COVID Relief
With historic unemployment, many working people in the Gulf Coast have relied on direct cash assistance. We have advocated for expanded city and county programs that provide assistance to all residents of our community, including many who were left out of federal aid.
In March, we sent a letter to the City of Houston laying out our recommendations for COVID relief, and followed up with calls to council members. We also reached out Harris County to encourage them to set up a relief fund. We followed this with an ongoing campaign that has included an Action Network petition with over 500 signatories, hundreds of tracked calls to Houston councilmembers from union members using MobilCommons, press outreach, and advocacy during public comment.
In response to advocacy by the labor movement and other allied community groups, the City of Houston has implemented safety protocols for city workers and Harris County has created a relief fund to assist vulnerable working families.
We continue to advocate for further action by the City of Houston, Harris County, and other regional bodies.