The Newsletter for the Movement for Economic, Climate, and Racial Justice
|
If “Knicks in 5” is the mantra of the moment, “Go New York go” represents a historical truth about New Yorkers. We don’t stop. We’ve been hustling for generations to provide for our families and build the City we’ve grown to love. Often, we do what we need to do just to survive. Many New Yorkers wake up feeling like they are in the fourth quarter and down 29 points. Rent is due and I don’t have enough. The doctor says I need this treatment but it costs too much. My roof is leaking but my landlord is doing nothing about it. We watched our team bring home our first NBA championship in 53 years and felt a glimmer of hope that it is possible to win, even when the referees, the odds, everything in our life, are stacked against us. As New Yorkers took to the streets and donned our orange and blue, we felt collective hope, camaraderie, optimism, community, and joy. Let’s figure out a way to hold onto it. We’re ready to win so much more for New York.
|
Photo Credit: Alliance for Downtown New York
|
ALIGN Celebrates 15 Years of Community And Labor Power
|
This year, ALIGN turns 15! Fifteen years of building coalitions, challenging corporate power, delivering worker protections, and finding common ground. We have raised wages for over three million workers, won a Walmart-free NYC and defeated Amazon’s HQ2 bid, and passed New York’s nation-leading Climate Act.
Back in 2011 when we were founded, Occupy Wall Street was just getting off the ground, galvanizing a new generation of activists fighting against corporate greed. New Yorkers were stunned when we felt a record 5.8 earthquake and weathered a snowstorm before Halloween — early signs of our climate crisis in action. Amid this backdrop, ALIGN was born: a home for labor, climate, and community to build a greater New York, together.
To celebrate our anniversary, we are launching the $15 for 15 Years campaign, and asking you to make a recurring monthly gift of $15. One dollar for every year ALIGN has been fighting for a New York with clean air, green jobs, and dignity and justice for all workers. None of our success would be possible without people like you showing up, year after year, to keep this movement going. Will you stand with us today by becoming a $15 for 15 Years supporter?
|
More photos from ALIGN’s birthday party here.
|
|
Amazon Workers Fight Back on Prime Week
|
During Amazon’s Four-Day Prime Week, Amazon Labor Union-IBT Local 1 workers in the Staten Island warehouse (JFK8) marched on the boss to call out health and safety issues that plague their workplace. Prime Week is known to exacerbate dangers in warehouses across the country due to the company’s already-inhumane worker practices and heightened demand. In their message to the boss, workers called out the corporation’s failure to implement the Warehouse Worker Injury Reduction Program, a groundbreaking law that would ensure that employers implement safety precautions to minimize injury in the workplace. ALIGN and Amazon workers led the passage of this law in 2024 and Amazon failed to meet the deadline for compliance. Workers also demanded the recognition of a “Worker Safety Committee,” made possible by the NY HERO Act, another law we helped pass in 2022 to protect workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Unlike Amazon’s current faux-safety committee, the NY HERO worker safety committee will give workers more power to bring management to the table to discuss health and safety on their own terms. Please share and amplify out the video of their action!
|
We are proud to have Executive Director Theodore Moore appointed to Mayor Mamdani’s Commission on Government Efficiency! The commission will tackle the bureaucratic barriers that create delays, waste money, and erode public trust in government. Moore will be at the forefront to ensure our government will deliver on housing, childcare, public infrastructure, and key services with the speed and urgency New Yorkers deserve.
|
ALIGN joined Mayor Mamdani and community organizations to sign an Executive Order to protect workers from extreme heat.
|
Knicks in Five! ALIGN joins the Ticker-Tape Parade to celebrate our NBA champions.
|
We joined Amazon Teamsters and Esly Paredes, an Amazon worker who was fired for speaking out on Tik Tok, to lobby Council Members on the Delivery Protection Act. Paredes was reinstated this past week!
|
|
Lisa Thomas, Deputy Director, leads a spokesperson training for our $30 minimum wage campaign.
|
|
