This is a BFD: President Biden spoke out in support of a unionizing drive at Amazon's Bessemer warehouse in Alabama, where over 6,000 workers are about to vote whether to form Amazon's first unionized warehouse in the US. This could pave the way for more worker organizing against the dangerous Big Tech behemoth. In response, Amazon hired a Koch-backed anti-union consultant to help thwart the crucial election. Organizing a union at a monopolistic company Amazon isn't easy. Jeff Bezos is using every bit of the power and wealth he has amassed to stop workers. We need to support them -- and that includes regulating and breaking up Amazon's power, reducing their overall power and size and making it easier for workers to organize.

The following statements are from Service Industry Workers in Kent County: As a service industry worker I had to go back to work because my family relies on me and unemployment is a nightmare. Since being back to work everyday customers refuse to stay masked and cuss at us for following the Covid guidelines to keep the community safe. We endure name calling, harsh attitudes, terrible tipping and overall unsafe conditions no matter how hard we stick to the guidelines. The only way to work safely is to make sure those of us on the front line are vaccinated. We risk getting our loved ones sick by being exposed to people who have no respect for the general population. Our mental and physical health are being put at risk every time we are serving a new table. Vaccinate all people working with the general public or close these facilities until we can. We can't keep putting people at risk. - Kim, bartender I'm a server and a host at a breakfast restaurant downtown Grand Rapids, working during the pandemic has been really hard. Our waits are far longer due to being at 25%, now 50% capacity, and people are not understanding whatsoever. We also have had so much trouble about people wearing masks. We have full on arguments at the door because people don't want to wear them. These people don't realize my job is at stake, my money to pay my bills and keep me going is at stake. To them it's just a meal. - Anonymous, server/host I work for creative dining services at Aquinas and a few weeks ago there was an employee that got Covid and they were hush hush about it. Students are constantly coming in improperly wearing their masks and eating while standing and making my job more difficult. I work full time and i’m scared i’m gonna get Covid because of this recklessness. - Sonny, supervisor

President Biden's predecessor FDR signed the New Deal Legislation to bring the country out of Depression and also brought forth FEDERAL THEATRE. We the actors and artists are out of work and are in a similar situation comparable to the Depression era of 1930's with Covid 19 still hanging over our heads. All the theaters along with so many businesses are shut down. Actors and artists are out of work since the beginning of the Pandemic. FEDERAL THEATRE was a successful project and it created a new awareness among the public and work for all the actors and others that depend on theatre. An idea is a most powerful thing. And theatre is the place to nurture those ideas in these changing and rebuilding times. It is the Federal Theatre that gave opportunity to everyone to become an artist. And some of the most wonderful artists came out of that project, for instance, Arthur Miller, Orson Welles to name a couple. It's not just commercial theatre that only few people can afford to go. Federal Theatre is open for everyone and it is full of new ideas. It is time to restart this project again. Other Western countries have it in one form or the other of this theatre and they produce wonderful plays and create excellent artists. You need ART and a person can not live by bread alone. Coming out of Pandemic and being cooked up in self-containment in our apartments, it is essential to have a theatre to go to, that is cheap and affordable to everyone, not just for few. Moreover, It is good for the society and for everyone's mental health. Tell President Biden to publicly support this proposal and sign it as part of the New Stimulus legislation or a separate Executive Order from the White House.

Girls are always treated like objects and it’s not ok if we show some skin then it’s wrong but then we get ISS if and have to cover in duck tape too it’s not ok girls populate this world and all we get in return is these stupidly high expectation standards and ofc we get punished when we do anything that isn’t in these expectations girls are already objectified enough and we deserve more respect for everything we all have to go through and I know for a fact that half of the adults now tried to wear stuff kinda like how we do today and then we’re told they couldn’t and then got mad don’t let y’all’s past control our lives are y’all wearing what we chose to wear no we wear what we are comfortable in and what we chose so don’t go making us be something we aren’t girls all over are being punished for wearing something and for expressing them selves it’s not ok for how girls are treated some girls can get away with wearing skirts and shorts and anything else showing skin but half the other girls get punished for it is ridiculous for how higher these standards are for girls! I could go on and on and on about the whole dress code situation but I wanna get at least maybe 100 or 200 signs from other girls who agree ever from any other schools it can be honestly any women who agrees with me and my school cause this isn’t ok! More people can sign if they want to but honestly I just want people who agree to sign!

Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Pramila Jayapal just announced their bold plan to pass a wealth tax. They're going to need our help to pass it. Billionaires made more than $900 billion during the pandemic. Warren's plan would create a two percent tax on assets over $50 million dollars, which would generate $2.75 trillion over ten years. As the pandemic exposed the deepest faults in American society, wealth inequality has taken off to new extremes. The wealthy have seen rising investment values, while the rest of the US is careening down a path marked with evictions, debt, and unemployment. Can you tell Congress to pass a wealth tax?

Congress has not raised the minimum wage in more than a decade. Yet the cost of housing, transportation, food, and clothing has soared. Amidst the worst economic crisis in a century, families need a higher minimum wage. Now. In cities and states that have raised the minimum wage to $15 or higher, the results have been positive. More jobs, more income, more economic security. But many states, led by right-wingers, still refuse to raise their wage above the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour. Democrats could use their control of Congress and the White House to raise the minimum wage to $15. But the Senate parliamentarian ruled it can't be done by reconciliation. And the filibuster means they'd have to find 10 Republican votes for a $15 minimum wage, which is very unlikely. Senators must end the filibuster so Congress can finally raise the wage to $15!

Replacing the current fleet with all-electric, non-polluting vehicles will prevent many thousands of premature deaths, reduce toxic exposure for the delivery drivers themselves and significantly reduce the US Governments’ CO2 emissions. It would also boost US-based EV vehicle manufacturing and charging infrastructure build-out, creating well-paid jobs and reducing costs and removing barriers for everyone to go electric. These vehicles will be on our roads for the next 20-30 years. We know that weaning ourselves off carbon fuels is essential to avoid more catastrophic climate changes. Please join me in urging the USPS Postmaster General and USPS Governing Board Members to change this decision and electrify the fleet. --------------------------------------------------------- Sources: (1) USPS.com, "U.S. Postal Service Awards Contract to Launch Multi-Billion-Dollar Modernization of Postal Delivery Vehicle Fleet". https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2021/0223-multi-billion-dollar-modernization-of-postal-delivery-vehicle-fleet.htm (2) Reuters, "U.S. Postal chief commits to 10% of new delivery fleet as electric vehicles". https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-postal-service-vehicles/u-s-postal-chief-commits-to-10-of-new-delivery-fleet-as-electric-vehicles-idUSKBN2AO2LI (3) USPS.com, "USPS position on Next Generation Delivery Vehicles". https://about.usps.com/news/statements/011516.htm

The Freeze Relief in the form of cancellation of February utility bills or payment of all Texas residents lights, gas and water bills by the State will provide a high level of relief for Texas residents as we struggle to recover from this natural disaster. Already residents have received light bills in excess of $1000’s of dollars for their electric bill for a disaster they didn’t cause, contribute to neither could they control it. Currently in Texas, FEMA is offering water and few generators due to the freeze however devastated communities and residents should be relieved from the burden of paying utilities bills they did not foresee coming. We understand FEMA is also offering Small Business Loans for relief for those who are qualified, however we are calling on Texas Congress to provide payment in full or complete cancellation of all Texas residents lights, water and gas bills caused by the Freeze because many households are left without the ability to pay these excessive bills and because they were without these services for an extended period of time.

Many of the hard working farm workers, who labor in the fields and call this country home, lack the security that citizenship offers. Their US citizen children are terrified their mother or father may not come home from work. Farm workers have been waiting for decades. We need to pass federal legislation to give farm workers a path forward.

Representatives from ARC-SouthWest and South first were requested to stay at home until further notice. We were not offered to work from home, just like we have been doing since Covid started. This time, we were not offered any type of solution besides staying at home. On 2/22/21, we were ask to either use PTO or not get paid. There is a third option that upper management decided to ignore "reserved PTO" which is used for "emergencies". However, this option was never offered. This is hurtful, as an ARC employee I feel used. We have been working throughout Covid19 since March of 2020. We never complained about not getting hazardous pay or a raise. This is completely unfair and it should be illegal to steal PTO from employees. Upper management has been stepping all over us, as employee appreciation we got 1 canned water container from Rainwater... Why not using that money and give us at least a .5 raise? In the meantime we are opening 2 new clinics in Austin Texas. Please look into this, is not only ARC, other companies are following the steps of ARC. To top the cherry, most of our spouses are getting covered by "hazardous weather" and they get to keep their hard earned PTO. ARC needs to be brought to light and exposed their unfair treatment to their employees. I know we are not HEB but they should act better than this. Thank you for your time and consideration. Att: Really pissed off ARC employee

Democrats are in charge of the Senate -- and they’re vowing to use their majority to make cannabis legal.1 When Mitch McConnell was Senate Majority Leader any cannabis legalization bill was dead on arrival. But guess who’s not running the Senate anymore? Now we have a clear and urgent pathway to legalize cannabis and pass restorative justice reforms to address the millions of people harmed by the disastrous “War on Drugs.” Sign the petition: Tell Congress to repeal the cannabis ban and pass restorative justice reforms now! Back in November, along with electing President Joe Biden, every cannabis legalization or decriminalization initiative won at the ballot box.2 That’s a clear mandate. Of course, legalization is only part of the process. Right now, even though cannabis is legal in 15 states and DC, an estimated 40,000 people are still in jail for cannabis offenses.3 Democrats in Congress have been introducing bills to legalize cannabis and restore justice for low-level drug offenders for years. But Senator Mitch McConnell blocked cannabis legalization in the Senate. But McConnell no longer runs the Senate, and Democrats control Congress and the White House -- for now. If we want to see an end to the “War on Drugs,” then Democrats need to act now. Sign the petition: Tell Congress to repeal the cannabis ban and pass restorative justice reforms now! Sources: 1. CNBC, “Democratic senators will push to pass pot reform bill this year,” February 1, 2021. 2. Ibid. 3. Forbes, “With 40,000 Americans Incarcerated For Marijuana Offenses, The Cannabis Industry Needs To Step Up, Activists Said This Week,” June 26, 2020.

The process to hire a new Chief of Police for Prince George’s County must be fully transparent. As PG County residents we must be included in the hiring process in ways that go beyond a mere community survey. The role of the police chief is far too great and needs to be accountable to the members of the community with all police matters.