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Metro Vancouver Alliance Wins Living Wage Fight
Last fall, at MVA's accountability session, candidates from four civic parties committed to taking the lead on the issue. Mayor George Robertson fulfilled his promise, putting forth the motion, which won by unanimous vote.
Read more'Better Together' Beats Back Suburban Separatist Effort
A small minority of St. George residents needed 17,859 signatures to call a vote for incorporation, an essential first step in separating the suburb from the City of Baton Rouge. After these residents turned in 18,000 signatures, 'Better Together' leaders painstakingly reviewed the list, contacting signatories to confirm they understood the significance of their signature . Over 1,100 original signatories were persuaded to submit petition withdrawal forms, thus ensuring that St. George remain part of the City.
Read moreEPISO & Allies Pass Texas' 2nd Wage Theft Ordinance in El Paso
Over the next 60 days, EPISO and Border Interfaith leaders will work with the city to consider amendments potentially granting additional powers to refuse to grant, or revoke, permits and licenses to wage theft violators.
Read moreMetro Vancouver Alliance Builds Bridges, Heals Community
The Vancouver Sun lauded Metro Vancouver Alliance for its work in building community and, most recently, for helping mostly Filipino nursing home staff get through a contentious contract dispute. Read article below for more.
Read moreVIP Reflects, Launches Organizing Drive in Leg. Districts
Texas IAF Leverages $5 Million for Job Training
Following up on its $5 million win from the last legislative session in 2013, Texas IAF leaders succeeded in ensuring that the Adult Career Education (ACE) Grant program (and its $5 million in funding) stayed on the Texas budget. This means that Texas IAF workforce development programs (like Capital IDEA, Project ARRIBA, VIDA, Project QUEST, SkillsQuest and Capital IDEA-Houston) can apply for these funds, to expand the training they already offer.
Austin Interfaith Protects Low-Income from Utility Cutoffs
When Austin Energy moved to more quickly cut off electricity from all families in arrears, including those who were not a part of the city's low-income Customer Assistance Program (CAP), Austin Interfaith stepped in to negotiate a better deal for those families making efforts to lower their debt.
Read moreCOPS / Metro Gets Reaction From City on Living Wages, and Keep Pushing
Read more"Councilman Rey Saldaña said that while he supports giving relief to taxpayers, he also would support leaving the rate the same if the funding helps increase wages for the city's lowest-paid civilian employees. Communities Organized for Public Service and the Metro Alliance have been advocating for the increase, which has been backed by some council members."
Austin Interfaith Launches Job Training Program for Teens
Modeled off the Summer Youth Employment program, created by Austin Interfaith 20 years ago in partnership with the City and County, this program will teach high schoolers leadership and soft skills like timeliness, and professional conduct. Another goal is to develop summer internships in 2016 for students who complete the leadership training. Senator Kirk Watson was in attendance at the announcement, as were AI leaders Rev. Robert Elford and Ms. Ofelia Zapata who spoke.
Read moreCOPS / Metro Crashes City Budget Meeting, Presses for Wages
COPS / Metro leader Robert Cruz, pointedly asked the city's budget director what the city intends to do with the $24 million in revenue it received in excess of forecasts when the 2015 budget was adopted last year. He asserted that he wanted some of that money go to workforce training program Project Quest and local literacy programs.
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