We’ve entered the podcasting world!
This week, I joined the Practical Radicals podcast with our Co-Executive Director, Jose Lopez, to discuss how, through years of base-building in New York, we and allies achieved a historic win in 2021: passing a $2.1 billion relief package for excluded workers.
This campaign was born in crisis: when the COVID-19 pandemic devastated our communities and it revealed the gaps in our safety net. Thousands were excluded from life saving support like unemployment insurance, stimulus checks and rent relief simply because of their immigration status or the type of work they do.
Our members decided to fight back. Far too many on the frontlines, including essential workers paying into the same safety net benefiting others – refused to be left behind.
Make the Road NY and dozens of allies launched a bold coalition fighting to close these economic gaps. After thousands of calls, rallies, actions that shut down major bridges, and a 23-day hunger strike, excluded workers made history.
On April 6, 2021, the New York State Legislature approved a budget for the Excluded Workers Fund – the single largest economic relief package for undocumented workers in the history of this country.
But our work is far from over. Alongside the Fund Excluded Workers (FEW) coalition, we are calling to pass the Unemployment Bridge Program to close the gaps in our safety net for good. And we have grown! Freelancers, people in re-entry, cash earners and immigrants are side by side in this fight.
To learn more about our FEW win in 2021, I invite you to listen to the full podcast here! Also available on Spotify and Apple podcasts.
¡Sí se pudo y siempre se podrá!
– Angeles Solis, Workplace Justice Lead Organizer