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35,000 signatures for Opportunity to Work

April 27, 2016 by Zeenab Aneez

The Opportunity to Work campaign continues to build momentum. Workers, clergy and community leaders gathered at San Jose City Hall yesterday morning to turn in 11 boxes of petitions to put the Opportunity to Work Initiative on the November ballot in the nation’s tenth largest city.

This moment represents a major milestone in the campaign for this initiative – the first of its kind in the country – which would help part-time workers get access to more work hours so that their paychecks can cover the bills and put food on the table. The Opportunity to Work Initiative would require large businesses in San Jose to offer more work hours to their current workers before hiring new staff.

Silicon Valley is facing a crisis of underemployment. A report by Working Partnerships USA and the Center for Popular Democracy, just published a few days ago, shows that part-time work has skyrocketed here in the last decade. With 77 percent of part-time workers earning under $15 per hour and 45 percent in low-income households, jobs that don’t offer enough work hours to live on are a major factor in our region’s growing inequality.

Standing over the boxes of nearly 35,000 signatures from Opportunity to Work supporters, Dilsa Gonzalez shared her story for the first time to a crowd. Even though she has been working at McDonald’s for 15 years and got promoted to manager, she often only gets 12 hours a week of work. Earning $10.65 an hour, Dilsa can’t get by.

She asks for more hours but is told that there aren’t any, even though the restaurant keeps hiring new employees. She shares a house with nine people and asks her friends and neighbors for bottles and cans so she can sell those to help make ends meet. Dilsa and the other 64,000 part-time workers in San Jose deserve better.

Movements for good jobs are leading major change for working people as $15 minimum wage laws help wages start to catch up with what a family needs to earn in today’s economy. But even with wages rising, workers like Dilsa can’t survive on only 12 hours a week.

We’ve cleared the first big hurdle, but we’ve got a bigger fight ahead. We’ve got to get on the ballot and then build a movement of hundreds of thousands of voters for the Opportunity to Work.

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Our city's resources should be spent on balanced, Our city's resources should be spent on balanced, long-term solutions that lead to housing justice — no bandaid fixes that merely postpone or hide the symptoms. 

What's wrong with spending all our resources on one quick fix? It's expensive, ineffective and could cost us billions. We know because we actually did the math. 

Use the link in our bio to check out our memo explaining why the City Council should consider the unwritten costs of reallocating Measure E dollars to temporary emergency shelters.
🎞 Join us for a FREE screening of the eye-openi 🎞 Join us for a FREE screening of the eye-opening documentary "Dignidad: California Domestic Workers' Journey for Justice" 🍿

The film follows domestic workers as they organize for workplace protections during the COVID-19 pandemic and centers their voices and stories in leading the movement. The screening will be held at the Santa Clara County Government Center on Tuesday, May 30 from 5pm-7pm.

Sign up at: https://bit.ly/DignidadFilmScreening
📢 Need legal guidance on employment, housing, o 📢 Need legal guidance on employment, housing, or immigration matters?

Whether you're struggling with workplace disputes, rental challenges, or immigration complexities, this free legal clinic with expert lawyers is here to support you. Take advantage of this unique opportunity to gain valuable insights, better understand your rights, and explore potential solutions. 

HAPPENING TOMORROW, May 27 from 11am-3pm at the Holy Family Episcopal Church in San José.
Register for an appointment at: https://tinyurl.com/527LegalClinic
Walk-ins are accepted!
Our failure to invest in affordable housing is rob Our failure to invest in affordable housing is robbing us of a diverse and vibrant future — and it’s the primary reason why so many of our community members have been forced into homelessness.

In 2020 San José voters chose to end this cycle by investing in real, long-term solutions to our housing crisis. Now's not the time to backtrack!

#ProtectMeasureE 
#HomeSweetAffordableHome
YESS! 👏 Parents shouldn’t have to choose betw YESS! 👏 Parents shouldn’t have to choose between economic stability, staying home, and caring for their family! When parents cannot take time off to care for their children, they are more likely to send a sick child to school. And, caregivers shouldn’t have to go to work sick and jeopardize the people they care for because they don’t have good - that's why we're celebrating that #SB616 passed out of the Senate Suspense Hearing and will now move to the Senate floor.

But let's keep up the momentum going; contact your #CAleg representative today 🔗https://workfamilyca.org/paidsickdaysnow

#SB616 is about supporting the health and safety of California’s children, parents, elders, and  caregivers whose essential labor we all depend on.
Congratulations to the first ever cohort of the Wo Congratulations to the first ever cohort of the Worker Power Academy of Silicon Valley for finishing their final session of the program! ✊ These incredible young leaders of tomorrow are equipped with workers’ rights knowledge regarding discrimination and harassment, labor trafficking, benefits navigation, and union rights & organizing!

Thank you to the San Jose Conservation Corps for partnering together to launch a powerful pilot to create new worker leaders.
Our hearts are filled with joy and pride as we mar Our hearts are filled with joy and pride as we marched together — as workers, tenants, immigrants, parents, and community members at the San José May Day Parade today. 

Today is a reminder that we're all in this together, and that the movement for justice is fueled with our joy and love for our communities!! 

#MayDay2023 #WorkerPower #WorkersUnite
Are you a skilled communicator with a passion for Are you a skilled communicator with a passion for community engagement and economic development? 

We're looking for a Coalition Manager to lead a diverse group of stakeholders to create a new, equity-centered approach for economic development in the South Bay—directly informed by workers and impacted community members themselves. 

Join us in our mission to empower working families and make a difference in the Bay Area! Apply now by sending your resumé to jobs@wpusa.org!
❌ Higher Rents = ⛺️ More Tents While corpo ❌ Higher Rents = ⛺️ More Tents 

While corporate landlords keep jacking up prices & collecting our rents, more Californians are being pushed into homelessness & tents. On Tuesday 4/25 we call on @senator_umberg senatorashby @sendavemin @senatorcaballero to vote YES on the #HomelessnessPreventionAct #SB567
 
Yesenia Miranda Meza is a single mother. Both she and her son have had health problems in the last year and is concerned about losing their home. ""I did not ask for my son to have 3 surgeries in a span of 6 months. I am an increase away from becoming homeless."" 

Over 170,000 Californians are living on the streets and the homelessness is growing in every community. The people most at risk of becoming homeless are people of color and immigrants. Corporate landlords will always choose profits. 

☎️ Will you call @senator_umberg senatorashby @sendavemin @senatorcaballero TODAY to choose the people and vote YES on #SB567 to #KeepFamiliesHoused and stop the rent hikes and unjust evictions? Without their votes, this bill won't make it. 

https://www.ocregister.com/2023/03/10/legislator-proposes-california-law-to-protect-renters-from-becoming-homeless/
ICYMI our State Senators can pass #SB567 to cap re ICYMI our State Senators can pass #SB567 to cap rent increases annually. We already know rent has been skyrocketing across CA 📈 and a majority of us can hardly make it through the month. So we’re driving calls to ☎️ @senator_umberg senatorashby @sendavemin @senatorcaballero

Corporate landlords are looting constantly us by controlling rent hikes while we struggle to make ends meet 💰 We can’t afford to wait another day to protect seniors, families, students, and everyday Californians. We need to pass SB567 NOW! 

For too long, real estate lobbyists and corporate landlords have been able to hike rents unchecked but with SB567 we’re about to put a stop to that 🛑 

We gotta get these State Senators on board and out of the pockets of corporate interests so call them TODAY and demand they pass SB567 ☎️ #HomelessnessPreventionAct #KeepFamiliesHoused #HomeIsSacred
ICYMI our State Senators can pass #SB567 to cap re ICYMI our State Senators can pass #SB567 to cap rent increases annually. We already know rent has been skyrocketing across CA 📈 and a majority of us can hardly make it through the month. So we’re driving calls to ☎️ @senator_umberg senatorashby @sendavemin @senatorcaballero

Corporate landlords are looting constantly us by controlling rent hikes while we struggle to make ends meet 💰 We can’t afford to wait another day to protect seniors, families, students, and everyday Californians. We need to pass SB567 NOW! 

For too long, real estate lobbyists and corporate landlords have been able to hike rents unchecked but with SB567 we’re about to put a stop to that 🛑 

We gotta get these State Senators on board and out of the pockets of corporate interests so call them TODAY and demand they pass SB567 ☎️ #HomelessnessPreventionAct #KeepFamiliesHoused #HomeIsSacred
"We already know you’ve heard about the rent inc "We already know you’ve heard about the rent increases and rising homelessness in CA 🗣️ OF COURSE you have! A MAJORITY of Californians are facing skyrocketing rents 🚀 making our cost of living impossible! 

But WHY are these rents are rising, you ask? 📈 Corporate landlords have been buying up housing complexes and single family homes all across California, and then deliberately driving up the cost of rent. In San Diego, Blackstone drove up rents by 64% in TWO YEARS. It’s pushing out seniors, families, students, and so many others from their homes.

And starting this TUESDAY 4/25, our reps are gonna decide what to do about it — because there’s something WE can do about it! We can contact @senator_umberg senatorashby @sendavemin @senatorcaballero today and demand they vote ✅ YES and pass #SB567 so we can prevent more homelessness, cap rents, and ensure people have a roof over their heads #HomelessnessPreventionAct #KeepFamiliesHoused #HomeIsSacred
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