Weekly News from Your Wisconsin Democratic Party Chair       Dear fellow Wisconsin Democrats, It's huge news: Governor Evers has issued a statewide mask mandate. And predictably, Republicans are already making veiled threats to block the move. Doing this would be the first time they've done any work in the legislature for over 100 days -- all while the pandemic has only been getting worse. Governor Evers's mandate requires Wisconsinites over 5 to wear a mask when indoors outside the whole with non-household members present, or outdoors when distancing is impossible. It's a common-sense and very powerful measure to curb the spread of COVID-19. If we want to reopen schools and get the economy back, this is a no-brainer. Which makes it all the more infuriating that Scott Fitzgerald is now talking to GOP State Senators to gauge support for a joint resolution in the state legislature to oppose the mask rule—and talking about legal challenges as well. Meanwhile, some GOP-aligned county sheriffs are saying they won't even enforce it. The Wisconsin GOP is a microcosm of Trump's GOP nationally. Trump should be supporting masks nationwide—but instead, he's musing about attempting to delay the Nov 3 election (don't worry, the Constitution says he can't). The coronavirus poses the ultimate test of leadership. Governor Evers is meeting that test. The Republican Party, from the White House down to our state legislature, is abjectly failing. That's why we must vote them out—and it's why we'll win. Yours in solidarity, Ben     FIGHT on the Issues & FIGHT to Win   Senate Republicans Threaten Wisconsin’s Economy and Welling   The coronavirus pandemic has only gotten worse the last few weeks (due to a glaring lack of leadership from Republicans at all levels of government), yet Republicans in Congress are trying to put the American people at even greater risk with their new “relief” package. Democrats have been fighting to maintain the $600 per week unemployment benefit that is helping families get by at a time when it is more dangerous than ever to go to work. Sen. Ron Johnson, however, is proposing slashing that benefit to $200. Sen. Johnson himself has said that he doesn’t understand why working families need more during these tough times. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development has also said that this bill would put even greater stress on our state’s unemployment system, hurting the Wisconsinites that need support the most. We desperately need Republicans out of leadership, from the White House down to the legislature, because they have made it clear that they do not care at all about the people they are supposed to represent. They have continually made it harder for our government to solve this crisis, and are putting the needs of corporations over every other American who just wants the crisis to end. Joe Biden has a comprehensive plan to Build Back Better than we were before, and we cannot wait to put him in the oval office this fall.     A Huge Weekend of Action   We had an incredibly successful weekend of action thanks to all of you who took time to volunteer and fight for democracy this weekend! Thousands of volunteers made hundreds of thousands of calls, putting us into an even stronger position as we go into the fall. The clock is ticking and we are going to need all the help we can get to put Joe Biden in the White House and send Republicans packing up and down the ballot. Thank you for all of your hard work, and we can’t wait to spend more time fighting for a better America.         Republicans Continue Attacks on Seniors   This week, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a scathing story about shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE) at senior care facilities across Wisconsin. The article details how the Trump Administration sent “unusable” supplies to nursing home facilities such as expired gloves and masks not formally approved by the FDA. This is unacceptable, but unsurprising from a party that has built its legacy on tearing down the institutions that the seniors among us rely on to get by. As DPW spokesperson Philip Shulman said this week, “On the anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid, Trump is still continuing his relentless attacks on health care and pursuing a failed coronavirus response where he is more concerned with tweeting about bogus cures than pursuing a comprehensive testing strategy.” We deserve more from our federal government and cannot wait to elect Joe Biden this November to protect ourselves and our families.       INCLUDE & RESPECT   Biden Centers Equity as Part of his Build Back Better Plan   This week Vice President Biden released a plan that centers equity as a pillar of his Build Back Better plan. This ambitious proposal comprehensively rethinks how our economy is structured, and addresses centuries of systemic discrimination against Black, Latinx, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), and Native American workers. This is especially relevant for Wisconsin, which has a deeply-rooted racist history that affects thousands of our neighbors on a daily basis. DPW and the Biden campaign organized a video press conference this week with Congresswoman Gwen Moore, State Senator LaTonya Johnson and Milwaukee Common Council President Cavalier Johnson to talk about the need for equity in Wisconsin. State Sen. Johnson, speaking to the importance of the plan and the burden of COVID-19 on her community this week, said, “Our world has changed a lot over the past few months, but the one thing that has remained the same is that Black and brown people in Wisconsin are needlessly dying because of the disparities that are growing even worse because of Trump’s gross mismanagement of the coronavirus pandemic… This is why I am so very excited to put my support behind Joe Biden and his leadership, so we can finally get the leadership that this country needs.”     EMPOWER the Grassroots   We NEED You on Our Voter Protection Team!   The clock is ticking and this election is coming! Trump and the GOP have made it clear that they will do anything to win, even if it means attacking the bedrock of our democracy-- our right to vote. That is why we need YOUR help, because you can make a HUGE difference in ensuring that every vote counts this November. Sign up HERE to save our vote-- no experience required!     Request Your Absentee Ballot NOW for August 11!   That’s right, we have another election coming up! If you or anyone you know has not requested their absentee ballot yet, please follow THIS LINK. It is vitally important to participate in this election, not just to participate, but to build for the general election. As the late John Lewis says, “Democracy is not a state. It is an act.”   Weekend of Action NEXT Weekend!   Next weekend we are hosting another Weekend of Action from August 7-8! Sign up HERE or click below to be a part of our vital organizing team that is going to win this election for the country. The countdown to victory continues!

 

This week, Governor Tony Evers demonstrated true leadership by enacting a statewide masking order. The order eliminates a regulatory patchwork and brings all Wisconsin communities in line with common sense and science. Actions that promote a safer workplace are in everyone’s interest. Wearing a mask and following other guidelines like social distancing protects working people and their families, and is the most effective strategy for everyone to help get our economy back on track. However, it’s not enough to have workers wear masks if the unmasked public they serve are free to cough on them. This is an order we literally can all live with.

As the statewide masking order goes into effect Saturday, union volunteers of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO Union Mask Brigade are delivering homemade masks to nurses and healthcare workers at Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Division. Today’s Union Mask Brigade mask drop-off was in tandem with a PPE giveaway sponsored by the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, AFT.

“Keeping workers safe in the job and ensuring a safe work environment for all is how we beat this virus,” said Jamie Lucas, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals, AFT. “Thank you to the Union Mask Brigade and the AFT for today’s PPE delivery. Shout out to the Wisconsin AFL-CIO and all the volunteer union members sewing and donating supplies to the Union Mask Brigade.”

Meet members of the Union Mask Brigade, download patterns to make face masks or face shields at home, and join the effort to get front line workers virus protection at unionmaskbrigade.org

From the moment the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the Wisconsin AFL-CIO has been calling for the universal use of appropriate personal protective equipment, including face coverings, in every workplace. When PPE shortages left those on the job exposed, our members jumped into action and formed the Union Mask Brigade to make and distribute masks to workers who needed them.

“Our union has our back to help us limit COVID-19 exposure in the workplace,” said Angelina Wyatt-Jolly, a registered nurse at Milwaukee Behavioral Health and union member with the Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals. “As healthcare workers, we risk illness and infection every day, but with proper PPE like what has been distributed today by the WFNHP and the Wisconsin AFL-CIO, we are much safer and better able to care for our patients. The Union Mask Brigade cloth masks are beautiful, thank you.”

In every workplace, it is morally and legally incumbent upon employers to create and maintain conditions that, to the greatest extent possible, allow employees to work in safe and healthy conditions. As we push for employers in every sector to provide Personal Protective Equipment, our worker-powered Union Mask Brigade is stepping in to make sure no one is left unprotected. Today’s mask delivery was just the latest in a series of worker-to-worker mask deliveries.

Sensible public policy like Governor Evers’ mask order and the can-do spirit of the Union Mask Brigade are an effective combination in our collective fight against the pandemic.

Join the Union Mask Brigade today at unionmaskbrigade.org

In Solidarity,

Stephanie Bloomingdale, President

Dennis Delie, Secretary-Treasurer