Recommended Actions for the Week of 20180316

Source: Community to Community Development

Description: Boycott NatuRipe Berries AND make phone calls to state leaders asking for a task force investigation of the H2A program and a state-level policy to protect guest workers in Washington

Background: 

“We want to first say thank you for the work you did in solidarity with Familias Unidas por la Justicia’s struggle for a historic union contract. Without the actions that you all took victory would not have been possible.

From this experience you are already educated and committed consumer activists who understand the fundamental reasons for fighting for justice for farmworkers. You are now the leaders who have power to help us continue to move towards economic justice for farmworkers in Washington state.

We are reaching out to you now to again ask you to use your powers as active consumers and activists to right another great wrong.

Those of us who have already worked to support farmworkers in WA state are now facing another challenge to farmworker families in Whatcom and Skagit County.

As many of you know Honesto Silva Ibarra died this summer after being denied medical treatment while working under the smoky conditions of wildfires at Sarabanand Farms as an H2A guest worker in Sumas WA. When about 100 of his co workers stopped work to protest the conditions on the farm and ensure Silva got proper care they were all summarily fired and told they had one hour to move out of company housing. 78 of these brave workers stayed and established Campo Zapata in the yard of a local Mexican couple living near the farm. For a month the workers lived at Campo Zapata. They organized protest marches on the farm, spoke to the media and government agencies, and won back pay from the company.

All of this happened after a California based agri-corporation, Munger farms (parent of Sarbanand), bought up 1,500 acres of land in Whatcom County 6 years ago and became the first farm here to bring in H2A guestworkers to harvest their berries. Because the H2A program makes it so that workers can only legally work for a specific employer they are routinely treated as indentured servants. Last year Sarbanand’s exploitation caused the death of Honesto Silva Ibarra. This year we say BASTA!

We are launching a campaign to block the expansion of the H2A guestworker program in Whatcom and Skagit county, and to ensure that any guestworkers that are brought in do not suffer the exploitation we witnessed at Sarbanand last summer.

Community to Community is now asking you to stop purchasing berries under the NatuRipe label under which Sarbanand and their parent company Munger sell their berries!

This could be a long fought campaign. Right now we ask you to take some very important actions to get this off the ground.

Thank you for taking action for farmworker justice! We will be in touch again soon as we expect this to be a big fight!

En Solidaridad,

Community to Community Development”

ACTIONS:

1. Find out where NatuRipe Berries are being sold in your local area.
2. Call Governor Inslee and tell him he needs to set up a task force to do an in depth investigation of the H2A guestworker program in WA, and develop policy to shield our state from the negative impacts of the federal guestworker program.  Governor Inslee’s office: 360.902.4111
3. Call Labor and Industries director Joel Sacks and demand that he re-open the investigation in to Honesto Silva Ibarra’s death.  Joel Sacks: 360 902 5584 (this number is for the employment standards specialist, try to get transferred to Joel Sacks or his assistant if you can).
4. Call the WA Employment Securities Department and the WA department of Agriculture and tell them they need to stop following the leadership of corrupt farm labor contractors like Dan Fazio and the Washington Farm Labor Association and tell them they need to ask the Governor to set up a task force on the H2A program.
   • Alberto Isiordia 509 630 8599 ESD Central Regional Director
   • Dale Peineke Commisioner of Employment Securities Department: dpeinecke@esd.wa.gov
   • Derek Sandison Director of WA Dept of Ag: 360 902 1887

Additional Information:

Article in the Stranger: Northern Washington Farmworker’s Complaints of Headaches Went Ignored Before His Death, Colleague Claims

Source: RC

Description:  In the next week we will begin recruiting for our 2018 endorsement committee.  Do you have questions or comments on the process below?  If so, email us, or comment on this post on facebook.

Overview of the Riveters Collective Endorsement Process and 2018 Elections

Riveters Collective envisions a diverse community of informed and empowered citizens engaged in progressive political activism to improve the lives of all.

We support primary elections. We encourage robust and civil debate over issues and direction of our community. We specifically:

• Believe that a healthy democracy relies on a healthy debate of issues
• Believe that discussion of our community’s direction is NOT a ‘waste of resources’
• Support the candidate who will best advance our platform, rather than the first candidate who files to run for office
• Disagree that new candidates should get out of the way because ‘it’s not their turn’
• Believe that no individual is entitled to a clear field in a campaign and we will encourage campaigns to focus on the issues important to our community.

We work to achieve our bigger progressive goals as expressed in our Platform. As a result, there will be times when we encourage recruitment of good people  to run in primary elections. We will endorse in primary elections and will lean in and work to help our endorsed candidate(s) win.

March

We prepare to support our endorsed candidates by holding AMAs and posting information on issues and campaigns in advance of elections.

Endorsement Committee forms itself. Consider applying! This is a way to learn about the issues of local and state government and to influence the outcome of elections. It’s a brief but intense burst of work.

April

Endorsement Committee crafts the candidate questionnaires based on the RC 2018 Platform and on which races are up this year. We will work with and seek input from allied organizations on the final questionnaire.

May

By May 4th: Questionnaire is emailed to all known candidates. Those who file later will have 1 week to send their questions back to the Endorsement Committee.

May 18th: Last day to file for office in 2018.

May 25th: RC questionnaire due back.

May 29th: Candidate interviews begin

June 13th: Candidate endorsements announced and RC gets to work helping them WIN.

July

RC holds doorbell event in the primary election. We train and then we knock on doors.

Key Election Dates

July 18th: Ballots mailed in the 2018 Primary Election

August 7th: Primary Election

October 8th: Last day to register to vote online or by mail (and not in person at the office)

October 17th: Ballots mailed

October 29th: Last day to register to vote at the Auditor’s office

November 6th: Election Day

Exceptions: We reserve the right to exclude a candidate from our process if that candidate has been openly hostile to our vision or is known to be unsafe for our committee.  In 2017 we excluded Eric Bostrom from our process and we will exclude him in all future endorsement processes.  Donald Trump is also not eligible to participate.

Source:  Alliance for Jobs and Clean Energy/Riveters Collective

Description:  On March 2, the Alliance for Jobs and Clean Energy filed a bold climate action initiative, but to get the initiative on the ballot in November, we need to collect 260,000 signatures in 12 short weeks.  Petitions should be distributed by April 7th  Sign up to get involved, and then share information with friends and family!!

Background: 

The Alliance for Jobs and Clean Energy is a broad-based coalition of health professionals, businesses, labor unions, faith communities, environmental advocates, and communities of color—plus thousands of volunteers from all over the state—committed to building our state’s economy, improving the health of our residents, and leading on the fight against climate change.  The Alliance has been working to build a strongly-supported climate policy that will price pollution to fund the solutions – investing in clean energy infrastructure like wind and solar, healthy forests, and clean water and creating thousands of good paying jobs across the state while cutting pollution.

Initially planning to file early this year, the Alliance for Jobs and Clean Energy delayed, in large part to allow time to engage in meaningful discussion with the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) and individual Washington tribes.   The final initiative language was supported by 29 tribes with the ATNI.  Petitions should hit the streets around April 7th.

Contact Information:

• Sign up to stay informed, be notified of upcoming events, and to volunteer.
• Stay tuned for news of a local launch event and training in the coming weeks.
• Help spread the word and grow the movement by liking and sharing with friends and family!!
  • Alliance for Jobs and Clean Energy Facebook page
  • Twitter
  • Website

Additional Information:

• Ballot filing statement
• Initiative Measure 1631
• US News and World Report: Washington State Groups Push Carbon-Pricing Ballot Measure

Source: wholewashington.org

Description: Request petitions for universal healthcare I-1600 and get your friends to sign!
Background: Whole Washington needs to gather 300,000 signatures by early July in order to get I-1600 on the ballot in November. You can help by ordering a petition or two and getting everyone you know to sign. Carry it around in your bag and bring it out when you run into people you know. You only need 20 signatures to complete one petition! You can do that at one kid’s sports match.

When you are ready to turn in your petition, make sure you sign the back.  You can either mail your petition back to Whole Washington, or get in touch with Paula Smith to return it for you.

Contact Information: 

Request petitions here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdxKPHbgfVMzRWbh4qjqaqlD82PjUg4c8zEDWzwLuBrFZvjtg/viewform?c=0&w=1&includes_info_params=true

Additional Information:

For more info, contact Paula Smith or visit wholewashington.org

Source: Fossil Free Bellingham Coalition