An excluded workers fund will provide much-needed relief in the form of direct cash payments to families, unemployment benefits and hazard pay other workers have received
We, the undersigned faith leaders from across Johnson County, are united in our support of an excluded workers fund paid for by the American Rescue Plan (ARP). This fund would provide desperately needed economic assistance to our undocumented and recently incarcerated neighbors, hazard pay for all low-wage workers and transformational investments in housing, transportation, farming and paid sick leave.
Excluded workers from across Johnson County and beyond have been cruelly battered by a year of lost income to themselves and their families. They have struggled to pay rent and medical bills, and to put food on their tables. These workers and their communities have fought extraordinarily high COVID-19 infection rates without health insurance to cover their treatment. The treatment of excluded workers is at odds with every moral principle we stand for.
Excluded workers do some of the hardest physical and emotional labor in our society, including growing and harvesting our local crops, serving and maintaining our local restaurants, landscaping, and caring for our loved ones. In return, they often are paid poorly and are vulnerable to wage theft and other abuses. If they are laid-off, they do not qualify for unemployment insurance, pandemic unemployment assistance or other sources of income support.
As people of faith, we know these workers by name because they are our congregants, our families and our neighbors. We worship together, share life together and we serve as volunteers and guests in food pantries, outreach centers and homeless shelters. And we know that charity alone cannot meet this need.
An excluded workers fund will provide much-needed relief in the form of direct cash payments to families, akin to stimulus checks, unemployment benefits and hazard pay other workers have received. The fund must have flexible application and proof requirements given the urgency of the needs workers face.
The provisions of the ARP are clear; local and county governments can and should spend the relief aid on premium pay for essential workers and to support those households, families, and communities hardest-hit by the pandemic and in need of the most relief.
We call on Johnson County, Iowa City and all the county municipalities to create an excluded workers fund to support undocumented and previously incarcerated workers. More than a year of misery has already passed: let us no longer defer excluded workers’ hopes for justice.
This is an open letter to Johnson County elected officials, signed by local clergy: The Reverend Joseph Sia, pastor, St. Patrick Catholic Church; The Rev. Guillermo Trevino, Jr., parochial vicar, St. Patrick Church; Imam Ousainou Keita, Al Iman Center of Iowa City Mosque; Rabbi Esther Hugenholtz, Agudas Achim Congregation, Coralville; Rev. Ignatius Valentine, pastor, St. Raphael Orthodox Church, Iowa City; Wakiza Gamez and the St. Mary of the Visitation Catholic Church Peace and Justice Commission; Dimy Doresca and St. Thomas More Social Justice Commission, Coralville; The Rev. Diana Smith, Minister, Unitarian Universalist Society, Coralville; The Rev. Sarah Rohret, pastor, St. Mark’s Methodist Church, Iowa City; Rev. Leigh Brown, Pastor, Coralville United Methodist Church; The Rev. Lauren Lyon, Rector — Trinity Episcopal Church, Iowa City; The Rev. Dr. Terry A. Purvis-Smith, Interim Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Iowa City; The Rev. William H. Lovin, Pastor, Congregational Church, UCC, Iowa City; The Rev. Ed Fitzpatrick, retired priest director, Newman Catholic Student Center, Iowa City; and The Rev. Roger Dykstra, Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Iowa City
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June 06, 2021 at 07:00PM
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Johnson County should use COVID funds to support excluded workers - The Gazette
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