; 18 states have laws on the books restricting the teaching of race. Those of us who live in these states must call and write our state departments of education and our state legislators and demand that they allow the teaching of Black studies, in all its complexity.
