[Antiracism] [Workers' Rights] Please call Olver to correct stimulus

[WMass Jobs With Justice]

From: Caroline Murray caroline at a-dp.org  



 

Urgent Action Needed:
The House Appropriations Committee included an anti-immigrant amendment to
the Stimulus Bill that will require any entity that receives money from the
stimulus package to use the flawed E-Verify system, putting all workers at
risk of losing their job over a flawed database.

Congressman Olver who sits on the Appropriation Committee needs to hear from
us TODAY to stop E-Verify. 



Background:
The House Appropriations Committee made a serious mistake when it approved
an amendment to the stimulus bill (the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act of 2009) that would require all businesses and other public or private
"entities" that contract to receive money from the stimulus package to use
the flawed federal Basic Pilot/E-Verify program.  This will not only delay
use of stimulus funds, but will hurt millions of workers.  It should be
stripped from the bill.
The amendment represents a massive expansion of the E-Verify program.  As
has been well documented, the E-Verify program is deeply flawed, inaccurate,
and subject to substantial employer abuse.  Bottom line - it is not ready
for a massive expansion and definitely not in times of economic crisis.  
The E-Verify provision in the stimulus will:
.    Harm workers who are either falsely denied work or are targeted by
employers abusing the E-verify program;
.    Create substantial new burdens for businesses, especially small
businesses, at precisely the wrong time;
.    Send the wrong signal to new voters that the Congress prefers to play
politics by enacting symbolic and ineffective immigration "enforcement"
measures over serious and effective economic stimulus or serious immigration
reform.

Action Needed:
Please immediately contact Congressman Olver who sit on the House
Appropriations Committee and tell him: 
You are disappointed that the E-Verify Requirement was included in the
Stimulus Package (the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009) and it
should be stripped from the bill.

Call the congressional switch board in DC toll-free and ask for Congressman
Olver's office: 

 1-800-828-0498 or  (202) 225-5335

Sample Message:
"Thank you for your work on the Economic Stimulus package. However, I am
concerned that E-Verify system has been included and ask that Congressman
Olver take leadership in stripping this provision from the bill.  The
E-Verify and Social Security database are flawed and this will put all
workers at risk, whether they are Immigrant or American born. Including
E-Verify will undercut the purpose of the bill. Now is not the time to
expand E-Verify when we so desperately need to put people to work.  It will
be counterproductive for business, workers, and the economy.  


Email the ADP and report your call.  Let's work together to create an
economy that works for everyone.

-- 
Caroline Murray, Director
Alliance to Develop Power (formerly the Anti-Displacement Project)
ADP Worker Center / Casa Obrera
130 Union Street
Springfield, MA  01105
(413) 739-7233 phone
(413) 746-3012 fax
(413) 219-1108 cell

  _____  

 

TO UNSUBSCRIBE, send an email to wmjwj at wmjwj.org with a Subject of "Unsub
Workers' Rights".



[Workers' Rights] posts opportunities for you to learn about and show
solidarity with workplace and working class struggles. And these events are
opportunities for JwJ members to fulfill their pledge:
<http://www.jwj.org/pledge.html> "I'll be there for workers' rights at least
five times a year!" This is the core mission of Jobs with Justice
(www.jwj.org <http://www.jwj.org/> ), affirming that workers' rights are
human rights. To subscribe, send an email to wmjwj at wmjwj.org with a Subject
of "Subscribe Workers' Rights".



Western Mass Jobs with Justice
640 Page Blvd #101
Springfield MA 01104
(413) 827-0301 

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.hampshire.edu/pipermail/antiracism/attachments/20090126/dd75a1b6/attachment.htm>