Poor People’s Campaign launches outreach season to 15 million poor and low-wage infrequent voters

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WASHINGTON – Early Saturday morning, buses from across the nation rolled into Washington D.C. as thousands of poor and low-wage voters, advocates, faith leaders and other allies peacefully descended onto the nation’s capital to show a united commitment to activating 15 million poor and low-wage infrequent voters to the polls. Following the “Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly & Moral March on Washington D.C. and to the Polls,” the Poor People’s Campaign begins a season of outreach to poor and low-wage infrequent voters across the nation who make up nearly one-third of the electorate.

On a hot and sunny day in Washington, activists unloaded buses, shared powerful testimony, and lifted up the intersectional issue agenda they want candidates to address in 2024 and beyond.

“I’m out here today because I am sick and tired of helping American Airlines bring in millions of dollars of revenue while I struggle each and every day,” said Prisicilla Hoyle, Lead Cabin Cleaner at Charlotte-Douglass International Airport and member of Airline Workers United.

“I’m also sick and tired of seeing all the working people here today across all the industries struggling off of poverty wages and being left behind. Enough is enough,” she said.

“Last fall Maximus sent out an email asking us to donate clothing to our coworkers in need. Let me say that again. A Maximus company that is paid billions of dollars asking me to donate clothes to coworkers, and that ain’t right,” said Audrianna Lewis, Maximus Call Center Worker and member of Communications Workers of America. “It’s unacceptable. In the wealthiest country, it’s gotta stop, now! My coworkers and I demand a living wage that doesn’t force us to rely on charity or government aid programs to get by. We demand coverage that is affordable and actually helps us stay healthy. We demand the ability to form a union without fear,” she said.

“We work hard while being judged for our situations and being told to work harder,” said Mindy Bergeron-Lawrence, McDonald’s employee of 21 years and member of Maine Poor People’s Campaign. “Our hours are cut and at the same time we are being asked to work up to four positions at once, hearing from customers and society that the problem is nobody wants to work anymore. This past year I witnessed a coworker lose their housing because a mistake delayed their paycheck. Pay is so low and housing costs are so high that someone can become homeless because they missed one week’s pay….We deserve better,” she said.

The powerful gathering was broadcastonline in English and Spanish to hundreds of thousands of viewers, many of whom hosted watch parties in their communities.

Poor and low-wage voters make up at least 30% of the electorate in the majority of states. In so-called battleground states it’s close to and over 40%. As the 2020 study, “Unleashing The Power of Poor And Low-Income Americans” shows, the main reason this voting block doesn’t vote is because politicians and campaigns aren’t speaking to them nor addressing the issues that most impact their lives.

In survey after survey, the overwhelming majority of Americans want living wages, union rights, paid family leave, universal access to healthcare, action on the climate crisis, voting rights protections, equal protection under the law, and tax policy that makes the wealthy pay their fair share. The Poor People’s Campaign calls on all candidates running for elected office to embrace a 17-Point Agenda, which has the power to eliminate poverty and low-wealth in America. These policies and demands include:

1. Abolishing poverty as the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.
2. A living minimum wage of at least $15 +/hour (indexed for inflation)
3. Full and expanded voting rights
4. No more voter suppression
5. Guaranteed workers’ rights & labor rights
6. Healthcare for all
7. Affordable, adequate housing
8. Strong social welfare and safety net programs
9. An end to gun violence, profit and proliferation
10. Fully protected women’s rights
11. Environmental justice that secures clean air & water
12. Justice for all Indigenous nations
13. Fully-funded public education
14. Just immigration laws
15. Addressing militarism and the war economy
16. Standing for peace not war; an immediate ceasefire in Gaza that allows humanitarian relief, the release of all hostages, and peace with justice to be pursued; and an end to genocide around the world
17. An end to hate, division, and the extremist political agenda

In the richest nation in the history of the world, 800 people die each day from poverty and low wealth. This is an unacceptable and abolishable reality that can be eradicated by enacting policies that address the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation and the denial of healthcare, militarism, and the false moral narrative of religious nationalism.

“In this time, poor people, low-wage workers, religious leaders and moral advocates are bringing our voices together to tell America that we’re ready for protest and agitation in the street; litigation in the court and legislation in the suite; and we’re bringing our massive swing vote to the ballot box,” said Bishop William J. Barber, II, national co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. ”We are not accepting the silence from the media and political establishment that ignores 800 daily deaths of poor and low-wealth people. Together, we will take this nation to higher ground.

“Poverty is a death sentence in the United States, and it doesn’t have to be this way,” said the Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, National Co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. “For too long we have been fed the lie of scarcity when we live in a world of abundance. For too long we have been divided by race, nationality, immigration status, sexuality and gender. For too long, the false narrative of religious and racial nationalism has blessed what is wrong while condemning what is right. We are building power to make this nation better for everyone. When you lift from the bottom, everyone rises.”

Following today’s gathering, the Poor People’s Campaign launched an online pledge calling on moral activists to join the mobilization effort. The national campaign and its state coordinating committees now begin a season of continued intensive field organizing and outreach to mobilize and wake the “sleeping giant” of poor and low-wage infrequent voters, who have the power to shift election outcomes in every state. For more information, visit: https://www.poorpeoplescampaign.org/mm2024/our-pledge/.

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