Frontline Workers To Descend on Phoenix In-Person and Virtually with Massive LED Truck Rally Featuring Social Media Videos Urging Sen. McSally to Stand Up for America’s Working Families; U.S. Senate Dithers on Relief for Frontline Workers, States and Local Governments Even Though America’s Richest Already Got $5 Trillion from Congress Back in March; HEROES Act Relief Critical as American Unemployment Rate Grows to 51 Million and 43 Million Americans Now at Risk of Eviction Since National Moratorium Expired
(Phoenix, AZ)—For weeks, frontline workers from neighboring California have teamed up with Arizona voters via non-stop phone banking and social media posts to target US Sen. Martha McSally of Arizona, urging her to vote for the HEROES Act and stand up for American workers – not just America’s billionaires. But Sen. McSally has been silent.
In response, on Wed., Aug. 5, 2020 at 3 PM, workers from the Golden State will join their counterparts in the Grand Canyon State to descend on Phoenix with a gargantuan LED truck that will broadcast their message to Sen. McSally using social media videos that will play on a continual and colorful loop. In a dazzling visual and aural display, frontline workers will describe aloud exactly what’s at stake for the nation if federal legislators like Sen. McSally fail to support the HEROES Act – and, thus, fail to provide relief to the frontline workers who have kept cities, counties and states across America functioning during the entire COVID-19 pandemic.
Local Phoenix essential workers – observing social distancing guidelines and COVID-19 safety procedures – will attend, while others will participate virtually given the constraints caused by the novel Coronavirus. All will join together to amplify essential voices with a clear message to Sen. McSally and other U.S. senators who possess the power to prevent economic catastrophe for literally tens of millions of hard-working American families: “Support the HEROES Act – relief for American workers, not just billionaires!”
WHO: Essential Workers from AZ and CA
WHAT: LED Truck Protest Delivering Message to Sen. McSally: “Support the HEROES ACT – Relief for American Workers, Not Just Billionaires!”
WHEN: Wednesday, August 5, 2020 at 3 PM
WHERE: 2201 E. Camelback Rd., #115, Phoenix, AZ 85016
VISUALS: Massive LED truck broadcasting a continuous loop of social media videos made by frontline workers themselves featuring looped, audible testimonials urging Sen. McSally to support the HEROES Act. Arizona and California essential workers will be present with banners and signs. Social distancing will be observed – and face masks will be strongly recommended for media attending in-person.
BACKGROUND: When the COVID-19 crisis struck America, it struck a tremendous blow to the health of our nation, with the US death toll from the novel Coronavirus recently reaching more than 150,000 and more than 4.8 million Americans infected with the illness. Response to the pandemic caused a historic economic collapse. Ordinarily, Americans could expect swift and sufficient economic relief from Washington, DC. Instead, under the Trump Administration, the only significant relief given so far has been $5 trillion to America’s richest corporations while working people got one-time stimulus checks, which barely covered the cost of a month’s rent in most major metropolitan areas.
With August upon us, the national eviction moratorium officially has expired – leaving 43 million Americans at-risk of eviction, if not homelessness, in a nation where it is estimated that over half a million people experience homelessness on a given night with just under 200,000 actually sleeping unsheltered. Simultaneously, the national unemployment rate has grown to 51 million people.
Meanwhile, meaningful financial relief for American states, counties, cities and the frontline workers who make them run has been stalled in the US Senate. Members of the US House of Representatives passed a $3 trillion HEROES Act but US Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell thinks that amount is too generous. He’s countered with the HEALS Act, which offers just $1 trillion. But the HEALS Act fails to provide comprehensive relief for American workers. It fails to prevent mass public sector layoffs that would devastate America’s public safety net. And it fails to stop the consequent economic fall-out – a result that nobody wants and that few of us can afford.
That’s why California’s frontline workers are joining Arizona’s working men and women in Phoenix on Wed., Aug. 5, 2020 at 3 PM. Together, they’ll call on Sen. McSally to heal our nation by supporting the HEROES Act and to provide relief to American workers – not just American billionaires.
CONTACT: Roxane Marquez, (213) 705-1078, roxane.marquez@seiu721.org
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