Put the People First in Tennessee!
Put the People First needs your help to build a better future for Tennessee! We have been working hard over the past year organizing statewide actions for our campaign, expanding our coalition, and making sure that Governor Haslam and his allies in the legislature know that the needs of everyday people should come first in our state. Our campaign has a lot in store for 2015, but we need your support to take this movement to the next level!
Your contribution will support:
- Providing materials and logistics for our statewide actions
- Purchasing NationBuilder software to help us reach more Tennesseans to build our movement
- Hosting a strategic summit for activists across the state to strengthen our campaign
- Rural outreach to make sure all people’s voices are heard in our movement
- Translating our movement's communications into multiple languages
Put the People First is a coalition of worker, community, civil rights, student, and faith groups across Tennessee fighting for living wage jobs, fully funded and equitable public education, Medicaid expansion, and restoration of our democratic rights that are under attack by our governor and his elite cronies.
Our coalition has come together because we have a vision for a new Tennessee – one where there are good jobs that provide decent pay and benefits; where all children have access to free, quality, equal public education directed by teachers, not corporate lobbyists; and where all of us can participate in the democratic process without interference or intimidation. We build our movement and lift our voices through activism by our coalition partners and individual members, as well as Put the People First statewide actions. The coalition includes several labor unions, worker organizations, immigrant rights organizations, faith coalitions and congregations, and students.
The sad fact is that Governor Bill Haslam, the Republican supermajority in the General Assembly, and their allies have abandoned everyday people to pursue an agenda that favors huge corporations and the super wealthy. Under our state’s current leadership, income inequality has soared to an all-time high, while good living wage jobs that provide benefits have disappeared. In fact, between 2009 and 2011, all income growth was accrued by the top 1% of wage earners. The legislature has refused to raise the minimum wage, and has attempted to dispossess working people of basic protections like mandatory lunch breaks and overtime pay. Meanwhile the governor orchestrates massive giveaways of public money through business incentives and tax-breaks
Enough is enough, we say! The people of Tennessee have too long been second, third and often dead last in priority for the Governor and General Assembly. Our efforts will continue until all Tennesseans have access to secure living wage jobs, real public education at all levels, the ability for all of us to participate with our democratic rights to organize, protest, bargain and vote freely, and access to health care.
Follow us on social media!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people1stTN
Twitter: https://twitter.com/PutThePeople1st
Instagram: http://instagram.com/putthepeoplefirst
