All working people should have the basic protections they need to care for their families when they are sick, the promise of a job to return to after the pandemic, and a safety net to support them when they’re out of work.
But COVID-19 has revealed the deep and long-standing racial injustice of an economy that exposes Black and Brown working families to riskiest working conditions, the lowest pay, and the fewest protections to fall back on. With layoffs, infections, and the threat of eviction on the horizon for so many, we organized with local and state allies to advance a worker-centered agenda for recovery that leaves no one behind.
As a result of our research and organizing:
- San José responded quickly in April by enacting emergency paid sick leave for all San José workers.
- Santa Clara County passed an eviction moratorium over the summer protecting tens of thousands of families on the brink of eviction.
- The City of Santa Clara passed a right of recall policy, offering hope to hundreds of thousands of laid-off building service, hotel, and food service workers.
- We shared strategies with labor and community allies to pass similar protections across the Bay Area and Southern California.
At the state level, we supported two powerful campaigns to demand California include all working people in our state’s safety net programs — including laid-off undocumented workers and service workers facing the brunt of the pandemic.
While Gov Newsom vetoed a policy that would have offered job security to hundreds of thousands of predominantly Black and Latinx service workers across the state, communities across the state successfully organized for similar local protections, from LA to Oakland to here in Santa Clara.
In 2021, as the pandemic rages on and waves of evictions and layoffs continue, we will organize to ensure more cities adopt similar protections, while we build our power to advance a long-term agenda for recovery that puts working people of color first in California.