JUUstice Washington

A Unitarian Universalist State Action Network

Support Overtime for Agricultural Workers! Oppose Washington SB 5172 on Jan. 28th!

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On Thursday, January 28th, at 8am the WA State Senate’s Labor, Commerce and Tribal Affairs Committee will hold a first hearing for SB 5172. If passed the bill could prevent dairy workers, and possibly thousands of agricultural workers in Washington State from receiving retroactive (back) overtime pay.

TAKE ACTION NOW

The bill is due for its first hearing in the Senate Committee on Labor, Commerce and Tribal Affairs this Thursday morning at 8am. It’s important that farmworkers and their advocates and supporters show our opposition to the bill.

HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO:

Please share this message widely with people in Washington state who care about fair wages for farmworkers.

Let the committee know that you are opposed to this bill by going to the link below and selecting “Con” (against). The latest you can sign in is 6:59am Thursday morning.

https://app.leg.wa.gov/CSIRemote/Testimony/Form?chamber=Senate&meetingFamilyId=28358&agendaItemFamilyId=138984&remoteLocationId=50&testify=False&fbclid=IwAR3qxGOQwEqnBF1ErLfHGfcCHlf1qJprYHp-DFzU1oJpuc9hpd98_5bl2h4

Border agents on horseback surround No More Deaths camp just before Christmas

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NOTE:  No More Deaths camp is a project of the UU Church of Tuscon and UUSC (https://www.uusc.org/initiatives/no-more-deaths/)

Just before Christmas Eve, Border Patrol agents on horseback surrounded No More Death’s humanitarian aid station south of Tucson and told volunteers they were pursuing a warrant to raid the camp, the group said.

If agents do conduct a raid, it would be the third incursion into the camp near Arivaca, Ariz., in five months, coming near the end of a spike in the number of remains found in southwestern Arizona—a likely sign that a larger number of people are attempting to cross illegally, and are dying in remote stretches of the desert.

The raids have occurred at the Byrd Camp, a collection of military surplus tents, trailers, and shacks where volunteers work to provide water food and medicine to those crossing the desert, just a few miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Activists with the group said that mounted border agents rode around the camp’s edge on Wednesday night, telling the group that they intended to obtain a federal warrant to carry out another raid there.

Read more here.

Fair Fight Bond Fund Accepting Applications for Those Detained by Immigration in WA

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The Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network is thrilled to share that the Fair Fight Bond Fund is open and accepting applications for people who are detained by immigration in the State of Washington and need support with paying bond.

To request assistance with paying a bond, a request form must be completed. This request form will be reviewed by the Fair Fight Bond Fund steering committee. The steering committee is made up of seven community members, including people who have been directly impacted and have experienced being in immigration detention. All requests for funds will be fully considered on a case-by-case basis and the steering committee will try to pay as many bonds as possible, so long as funds are available. The steering committee will aim to meet on a weekly basis to review applications and give responses as soon as possible.

The steering committee will aim to prioritize individuals who are facing especially difficult situations due to being detained. This includes applicants who are facing physical and/or mental health issues that are aggravated by being detained; applicants who are the primary caretakers to dependents who are facing immediate hardship due to the applicant’s detention; applicants who face serious economic hardship and have no or limited support, options, and resources to pay their bond; applicants who will face negative long-term effects on their immigration status due to being detained; applicants who are members of the LGBTQ community; and applicants who face marginalization based on their language, race, ethnicity, or religion.

Please find the English version of the application at this link: https://bit.ly/FairFightBondFundSupportEn.

And the Spanish version of the application at this link: http://bit.ly/FairFightBondFundSupportSpa.

If you would like a PDF version of this application, please send an email to bond@waisn.org.

We hope to have this application available in other languages soon. Please email vanessa@waisn.org if you are able to support with translating this form into other languages.

Applicants who are able to pay for part of the bond can note this on the application. It is not required to pay a part of the bond, but for those who can and want to, we provide this option as it helps the bond fund to cover more bonds.

Immediate request for Action!! Trabjadores Unidos por la Justicia

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Trabjadores unidos por la Justicia needs your support.  They are currently struggling to create a union Workers United for Justice (TUJ) union at Allan Brothers, Inc., for their farmworkers and families.  They are trying to form this union in order to seek fair wages, safe working conditions, access to health care, the ability to retire with dignity and other basic human needs.

Allan Brothers, Inc. apparently has been engaged in intimidating behavior threatening to fire the workers, report them to ICE and threatening deportation of them and their families, and other tactics to prevent them from voting to form this union.

Morale among the farmworkers is suffering and they need to know we support them. We also need to show Allan Brothers, Inc., that we are behind the farmworkers. It’s a simple ask: take a picture of yourself with a sign to show your support and post it to their Facebook page!

Trabjadores unidos por la Justicia: https://www.facebook.com/trabajadoresunidosworkersunited/ 

 

Feeling Powerless About Coronavirus? Join a Mutual Aid Network

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New York Times – Washington Post – LA Magazine – Boston Magazine

Mutual aid is a form of community and political action – it’s when neighbors work to collectively take care of each other, in recognition that solidarity and interconnected survival is absolutely crucial. Mutual aid has been a long-standing practice, especially for Black, Indigenous, and immigrant communities systematically harmed by and neglected by the state. It is about helping others without judgment, strings, or means-testing, and fighting for a future of collective care and solidarity.

Currently, hundreds of mutual aid groups are organizing to distribute groceries, PPE, medicines, and baby supplies to their neighbors, to help with rent relief where possible, to disseminate critical information, and much more.

Mutual Aid Hub

For months, Town Hall Project has been supporting this movement through Mutual Aid Hub, connecting people to their local community groups, collecting resources, and bringing mutual aid organizers in best practice conversations together. As this pandemic continues and so many lives and livelihoods are disrupted, their work is more important than ever.
Directly donate to local mutual aid networks here. Town Hall Project does not take any percentage of these contributions – all goes directly to community groups and their work.

If you can’t find a group close to you or you want to learn more, volunteer, get in touch, search your zip code on Mutual Aid Hub.