R-9 Correspondence – LBIRC
From: Maribel Cruz [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, February 9, 2022 2:38 PM
Subject: LBIRC supports Worker's Rights
-EXTERNAL-
Good Afternoon,
Please find attached a letter in support of the Long Beach Recall/Retention Ordinances. As an immigrant rights organization, we know that many of our members benefit from
the Long Beach Recall/Retention Ordinances and in order to keep our communities safe and healthy, these ordinances need to be made permanent.
We urge you to make these protections permanente as soon as possible.
Thank you,
February 8th, 2022
Honorable Mayor and City Council,
On behalf of the Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition, we are writing to express our strong support for Long Beach’s Right of Recall and Retention ordinances to become permanent policies in our City. We urge you to prioritize the needs of essential workers and ensure that they have these important protections in place for future economic crises. The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that we are all interconnected, our lives and our livelihoods depend on getting through this public health crisis together with dignity for everyone.
In May of 2020 Long Beach led the nation in putting workers first when they voted unanimously to pass ordinances to protect workers’ right to return to work after massive job loss during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitality and janitorial workers are essential workers, they are key to our ongoing recovery. But they have been the hardest hit during this pandemic. We fought for essential workers’ right to return to work after being laid off. These policies have been critical to protecting the lives and livelihoods of Long Beach workers.
We are concerned that these protections are in danger of repeal, threatening the livelihoods of the essential workers that are still dealing with hardships during the recovery process. The COVID-19 pandemic is not over and we need to make sure everyone recovers, not just the privileged few who can work from the safety of their homes. Our city’s leaders must do everything possible to prevent a deeper social and economic crisis with race and class defining who does well and who does not. You all as our elected officials are well positioned to take the necessary steps needed to address the needs this emergency has heightened.
As community members, our goal is for all of us to be safe and healthy, and we must center the people most impacted -- this is not a new approach. It’s called equity. Racial and economic equity is the way forward yesterday, today and tomorrow, and at this moment, more crucial than ever. We urge the Long Beach City Council to make these protections permanent. Recovery means everyone!
Sincerely,
Gaby Hernandez
Executive Director
Long Beach Immigrant Rights Coalition