“We echo the demands laid out by Bernie Sanders…, as he calls for state and national hotlines for residents to use for resources, information, and updates. We agree that this level of transparency must be relayed by scientists and health experts and not politicians. A vaccine, when developed, must be free, and that any medicine developed to help with the crisis must be sold at cost. The ICU and ventilator shortage must be addressed, and medical residents, retired medical staff, and other medical personnel should be mobilized, staffed with proper instruction and personal protective equipment, to ensure adequate staffing. We also agree with his call for emergency unemployment assistance at 100% of a worker’s income for ALL people, including those who work off tips, gig workers, domestic workers, and independent contractors. There must be emergency shelters erected, complete with healthcare and food, for the unhoused, domestic violence survivors, and college students.
Finally, all of this social spending should be paid for by taxing the rich. The American working class has repeatedly bailed out the same massive corporations and billionaires that cause and exacerbate crises…..”
Now is the Time for Solidarity from DSA
The depth of the COVID-19 crisis and the rapidity of the changes that are occurring in all of our lives have left us all feeling a bit off balance and with more than a few questions. Here in Franklin County we are just beginning to have confirmed cases. We want to share with you some comments and ideas that will help keep have come across our desks in the last few days that we thought were valuable in keeping us focused on the key issues at hand.
Taking Care of Ourselves
Please heed the CDC and DPH directives on social distancing, washing your hands, etc. These are the best tools we have now to prevent this from being a worst case scenario. 80% of the cases of COVID-19 will be minor, but we need to follow the directives of health officials to make it possible that everyone will be medically treated appropriately. If you feel sick, please call your medical provider (doctor, hospital, health center) before you arrive there. Some may not have test kits and may need to send you somewhere else.
Want more information? https://mass211.org/
Information from Senator Jo Comerford
Jo has been sending out state information regularly. Here is the most recent one Jo Comerford’s news blog. Sign-up on the website to get them regularly.
(If you wish to discuss your concerns with Jo and her staff, check out the schedule of community conference calls here: COVID-19 Conference Calls with Jo Comerford) or contact Jo directly at Jo.Comerford@masenate.gov
Local Political Action Needed
There are several things that we need to keep an eye on and we should contact our State Representatives to get them to support these demands.
1. Education – All School employees should continue to be paid, even if they are no longer working due to school closings. The state government should provide financial assistance to school districts to ensure this. We think that they should be paid at their full salary level.
We have learned that the Greenfield School Committee has voted to continue paying school personnel throughout the crisis. What are other school departments doing?
2. Health and Human Services – Childcare should be provided and paid for, to healthcare workers and others who have to work.
3. Public Safety – Department of Correction and House of Correction (county jail) employees and prisoners must be provided with adequate soap and water, hand sanitizer, and disinfected work and living conditions (prison cells) to not be vulnerable to the Coronavirus.
4. Labor and Workforce – Twenty thousand people in Massachusetts filed for unemployment this week alone. Workers who are no longer working, due to their companies or businesses being closed or having reduced economic activity should receive 100% of their pay through unemployment insurance.
5. Housing and Economic Development -There should be a Statewide moratorium on evictions, and foreclosures due to people being out of work or earning less because of the corona virus.
6. Local Services – The state government must provide financial support to towns and cities, to ensure that municipal and school employees continue to be paid, and local services maintained
7. Water and electricity– There must be a moratorium on any disconnecting of any utilities because of non-payment during this crisis. this includes water, electricity, internet and gas.
What we can do here in Franklin County
NEIGHBOR TO NEIGHBOR PROJECT RESPONDS TO COVID-19 VIRUS
The Franklin Community Co-op and Greening Greenfield are collaborating to assist residents who are unable to leave their homes during the COVID-19 crisis. With the assistance of a grant from the New England Grassroots Environment Fund, these two groups have created Neighbor to Neighbor, a project to get food and other essential items to people who are unable to leave their homes at this time of crisis.
The Neighbor to Neighbor Project will not only deliver food to people who are unable to leave their homes, but also provide rides to medical appointments, dog walking, pick up children’s school lunches from school sites, and other things as they come up. “We see this as a universal response to the coronavirus crisis here in Franklin County,” said Kanabay. “We want to keep everyone as healthy as possible.”
For more information about Neighbor to Neighbor and how you might use this service or help out e-mail, Sarah Kanabay at sarah.kanabay@franklincommunity.coop or call 413-325-4625.
Western Mass Mutual Aid
An online group called Western Mass Mutual Aid has developed. It covers a fairly large geographic area, but may be helpful for some people. If you are going to use this, check the tabs on the bottom of the pages. When you click onto those tabs, the page will come up for the particular services being offered.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1L2ULs-Faf9cJ2eYU5xgc6ieXqsbpSrsH1BG7Hhl_2Gs/edit#gid=1727309836
What we can do more broadly
We need to ensure that all workers are receiving as much support as possible. This is going to be a protracted issue. We are going to need multiple sources of assistance for workers. In light of that we ask you to contact Senators Markey and Warren and Congressmen McGovern and Neil to ask them to support two proposals supported by Bernie Sanders:
- $2,000 monthly cash payments to every U.S. household to combat coronavirus.
- a moratorium on evictions, more robust unemployment insurance and a waiver on student loan payments.
See Bernie’s address to the nation here: https://berniesanders.com/issues/emergency-response-coronavirus-pandemic/?akid=7738.165537.55WYLX&rd=1&t=3&utm_campaign=em200318-1-15
An example of how things should work
Berea College is a small liberal arts college outside of Lexington, Kentucky. 100% of its students are low income with 95-98% of its students Pell eligible. 70% come from Appalachia or Kentucky and 40% are people of color. Most of these students do not have access to internet services when they are at home. All students work at least 10 hours per week to cover college related expenses.
For information about what they did and how they did it Berea College Coronavirus Response.
Help get Alex Morse Elected to Congress
Given the changed state of the world, it is getting very difficult for Alex to get the word out about his campaign for Congress. We can use all the help we can get. If you’re willing to make a few phone calls, please contact Sara at sara@alexmorseforcongress.com.