FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact
Kevin Zeese, Press Secretary
kzeese@howiehawkins.us
Hawkins/Walker Back Nationwide “Strike for Black Lives”
“The agenda of the working class is our agenda”
(Syracuse, NY and Florence, SC, July 20, 2020) – Today, Green Party candidates for president and vice president, Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker, urged support for the nationwide strike today in more than 25 cities that are calling for higher wages, COVID protections and the right to unionize being organized by a coalition of Black advocacy organizations and unions.
Green Party Presidential candidate Howie Hawkins said, “With the COVID virus raging across the country, workers should not be forced to work in unsafe conditions. Unemployment is at Depression-era levels and the US needs major investment in putting people back to work. The Hawkins/Walker agenda calls for an Economic Bill of Rights, the Ecosocialist Green New Deal that will create 30 million good-paying jobs, and a COVID crisis agenda that will slow and stop the pandemic. In April we called for a series of steps to respond to COVID including Medicare paying the cost of testing and treatment for COVID as well as using the Defense Production Act to provide necessary safety equipment for essential workers.”
“Workers need to stand up for their rights, as the two parties of the millionaires are not listening,” added Vice Presidential candidate Angela Walker, “The people need to lead from below. One of the tools for building the power of the people is strikes. We applaud every worker who walks off the job to demand the government provide fair wages, safe working conditions, and collective bargaining. Today’s strike shows Black and brown people stepping into the leadership of not only the movement against police violence but for worker rights.”
Since March, there have been more than 900 wildcat strikes according to PayDay Report which tracks strikes. “This worker’s revolt demonstrates the need for a new approach to worker’s rights. Hawkins/Walker will continue to make the interests of worker’s a top priority in our campaign,” said Hawkins.
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