Category: Social justice

May Day march & rally!

By rachael_decruz | Published April 30, 2012

May 1st. is a day that reminds us of our country’s rich history of standing up for workers rights and is an opportunity for people to come together and stand up for human rights for all.

This year, it’s more important than ever for us to join together as a community. On April 3rd, “Secure Communities” became mandatory in Washington state. This program allows local and state police to check the fingerprints of an individual they are booking into a jail against DHS immigration databases. If there is a “hit” in an immigration database, ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is automatically notified, even if the person hasn’t been convicted of a crime

“Secure Communities” erodes the trust between local law enforcement and immigrant families and leads to racial profiling. It tears families apart and wreaks havoc on our communities.

Join us on Tuesday, May 1st as we stand up and fight back!
Meet at 4:30pm at St. Mary’s Church (611 20th. Ave. S, Seattle)
Look for the Washington CAN! banner
Email Chris@washingtoncan.org to register or with question

In addition to protesting “Secure Communities,” this year’s May Day march and rally will target Wells Fargo for their investment in for-profit immigrant detention centers. Wells Fargo is one of the largest investors in Geo Group, Inc — the second largest private prison company in the world contracted by state and federal government agencies, and the company that owns the detention center in Tacoma. With “Secure Communities” now mandatory in Washington – profits for both Geo Group and Wells Fargo will increase as more families are torn apart.

Stand up for immigrant rights and workers rights by joining us on May 1st!

Also posted in Economic justice, Events, Featured, Immigration, Take Action | | Leave a comment

Tax Day Actions!

By rachael_decruz | Published April 19, 2012

On Tuesday (tax day), Washington CAN! staged actions in both Seattle and Spokane to raise awareness about the inequities in our tax structure and call on large corporations and the wealthy 1% to pay their fair share.

Seattle:

Over 150 activists joined at Westlake Park in the morning and marched to the Wells Fargo downtown. Once at the Wells Fargo, we foreclosed on Wells Fargo for not paying their fair share in taxes and put foreclosure tape up around the outside of the building. Take a look at our great photos! In addition, we held a foreclosure auction where our members auctioned off Wells Fargo’s tax breaks, their profits and the salary of their CEO, John Stumpf. Here’s a list of some reasons why we targeted Wells Fargo from the Citizens for Tax Justice corporate tax dodger report:

  • Since the 2008 bank bailout, Wells Fargo has  received $21 billion in special tax benefits
  • The big bank made almost $70 billion in profits over the last 4 years, but their effective Federal income tax rate was only 3.8% — far less than the 35% corporate tax rate set in law
  • Wells Fargo spent $14 million lobbying in Washington DC and Olympia for special rules that let the company avoid paying their fair share of taxes
  • Top executives get huge paychecks and big bonuses: CEO John Stumpf was paid $17.9 million in 2011 Continue reading »
Also posted in Economic justice, Education, Events, Featured, Health Care | | Leave a comment

Legislature finally passes a budget

By rachael_decruz | Published April 12, 2012

After much back and forth, the Legislature finally passed a budget yesterday morning. Thanks to the hard work and advocacy of our members, we had some major victories.

We fought hard throughout the session to protect the programs that were vital to our communities and our work made a measurable difference. We were able to fight off the worst of the cuts and preserve the programs that keep our families healthy.

Victories:

  • Legislators closed the corporate tax loophole for big Wall Street banks!
  • Apple Health for Kids remains fully funded
  • Basic Health (which was up for elimination) was saved
  • Disability Lifeline remains intact
  • There were no further cuts to the State Food Assistance Program (the program faced complete elimination, so it’s great news that we were able to save it, however it is still only funded at 50%)
  • No cuts to medical interpreter services
  • No cuts to education

Continue reading »

Also posted in Economic justice, Education, Featured, Health Care | | Leave a comment

Wells Fargo tax day action

By rachael_decruz | Published April 11, 2012

Next Tuesday is tax day. As millions of people throughout the country file their taxes, we’re taking to the streets to demand that large corporations and the wealthiest 1% pay their fair share.

For too long corporations and special interests have been receiving tax breaks at the expense of the 99%. If everyone paid their fair share, we could help rebuild our economy and invest in education, health care and jobs to ensure that our communities get back on track.

Despite the fact that Wells Fargo has raked in almost $70 billion in profits over the last 4 years, the big bank is one of the worst corporate tax dodgers. With $21 billion in special tax breaks since the bailout and an effective Federal income tax rate of only 3.8%, Wells Fargo is paying far less than the 35% corporate tax rate set in law.

Wells Fargo spent $14 million lobbying in Washington DC and Olympia for special rules that let the company avoid paying their fair share of taxes. Angry yet? Good!

Continue reading »

Also posted in Economic justice, Education, Events, Health Care, Take Action | | Leave a comment

99% Spring Trainings

By rachael_decruz | Published April 9, 2012

The 99% Spring is coming.

Groups from every corner of our movement—inspired by the everyday heroes of Occupy Wall Street and Madison —are planning a massive campaign of bold nonviolent direct actions to make the voices of the 99% impossible to ignore.

This week (April 9-15), in small towns and big cities all across America, 100,000 people will come together for an unprecedented national movement-wide nonviolent direct action training. We’ll learn to tell the story of our economy and what went wrong, we’ll learn the history of nonviolent direct action, and we’ll learn how we can take action and create great change in this country.

Continue reading »

Also posted in Economic justice, Events, Take Action | | Leave a comment
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