JUNE newsletter
In This Issue:
- Students for Economic Justice 2022 has begun!
- Budget Advocacy Updates
- ICYMI: Community Schools Op-Ed and PrOTECT Town Hall
- What We’re Reading
- Job Opportunities
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS
Students for Economic Justice
Our 2022 Students for Economic Justice (SEJ) program has begun! We’re thrilled to continue the SEJ program this year. We will conduct a hybrid SEJ program to ensure the safety of our staff, interns, and community partners.
The SEJ program coordinator this year is Sarah Farouq. Sarah was an SEJ intern in 2017 and is back with CPI as an organizer. As an SEJ intern, Sarah worked on a minimum wage enforcement campaign with CPI. Sarah’s SEJ experience was her entry point to organizing. Sarah hopes to continue the SEJ legacy of finding and supporting the next generation of San Diego organizers and leaders.
Check our latest blog to meet the interns and learn what brought them to the program!
BUDGET ADVOCACY
City of San Diego
The FY23 budget cycle at the City of San Diego is coming to a close. CPI and our partners in the Community Budget Alliance have been hard at work to have People’s Budget priorities included in this year’s budget. On June 13th, the City Council voted to adopt a $5.4B budget, which included some of our People’s Budget priorities. Some of these priorities include:
- City-wide Language Access Program
- $3.57M Housing Stability Fund
- Chollas Creek Regional Park Master Plan Update
- Chollas Creek Lake Stormwater Upgrade
- Continuation of the Youth Environmental Recreation Corps
- Building Electrification Equity Plan
- Grant writer for sustainability investments
- Transportation planner to address climate action
- Rent registry
The fight for a People’s Budget does not stop. We work year-round to connect with people across the City and bring them into the fight for a budget that works for everyone. To get regular CBA updates, sign up for our email list and follow the CBA on Facebook and Instagram to stay updated on our next steps.
County of San Diego
Last year, brave and principled people came together as part of the Invest in San Diego Families coalition and won funding for programs and services that can change and save lives. But just getting funding set aside isn’t enough. We need to push the County to spend the money to make these programs a reality.
Today, you can help make this happen by submitting an online comment (e-comment) for the San Diego County Board of Supervisors by the end of the day to make sure they know you support one or more of the following programs:
- Public Restrooms For All
- Staffing for Office of Labor Standards and Enforcement
- San Diego County Worker Justice Fund
- Immigrant Legal Defense Fund
- Bilingual Pay for County Staff
- Alternatives to Incarceration
State of California
CPI and our partners in the California Coalition for Worker Power are advocating for important inclusions to the joint Senate/Assembly budget plan! These include:
- $14 million for Retaliation Complaint Investigation (RCI) staffing, double the current funding
- $50 million for continuing the California COVID-19 Workplace Outreach Project (CWOP) for two years
- $10 million for an unpaid wages worker hardship fund (to address delays in payment of wages after investigations determine that employers have engaged in wage theft)
We are very close to a win, but we need to make sure the Governor signs the budget without taking out any of these initiatives. The budget will be final in the next few days. There’s still time to add your name to our petition and send a letter to Governor Newsom’s office.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Education Equity
Last month, CPI and our partners in the San Diego Community Schools Coalition brought together teachers, students, parents, district staff, and community members to celebrate San Diego Unified School District’s first five community schools. In case you missed it, our coalition published an Op-Ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune about what it means to have community schools.
PrOTECT Ordinance
CPI and our partners in the Coalition for Police Accountability and transparency (CPAT) are advocating to pass the PrOTECT Ordinance which seeks to ban the use of consent searches and limit discretionary stops by police in the City of San Diego. Join us on Thursday, June 30th at 5:30 for a town hall to learn more about the ProTECT Ordinance and why SDPD is afraid of it passing.
WHAT WE'RE READING
A selection of articles that are informing our economic justice work and making us think.
Workers Rage Against the ‘Modern Food Machine’ (Voice of San Diego, June 2022)
“This article highlights the rampant wage theft in the restaurant industry. Our research with SDSU has highlighted this type of exploitation of workers, which helped us win Offices of Labor Standard Enforcement (OLSE) at the City of San Diego and San Diego County. We are working with County OLSE staff to establish a worker justice fund for those workers who have experienced wage theft.
Employers have profited from keeping important worker rights protections from their employees. Not giving workers their 10-minute break or not paying them overtime is wage theft. For years I worked in the restaurant industry and know first-hand how employers exploit workers. This is one reason I am fighting for a system that supports workers.”
— Nathaniel Tate, Organizer
The Injury Machine: How Amazon’s Production System Hurts Workers (Strategic Organizing Center, April 2022)
“Workers in the warehouse industry do dangerous work in environmentally hazardous workspaces while receiving low pay and experiencing a lack of job security. While Amazon has some of the worst workplace conditions, the whole industry needs to be overhauled. Here in San Diego, warehouse and logistics companies located along the border in Otay Mesa stole millions of dollars from workers and have been ordered to pay back wages for violations of numerous labor standards. During the pandemic, large e-commerce corporations made record profits while underpaying and forcing workers in their warehouses, distribution and fulfillment centers to endure dangerous working conditions and practices. CPI and other partners are part of a nationwide move to hold Amazon and others in the warehousing and logistic industries accountable to creating safe workplaces and secure jobs.”
— Derrick Robinson, Sr. Researcher and Policy Advocate
JOB OPPORTUNITIES
We are currently hiring for the following positions. Click to learn more:
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As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, CPI relies on the generous support of our community to operate. If you would like to support our fight for economic and social justice, please consider becoming a monthly donor or making a one-time donation. Thank you so much!
