Calling all past and present members of labor unions – We need your help!
Dear California Workers
Are you a member of a labor union? Do you have a family member or loved one currently imprisoned in the state of California? Were you, or someone you love, previously imprisoned in California? Do you want to end the racist control of the prison industrial complex? If so, we need your help in our fight to close state prisons!
We understand the impact that prison has on individuals and their loved ones, and want to bring in the voices of union members with experiences of imprisonment into our campaign. We believe that working with organized labor will be crucial not only for winning this campaign but also for building a more just road forward. Part of the fight will include rerouting over $1.5 billion in funds from the state budget towards other infrastructure that actually supports our communities, such as schools, healthcare, housing, and other life-affirming resources. Labor unions will be critical in advocating for meaningful contracts and dignified work as these investments move forward. In order to achieve this, we need your support!
In 2020, Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB), a formation of over 80 anti-prison organizations from across California, launched the campaign to close 10 prisons by 2025 with the People’s Plan for Prison closure. This campaign has fought diligently over the past two years to encourage Governor Newsom to close Deuel Vocational Institute (DVI) in Tracy, CA and California Correctional Center in Susanville, and we have been successful!
Now is a key moment to get involved in the campaign. Governor Newsom has announced that three more prisons can be closed starting in 2023. This is where you can come in. Are your loved ones in one of the facilities listed in our prison closure list? Are you interested in working with us on pushing forward the fight to close prisons and helping redirect funds to good paying jobs that support local communities? Join us!
There are many ways that you can support our campaign. We are working to regularly bring together a group of union members to take action in guiding the coalition to engage organized labor in this campaign, and we want to speak with you! Please email croakland@criticalresistance.org. You can also circulate our electronic sign up sheet on our website to other union members to join the fight.
If you’d like to learn more about the campaign, check out our website here. Also check out this factsheet for organizing against imprisonment with unions that has more information about how workers in Locals can support the campaign to close 10 prisons by 2025!
In Solidarity,
Critical Resistance
Download & share a pdf version of the above labor outreach letter and accompanying factsheet here.