March, 25 2021, 12:00am EDT
Sunrise Movement's Good Jobs for All Campaign Gains Momentum, Pledge Is Launched and Signed by Senators Sanders, Markey; Reps. Bowman, Pressley, and More
WASHINGTON
Today, the Sunrise Movement officially rolled out its Good Jobs for All Pledge, which calls on leaders to commit to investing $10 trillion over the next decade to combat climate change and guarantee good jobs for all.
The text of the pledge is as follows:
I commit to doing everything in my power to pass legislation that guarantees good jobs for all, invests $10 trillion over the next decade to create millions of union jobs addressing the crises of climate change, economic inequality, and systemic racism, and puts money into the hands of people and communities, not the wealthy few.
"We live in a moment of historic crises -- a health crisis, an economic inequality crisis, a racial justice crisis, and a climate crisis that looms over it all. With so much work to do building a better society that works for all of us, there's no reason anyone in the richest country in the history of the world should be unemployed, underemployed, or working a job that isn't in the public interest," said Varshini Prakash, Executive Director of the Sunrise Movement. "That's why we're calling on every single member of Congress to take the Good Jobs for All pledge, demonstrating their commitment to enact policies that meet the scale of the crises we're facing and puts us on a path to a Green New Deal that guarantees a good job to anyone who wants one. We're going to put on the pressure to make sure that they do. And if they don't, well then they're really gonna hear from us -- we take fighting for good jobs and a liveable future seriously."
Since its inception, a number of political partners and members of Congress have signed onto the pledge, standing with the movement and its vision for a Green New Deal future.
"I stand with the Sunrise Movement and am proud to sign their Good Jobs for All Pledge. The climate crisis poses an existential threat to our planet, but it also brings massive opportunity to redress historic injustices and build a better future for all. We can combat the worst effects of the climate crisis while creating millions of good union jobs at the same time," said Senator Ed Markey. "With a Green New Deal, we can fight for environmental injustice, ignite a clean energy revolution across our country, invest in bold and green infrastructure projects, and put people back to work following this economic recession. This is job creation that will save all of creation."
"Establishing the legal right to a good job for every person will help address the current employment crisis, create the foundation for an equitable economic recovery, and ensure that we are able to meet the pressing challenges facing our communities," said Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. "That's why I recently introduced a history-making resolution in Congress calling for a federal job guarantee, and it's why I'm proud to be among the first to sign the Good Jobs for All Pledge. I'm excited to work alongside the Sunrise Movement - as well as my colleagues, advocates, and activists across the country - to advance bold employment policies that ensure every person has access to a good job that pays a living wage, and that we put people to work addressing urgent priorities, like the climate crisis."
This comes after Sunrise launched their "Good Jobs for All" campaign, laying the organizing groundwork and economic vision for a post-pandemic society that puts millions of people to work stopping the climate crisis, while avoiding the fatal political mistakes of the early Obama years of not acting at the full scale of the economic crisis, and falling short in delivering on promises made.
The list of partners and members of Congress who have signed on to the pledge as original signers are below.
Members of Congress:
Senator Edward Markey (D-MA)
Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT)
Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY16)
Representative Brendan Boyle (D-PA02)
Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ12)
Representative Adriano Espaillat (D-NY13)
Representative Ayanna Pressley (D-MA07)
Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI13)
Political Partners:
Alliance for Youth Action
Common Defense
Communications Workers of America (CWA)
Democracy for America
Indivisible
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades
March For Our Lives
NDN Collective
NextGen America
Pacific Environment
United We Dream
United for Respect
U.S. High Speed Rail Association
Working Families Party
Sunrise Movement is a movement to stop climate change and create millions of good jobs in the process.
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Despite the Pentagon's repeated failures to pass audits and various alarming policies, 81 Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives voted with 200 Republicans on Wednesday to advance a $883.7 billion annual defense package.
The Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2025, unveiled by congressional negotiators this past Saturday, still needs approval from the Senate, which is expected to vote next week. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Wednesday that he plans to vote no and spoke out against the military-industrial complex.
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Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), co-chairs and co-founders of the Defense Spending Reduction Caucus, said in a joint statement, "Time and time again, Congress seems to be able to find the funds necessary to line the pockets of defense contractors while neglecting the problems everyday Americans face here at home."
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As Omar, a leading critic of the U.S.-backed Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip, also pointed out: "The NDAA includes a provision that blocks the Pentagon from using data on casualties and deaths from the Gaza Ministry of Health or any sources relying on those statistics. This is an alarming erasure of the suffering of the Palestinian people, ignoring the human toll of ongoing violence."
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Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.), who voted against the NDAA, directed attention to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's proposed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), set to be run by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy.
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