Post a selfie with a sign demanding an end to U.S.-Ukraine war against Donbass. Use hashtags #StopWarOnDonbass and #FightCovid19NotDonbass. Printable signs: Fight Covid-19 Not Donbass: Online Day of Action

Tell Wisconsin Republicans to stop playing politics with the Wisconsin coronavirus relief package and pass a meaningful bill that adequately addresses the needs of the people of Wisconsin.

https://bit.ly/2V3e8MK

Nurses across the country are risking their lives to protect all of us during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s our turn to stand with them. Show your gratitude today by signing our card thanking your local nurse! https://bit.ly/2V3e8MK

National Nurses United

A national network of rank-and-file activists is organizing a National Day of Action on Tax Day, April 15. We reproduce their list of demands and their call to action.

NATIONAL HEALTH CARE DAY OF ACTION ON TAX DAY, APRIL 15

TELL THE WORLD: #THESYSTEMISBROKEN

We are health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic. Please support our National Day of Action on Tax Day, April 15, to tell the world that #TheSystemIsBroken and demand that we reorganize the U.S. health care system to prioritize the interests of patients over those of billionaires and corporations.

Our private, for-profit health care system has left us with a deep scarcity of resources and properly trained health care workers. We are not heroes and we did not enlist to die in our jobs due to government inaction and corporate greed. The pandemic has clearly exposed why critical infrastructure, including our country’s health care, cannot be left to the market.

The mass graves being dug for tomorrow are made deeper by the political choices made today. We call for the U.S. health care system to be treated like road maintenance, garbage disposal, education, fire protection, and any other vital component of our social infrastructure. The entire system, from the production of drugs and medical supplies to hospitals and health clinics, should be nationalized and publicly administered on behalf of our communities rather than privately owned and operated for the benefit of billionaires and corporations. Faced with a lack of gloves, masks, beds and staff, both Spain and Ireland have nationalized their health care systems to better coordinate the distribution of critical resources.

Our government must put patients over profits by directing and coordinating the manufacture and distribution of vital medical resources and guaranteeing that everyone is provided the quality health care they need with Medicare for All.

EXAMPLES OF ACTIONS YOUR GROUPS CAN TAKE:

• At Jacobi hospital in New York City, nurses organized a short rally and press conference after their shift ended. They placed protest signs on the ground six feet apart and had everyone go one at a time to pick them up. They then went one by one to the microphone to speak to the press.
• PASNAP (Pennsylvania Association of Staff Nurses and Allied Professionals) has created a Hospital Response Report Card. Union members assessed each of their hospitals along seven areas of concern during the pandemic. At union-organized press conferences, these report cards are updated regularly to keep the public informed about the state of issues in each facility.
• Nurses in a Massachusetts hospital organized a gown-making party, where they all got 39-gallon trash bags and practiced turning them into a protective covering so that they have a “backup plan for when we actually run out of gowns.” They took photos and shared on social media.
• Nurses at Mount Sinai hospital in New York City organized a press conference outside the hospital, holding the photographs of coworkers who had died of COVID-19 after not being provided the PPE they needed. They held signs saying “We won’t be your body bags.”
• Nurses at Provident Hospital were given 2 days notice that their South Side Chicago ER was going to be closed for a month. This pandemic is wrecking havoc upon African-Americans in particular, so they immediately went into action. They have held a protest, released a video, and started a petition.
• Nurses in Buffalo, New York organized a car rally to draw attention to their demand that the U.S. government use the Defense Production Act to produce more PPE. They plastered signs all over their cars and drove around Niagara Square honking their horns. They then held a press conference, which was also livestreamed on Facebook.
• Health care workers at Harlem Hospital organized a press conference, using a rope with knots in it every six feet to ensure distancing. Nurses then went one at a time to a microphone to share their stories.

We demand that every health care worker be provided the PPE they need to keep themselves, their families, and their patients safe: #PPEoverProfits. Using the Defense Production Act, we can use our country’s manufacturing capacity to make gowns, N-95 masks, and ventilators. It is not enough for some private companies to voluntarily begin manufacturing the resources we need. We need the government to mandate that companies begin producing them and that we produce a surplus not only for the United States but for all the other countries that face a scarcity.

We need coordination of resources, not competition. Hospital systems and states should not be in competition with one another for supplies. Nobody should be afraid of not getting the care they need because of where they live or because their hospital is not at the front of the line for ventilators. We need a system for distributing PPE and other supplies based on need rather than who has the deepest pockets or favorable political connections. We know that the disease strikes particular regions before others. For example, New York City is hit hard now. Rather than states stockpiling resources and waiting their turn, those resources should be sent to where they are needed. It is essential that frontline workers and their unions be at the table with state and federal government officials to ensure that resources are distributed to the hospitals and areas that need it most, when they need it.

We demand mandatory safe staffing in every hospital. Health care workers are being assigned far more high-acuity patients than they can safely care for. Health care workers at Detroit’s Sinai-Grace Hospital, for example, have sometimes had as few as two nurses caring for 26 patients on 10 ventilators. These courageous workers staged a work stoppage on April 6 to alert the public to the dire situation. Frontline workers should be running the staffing offices and determining the staffing levels appropriate in our workplaces.

We must train nurses now. Due to lack of PPE and a big drop in lucrative elective procedures, many hospitals across the country are laying off nurses and other staff at the exact moment we should be training them and preparing them to provide critical care to highly infectious patients. Nurses cannot be expected to give critical care without proper training.

Child care for health care workers. Daycares and schools have made the appropriate decision to close, but this has left health care workers, who are often working long hours for many days in a row, with the challenge of finding others who will risk exposing themselves to the virus by watching their children. This is not a personal problem, but a social issue to be addressed by the government and our employers with free, universal child care for health care workers.

House health care workers in union hotels to protect their families. Due to the lack of testing and PPE, every time health care workers go home to their families they risk exposing them to the virus.

Medicare for All. With layoffs skyrocketing, millions of people are left without insurance for themselves and their families. No one who seeks the medical care they need and deserve in this moment should be left with a bill. Hospitals should not be making decisions to cut costs in fear of the impending budget crunch they will face. The solution is simple and clear: we need a single-payer system and we need it now.

https://bit.ly/2K3M2uw

Postal workers are keeping our country moving and US economy working for us during this time of crisis – getting prescriptions delivered to people sheltering in place, making e-commerce possible and keeping families connected. It is the emergency distribution system when our country is in crisis.

But at this unprecedented time, that work is under threat. The Coronavirus shutdown is plummeting postal revenues while increasing costs. The Postal Service could run out of money as early as June.

The loss of the USPS would shatter our response to the Coronavirus pandemic, hit already weakened businesses, and ravage communities. Our public Postal Service needs all American leaders – Democrats and Republicans alike – to provide urgent and ongoing financial support from the Federal Government during this public health and economic crisis.

Add your name. Email your Congress members now.

Smart Justice During Covid-19: Amplifying Impacted Voices

Continuing our ongoing series of discussions about COVID-19 and Smart Justice, the ACLU of Wisconsin is holding another virtual town hall this Wednesday (April 15th) at 6:30 pm that will center the experiences of directly impacted people, elevating their voices and insight during this time of unprecedented crisis.

You can join us on Zoom by registering in advance (required) here: https://zoom.us/j/99548108367?pwd=ckc3czlLcEx4Mkl1TWxHbUZ2dGJRQT09

Workers Seize Power – Virtual International Workers Day

(Spanish below) On International Workers Day 2020 we will host a virtual forum, but are still planning to hold our annual OSF March and Rally on Labor Day, September 7.
This virus has shown both the importance of workers and their power, but also the vulnerability when we are not organized to leverage our collective power and also the need for us to unite.

For the May 1st Virtual Forum, please pre-register here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_p0RDu16oQuKIx38JvCHxEg So that we can have a secure event, when you register you’ll be given a link unique to you. Please don’t share that link with others. Instead, share the pre-registration link above.

We’ll have a two part panel, starting at 3PM.
The first panel will feature Resource Speakers, offering info on resources for workers, housing, and health.
The second panel at 4pm will be a panel discussion featuring organizers leading campaigns around prisons, detention centers, housing, labor and racial equity in these times.

We will be Doing simultaneous translation:
Spanish
Arabic
Tagalog
Mandarin

En el Día Internacional de los Trabajadores de 2020 seremos los anfitriones de un foro virtual, pero todavía estamos planeando realizar nuestra marcha y mitin anual del OSF en el Día del Trabajo, el 7 de septiembre.
Este virus ha mostrado tanto la importancia de los trabajadores y su poder, pero también la vulnerabilidad cuando no estamos organizados para aprovechar nuestro poder colectivo y también la necesidad de unirnos.

Para el Foro Virtual del 1 de mayo, por favor preinscríbase aquí: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_p0RDu16oQuKIx38JvCHxEg Para que podamos tener un evento seguro, cuando se inscriba se le dará un enlace exclusivo para usted. Por favor, no comparta ese enlace con otros. En su lugar, comparta el enlace de preinscripción anterior.

Tendremos un panel de dos partes, a partir de las 3PM.
El primer panel tendrá oradores de recursos, que ofrecerán información sobre recursos para los trabajadores, la vivienda y la salud.
El segundo panel a las 4pm será un panel de discusión con organizadores que lideran campañas en torno a las prisiones, centros de detención, vivienda, trabajo y equidad racial en estos tiempos.

Traducción simultánea en:
Espanol
Arabe
Tagalog
Manderin

https://bit.ly/2RusG5Fhttps://bit.ly/2RusG5F

LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL GOVERNMENT LEADERS

Who We Are

Service workers are bearing the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.

We get paid when we work and when we work we provide a service.  Service workers need immediate relief.

Many of us are displaced, laid off, or under-employed, losing income.  Some of us are “essential” and working in jobs that expose us to contracting the virus.  Some of us are working because we cannot afford not to, jeopardizing our own health and that of others every time we work.  All of us are anxious in this moment.  But for many of us, anxieties and struggles for service sector work are nothing new.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created public health and economic crises both.  The most recent federal stimulus/bailout provides some needed relief, but by no means enough.

What We Need

• We need income guaranteed throughout these crises: the unemployment benefits contingent upon previous income and one-time, tax-based cash transfer are not enough.
• If we are working, we need hazard pay; essential work and the sacrifices we make must be rewarded with adequate compensation.
• We need healthcare: some of us  are losing our employer-based coverage, and some of us never have had it.
• If we are working, we need paid sick time.
• We need internet and cell phone access to survive in this moment, treated as public utilities with costs held over during this time.
• We need our student loans, housing costs, and consumer debt paused or forgiven during this time.

Who We Need to Act

We need action from those who can address the crises.  Fellow service workers, join us in calling on government leaders to take action now, at the local, state, and federal levels for the needs of service workers.

https://bit.ly/2RusG5F

https://bit.ly/2wDxwXk

SENATE MAJORITY LEADER SCOTT FITZGERALD AND ASSEMBLY SPEAKER ROBIN VOS; (CC: GOVERNOR TONY EVERS, ASSEMBLY MINORITY LEADER GORDON HINTZ, AND SENATE MINORITY LEADER JENNIFER SHILLING)

More than three weeks ago, on March 12, Governor Evers declared a public health emergency in Wisconsin. Since then, we have seen cases of COVID-19 proliferate and the burden to our already-fragile healthcare system grow. Every day, health care workers show up to care for patients, at great risk to ourselves and our families, because of inadequate protection and supplies and limited policies that do not reflect the gravity of this crisis. The time for action is now.

Wisconsin healthcare workers are calling on our state legislative leaders to bring the legislature into session immediately to address the needs of frontline workers.

Sign petition: https://bit.ly/2wDxwXk