Los Angeles
Black Jewish Justice Alliance (BJJA)- Check the Sheriff
CLUE’s Black Jewish Justice Alliance continues to work with Check the Sheriff campaign to hold Sheriff Alex Villanueva accountable for terrorizing communities of color. The Sheriff has been defying subpoena’s etc. Impacted families of Sheriff’s violence has been standing strong. We at the Check the sheriff’s coalition are working hard with the families to bring about justice.
The BJJA is still supporting progressive Justice Reform through the Progressive Justice Reform Coalition with Black Lives Matter LA.
Responding to the Haitian migrant crisis, BBCCC joined Black Alliance for Justice immigration for a week of action supporting Haitians and other Black Migrants. We also had the opportunity to go to TJ with Wyclef Jean to visit Haitian migrants and a shelter.
Reclaim Black LA
Reclaim Black LA has been doing outreach for several months in the Chesterfield Square Park area- Preparing for a Christmas Reclaim details coming soon.
Black & Brown Clergy and Community Coalition (BBCCC)
For more information, please contact Pastor Cue, [email protected]
Long Beach and South Bay
Our People Our Port Coalition
CLUE has been working closely with LAANE and a part of the coalition Our People Our Port, to fight for fair wages and protections for port truck drivers. Since the beginning of the year, we have been advocating for two-state bills, SB 338, AB 794, to create consequences for law-breaking trucking companies and to fight against systemic misclassification. We are celebrating that Governor Newsom signed both of these bills into law! These laws will go into effect in January 2021.
SB 338, championed by Senator Lena Gonzalez, will add trucking companies to an existing Division of Labor Standards Enforcement “bad actor” list if those companies do not provide required health and safety protections and benefits to their workers. Customers who contract with bad actors on this list are jointly liable for future violations. In addition, SB 338 requires companies to prove that they have fixed the underlying violation in order to get off the list, and specifically targets repeat offenders that systemically incorporate wage theft and deny worker protections as part of their business model. This law will expand the scope of supply chain accountability.
AB 7794, championed by Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, will ensure that law-breaking trucking companies that misclassify drivers will not receive public funds from the state to purchase zero-emission trucks.
Long Beach / Los Angeles Port Truck Drivers Win Again
Drivers at XPO Logistics trucking company, one of the world’s largest trucking companies, won a historic $30 million wage theft settlement. This is the largest ever settlement at California ports!
This settlement will resolve class-action suits for misclassification and wage theft for almost 800 drivers at XPO Logistics. This settlement is a testament to the strength of drivers organizing and fighting for years to win justice. It is also a testament to the support from community, faith leaders, and partners in sustaining the struggle of drivers.
Safer Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) Coalition
CLUE is a part of the Safer Long Beach Unified School District (LBUSD) coalition to advocate for justice for Mona Rodriguez, an eighteen-year-old woman, who was shot near Millikan High School in Long Beach, by a security safety officer. CLUE and LA Voice co-sent a letter with hundreds of signatures of faith leaders to LBUSD to demand the removal of arms from school campuses and the investment in healing resources and alternatives to policing. In response, LBUSD invited faith leaders to have a meeting with them last week. Our CLUE faith leader in Long Beach, Pastor Darren Hagood, joined community leaders in the meeting to advocate for structural changes in providing healing and safety for school campuses. The strong advocacy of the Long Beach community caused the arrest of officer Eddie Gonzalez and his charge of first-degree murder by District Attorney Gascon. This is one step closer to holding the officer accountable for his action. We mourn the death of Mona and will continue the fight for safety and healing for students, teachers, and families in Long Beach.
Tenants’ Workshops
CLUE in partnership with LAANE is helping vulnerable tenants apply for rental assistance and advocating with city councilmembers for a streamlined process to help tenants easily access the federal emergency funding for tenants of $46 million. 16,000 Long Beach renter households are behind on their rent. Burdensome and confusing paperwork requirements have created a barrier for thousands of tenants from applying. We hosted two workshops to support tenants in their application process. CLUE would like to support congregation members who are struggling with this application process. Please contact Mary Duong via [email protected] if you would like this resource for your community, friends, families, or yourself.
For more information, please contact Pastor Mary Duong [email protected]
Orange County
Kingspan Sheetmetal Workers in Santa Ana Demand Fair Process for Forming their Union
CLUE is so privileged to rise with the brave workers of Kingspan Light + Air in Santa Ana, who are demanding their management provide a fair process to join the Sheet Metal Air Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) union!
After months of organizing underground, these workers went public on Tuesday October 19th, along with a delegation of community and faith leaders.
“Kingspan and other corporations like them are responsible to the communities in which they do business,” said Rev. Adiel DePano, lead pastor at Santa Ana United Methodist Church. “And workers negatively impacted by such enterprises have the right to ask that those issues be redressed in a fair manner.”
March, Rally, & Press Conference in Support of Santa Ana Kingspan Sheetmetal Workers
Wed, Nov 10th, 12:30-2:30pm
Delhi Park (outside the community center)
505 E Central Ave, Santa Ana, CA 92707
event flyer
RSVP to [email protected]
Links
- LA Times/Daily Pilot: For unionizing factory workers in Santa Ana, indoor air pollution is more pressing than pay (Oct 20, 2021)
- Clean Up Kingspan website | FB page
- SMART press release
- Cal/OSHA complaint
- Cal EPA complaint
For more details contact faith-rooted organizer Adam Overton, [email protected]
UFCW 324 & SEIU-USWW
TOWNHALL: BRING BACK WALT’S MAGIC
NOVEMBER 17, 2021 • 10AM-1PM
Sheraton Park Hotel: 1855 South Harbor Blvd, Anaheim CA 92802
Flyer
“Give the public everything you can give them, keep the place as clean as you can keep it, and keep it friendly.’’ — Walt Disney
Walt Disney imagined a thriving park that cared about the guests. When he created the Disneyland amusement park in the mid 1950s, it was supposed to be a place of joy, dreams and a get-away for families. Every year, the park attracts hundreds of thousands of people as thousands of workers make this vision of joy and prestige come true.
“I’m there because of Walt Disney and what he created, his magic and the purpose. We want to create and maintain Walt’s magic.”—Verencka Melchor, Disney Cast Member
SAFETY & HEALTH
Disney executives in charge of the park now are willing to cut corners even if it means a worse experience for all the visitors. Disneyland currently has fewer people cleaning the park than they did before the pandemic and many Disney Cast Members report that the park is as dirty as it has ever been.
“Cleaning is what protects us from stopping the spread of the COVID-19 virus. I was expecting it to be cleaner, but they are not using the night custodial so we are cleaning
less. It is noticeably not clean compared to how the park looked pre-pandemic which is backwards to me. That doesn’t make me feel safe.” —Artemis Bell, former Disney Cast Member
POVERTY EMPLOYER
Disney Cast Members live in poverty making Disney a poverty employer. Some report that they have to live in their cars because they can’t afford rent, and many report having to work 80 hours a week at multiple jobs just to get by. A recent survey of Cast Members by Occidental College found that:
- 5 More than two-thirds (68%) of Disneyland Resort workers are food insecure.
- 5 More than one out of ten Disneyland Resort employees report having been homeless—or not having a place of their own to sleep—in the past two years.
“Some people are sleeping two hours in their cars just to survive, because of living costs. Wages need to go up to keep up with the cost of living. Disney has the money and they can do it.” —Verencka Melchor, Disney Cast Member
On top of all this, Disney is also being sued by 25,000 former and current employees, who allege that the park is violating city ordinance by not paying them a living wage.
Workers in the lawsuit, which has been granted class-status in Orange County Superior Court, say that because Disney receives public support for the park that it’s underpaying them. Disney is a Fortune 500, multi-billion dollar company that received half a billion dollars as part of the CARES Act subsidy that could quite easily ensure that its workers receive a living wage that does not skirt local Anaheim law.
Disney executives have let greed get in the way of Walt’s vision for the park. Bring back Walt’s vision. Come join us for a Town Hall where Disney Cast Members and concerned community members can discuss the current problems and come up with a solution to hold Disney executives accountable.
Come join us for a Town Hall where Disney Cast Members and concerned community members can discuss the current problems and come up with a solution to hold Disney executives accountable.
It’s time to hold Disney executives accountable.
For more information, please contact CLUE faith-rooted organizer Adam Overton, [email protected].
Stop the Musick Forum
CLUE was proud to co-sponsor a Stop the Musick Forum on October 20, 2021, hosted by the Stop the Musick Coalition. The forum focused on the continued community attempts to prevent the OC Sheriffs attempts to re-open & expand the James A. Musick detention facility in unincorporated Irvine.
You can access a video recording of the Public Forum here and our presentation slides here.
To learn how CLUE community can be involved in the Stop the Music, please contact Adam Overton at [email protected]
Presentation at Church of the Foothills, Santa Ana
This month CLUE connected THRIVE Santa Community Land Trust (CLT) with Church of the Foothills. As a result, on October 3, THRIVE had the opportunity to share with the Church of the Foothills community in Santa Ana about the CLT and its first project, the Walnut and Daisy Micro-farm. THRIVE Santa Ana’s presentation left many excited about the work. Due to high interest, THRIVE was able to connect with several lay leaders/folks in the audience who signed up to get involved with THRIVE and grow the movement for community lands and in community hands.
Santa Ana Listening Circles
On Friday, October 15 CLUE, SABHC hub staff, Aliento held the October Listening Session on the topic of how to cope with grief and the loss of family, friends, finances. More than 18 residents participated in this month’s listening session. This month’s topic centered on healthy parenting and how to implement respectful parenting. During our time together, the group discussed the importance of practicing self-care as a way to implement healthy parenting. Residents were encouraged to share their challenges concerning parenting and their experiences. We integrated a few exercises throughout this month’s listening circle, including an activity on mindfulness and breathing techniques.
To find out more information about participating in a listening circle, contact Faith-Rooted Organizer Lucero Garcia, [email protected]
