March 4, 2024
Scrap the cap on Social Security, Starbucks workers solidarity, sending postcards to reclaim the vote, 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:
- SCRAP THE CAP ON SOCIAL SECURITY
Friday marked the day folks who earn more than one million a year stop paying into Social Security, reaching the $168,000 wage cap on contributions. (Elon Musk hit this limit four minutes into 2024.) If we made these individuals pay their fair share like the rest of us, we could address the fiscal challenges the Social Security system faces and even improve the system for regular Americans. Let’s reach out to our members of Congress and tell them to reject benefit cuts and “fiscal commissions” and move forward on strategies like scrapping the cap to protect and expand Social Security, such as the Social Security 2100 Act (H.R. 4583) and the Social Security Expansion Act (S.393) – and let’s make sure our candidates for office are committed to doing the same. President Biden is also reportedly considering featuring scrapping the cap in the State of the Union this year, spotlighting his commitment to Social Security expansion – let’s contact the White House and encourage him to do so. - HUGE STEP FORWARD FOR STARBUCKS UNION
This week marked a tremendous victory for Starbucks Workers United. 26 months after partners at the first Starbucks store voted to unionize, the corporation has finally agreed to begin talks on collective bargaining agreements and other key issues. Starbucks has also agreed to allow workers represented by SBWU to receive credit card tipping and other benefits first announced in May 2022. Let’s join the celebration and send a congratulatory message to Starbucks Workers United baristas, and join their list to get updates on future ways to show solidarity as we turn our attention towards securing good contracts and holding corporate to their promises. (We can also read labor expert Eric Blanc’s analysis on lessons we can learn from SBWU’s victory here.)
- CALL OUT CORPORATIONS FOR RENEGING ON ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENTS AND TELL LAWMAKERS TO ENCOURAGE, NOT PUNISH, CORPORATIONS LAUNCHING GREEN INITIATIVES
Two years ago, Bank of America pledged to stop financing the coal industry. However, its latest policy statement reneged on that pledge, thanks in part to Republican lawmakers who are passing laws that punish corporations and ESGs for veering away from the fossil fuel industry toward greener alternatives. Let’s use this template to write to Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Blackrock and then let’s tell our MoCs at both the federal and state level to stop passing regulations that penalize corporations for their efforts to combat global climate change. - POSTCARDS TO GA & VA VOTERSReclaim Our Vote, a project of the Center for Common Ground, has launched two get-out-the-vote postcard campaigns, and they need volunteers to write postcards. The postcards will encourage Black voters and other voters of color to vote in the congressional primaries in Georgia and Virginia. People who vote in primaries are more likely to vote in November—so let’s sign up and start writing!
- LET’S IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH CARE BY SHARING OUR EXPERIENCES WITH JOURNALISTSThe award-winning investigative newsroom ProPublica is digging into the world of mental health care access. The US has a mental health care crisis: one in five Americans experience mental illness, yet most of them do not receive any treatment. ProPublica wants to hear from patients, family members, mental health providers, and insurance providers. What they hear will help them identify important stories and themes. ProPublica’s reporting often leads to change. Let’s help make things better by sharing our stories. We can do so confidentially here.
STATE-SPECIFIC ACTIONS
- MI – NO GUNS AT POLLING PLACESThe Michigan Senate has passed two bills prohibiting guns at election places. It is designed to help voters and election workers to feel safer. The bills now move on to the House. The Michigan League of Women Voters is urging the House to pass these bills and have provided us with the information and a petition to sign. Let’s check it out and tell our representatives to pass these bills.
AND FINALLY, SOME GOOD NEWS
- LAST WEEK’S WINSIt may not always feel like it, but our work is making a difference every day. Our friend Jessica Craven at Chop Wood, Carry Water outlines a few ways how in her run-down of last week’s victories, including the Federal Trade Commission suing to block the Kroger-Albertsons merger, the Department of Education launching an investigation into Nex Benedict’s school district, and an anti-trans ballot measure blocked in Arizona.