Tag Archives: Employment/Unemployment

Help Fund Excluded Workers in New York

DESIS RISING UP AND MOVING: We will continue the fight to fully Fund Excluded Workers! Thousands of eligible New Yorkers are being shut out from the fund. NY must boost the fund. Stay connected to organizations like DRUM to join the fight and stay informed about next steps. In the News:  New York Set Aside $2.1 Billion for Undocumented Workers. It Isn’t Enough. The Fund Excluded Workers Coalition is calling on Gov. Hochul and NYS Legislature to add $3 billion to the fund to cover workers who have been shut out from the fund.

Visit the Fund Excluded Workers Resource Page here!

Support Workers’ Rights and Labor Organizing

As workers are standing up for their benefits and rights, various community organizations have been advocating for immigrant, essential, and/or excluded workers during the pandemic and the pandemic recovery. Read more about some of the campaigns and news on workers’ rights and labor organizing coming from our Shared Liberation Network Partners and how you can get involved below:

DRUM – Desis Rising Up & Moving will continue the fight to fully Fund Excluded Workers! Thousands of eligible New Yorkers are being shut out from the fund. NY must boost the fund. Stay connected to organizations like DRUM to join the fight and stay informed about next steps.  In the News: New York Set Aside $2.1 Billion for Undocumented Workers. It Isn’t Enough – DRUM leader Afshana was featured in NYT article about the Excluded Workers Fund. Excluded workers like Afshana who have been shut out from the fund they fought for are calling on Governor Kathy Hochul to expand the fund by $3 billion! The Fund Excluded Workers Coalition is calling on Gov. Hochul and NYS Legislature to add $3 billion to the fund to cover workers who have been shut out from the fund. Visit their Excluded Workers Fund Resource page for more information.

Justice for Muslims Collective – Muslim Immigrant Workers of Washington, DC Exihibit –  Muslim immigrant workers are essential workers who remain an integral part of the backbone of Washington, D.C. In late 2020 and early 2021, we conducted oral and visual histories of five Muslim immigrant workers through the DC Oral History Collaborative for inclusion in the city’s official records. These interviews focus on how the workers are treated at their workplace, the obstacles and discrimination they face, and their journeys of joining and participating in labor movements. We have excerpted passages from these interviews and organized them into the following exhibit themes. Please continue supporting Muslim workers by considering a donation to the Muslim Workers Fund. The fund provides direct support to community members in the DC-Maryland-Virginia area who were directly impacted by COVID-19. With your contribution, the fund is able to continue its mission to serve our essential workers in their time of need.  

JMC COVID 19 Townhall with Workers – JMC also held their first public event and townhall on the impact of COVID19 on Muslim communities based on their report on the impact of COVID19 that you can read here. During the townhall, they discussed the findings from the report, heard from community members, and shared information about their new fund that is open for essential workers here.

Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) is a nonprofit that educates, organizes and empowers the low-income and working class immigrant Chinese community in San Francisco to demand better living and working conditions and justice for all people. CPA has been organizing with workers in San Francisco’s Chinese immigrant community since the 1970s. CPA’s Tenant Worker Center programs include wage theft case support, hospitality job training program, community education and outreach, grassroots leadership development and policy advocacy. Read about how workers at a popular Chinatown restaurant won $1.61 Million in a massive wage theft settlement.

Southeast Asian Freedom Network – SEAFN – Last week (AUGUST 2021), the Senate approved a $3.5 billion budget resolution that included a pathway to citizenship for dreamers, farmworkers, TPS holders and essential workers. As the budget reconciliation moves forward, we must make sure we reject any criminalization of our communities.

 

Expand Opportunity and Equity with Prop 16 in California

In California, voters have an opportunity this November to remove the state ban on affirmative action which has contributed to employment and education discrimination.

Proposition 16 would permit government policies to consider race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin in public employment, education, and contracting decisions in order to address diversity and systemic racism. If passed, this proposition would expand opportunity for all by repealing California’s Proposition 209 which banned affirmative action initiatives in 1996 and led to disproportionately harmful outcomes for black people and people of color.

Click here to view NCAPA’s infographics and fact checks on affirmative action. Affirmative action helps to ensure that our universities, especially highly selective elite universities, remain accessible to students of all backgrounds. Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Southeast Asian American students have the most to gain directly from these policies.

By voting YES on Proposition 16, you can help create and open more educational, career and employment opportunities for women and people of color. Read more about Proposition 16 and the AAPI community, the history of affirmative action, and the impacts of an affirmative action ban on education, employment, and contracting from resources shared by our network partners down below!

Read more about Prop 16 on the Vote Yes On Prop 16 website

 

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Support Affirmative Action in California

The ACA-5 bill, or Proposition 16 on the November ballots in California, will be up for consideration. If passed, this will repeal Proposition 209, which banned Affirmative Action initiatives and race- and gender-conscious policies in public education, employment, and public contracting. By voting YES on Prop 16, you can help create and open more educational, career and employment opportunities for women and people of color. Read more about Proposition 16, the history of affirmative action, and the impacts of an affirmative action ban on education, employment, and contracting from Filipino Advocates for Justice down below!

 

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Fight Against Wage Theft

About 50 billion in wages are stolen from workers nationwide every year. Wage theft occurs when workers do not receive the wages they were legally or contractually promised. Learn more about the different forms of wage theft, who is at risk of wage theft, and how to take action to fight for workers rights in the workplace!

 

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HEROES Act for COVID-19 Relief

HEROES Act: The Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act (HEROES Act) responds to the current COVID-19 outbreak and its continual financial and public health impacts on our communities, individuals and businesses across the country. Passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on May 15th, 2020, this bill would supplement the previous CARES Act stimulus package by providing $3 trillion of emergency funding to support families, essential workers, and small businesses. The HEROES Act would provide another round of stimulus checks to eligible Americans, continue expanded unemployment benefits, extend and expand the moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, and provides funding and establishes requirements for COVID-19 testing and contact tracing among other things. This act also includes a proposal to fund states to provide equal access to the ballot box by giving every eligible voter the opportunity to participate in safe and accessible elections. 

As of August 31, 2020, this bill has not been passed by the U.S. Senate or signed into law. However, given the scope of this legislation, NCAPA has outlined some of the most important parts to note for the AAPI community. Email your Senators & tell them #HEALSNo and #PassHEROESAct already passed by the House, which provides relief for the unemployed, renters, frontline workers & doesn’t leave out immigrants! The pandemic has disproportionately impacted low-income communities and communities of color. We need COVID-19 relief and we need it NOW. Tell the Senate to #PassHEROESAct