Dear ,

Today, Pastor Juan Carlos led essential and excluded workers on day 20 of a hunger strike in an Easter Sunday service to demand that Governor Cuomo include $3.5 billion in funding for undocumented and formerly incarcerated workers who have been excluded from any pandemic relief for over an entire year.

Yesterday, hunger strikers and advocacy groups across New York City including Make the Road, New York Immigration Coalition, and Street Vendors Project also went to Yonkers to demand Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins to hold the line in supporting workers. Dianne joined both actions and participated in civil disobedience yesterday by blocking traffic at a busy intersection.

Dianne participated in civil disobedience yesterday by blocking traffic at a busy intersection to demand funding for excluded workers.

Workers on day 20 of a hunger strike participated in an Easter Sunday service to demand funding for excluded workers.

Too many of the essential workers who have kept our city running over the past year — putting their lives in danger for us over and over again — are suffering because of the state’s cruel attitude toward our fellow New Yorkers. The suffering and neglect must come to an end.

We now have the opportunity to rectify the injustice our neighbors have suffered over the years by including $3.5 billion to #FundExcludedWorkers in the yet-to-be-passed state budget — without the governor’s unreasonable proposed restrictions on how our undocumented neighbors can qualify for these much-needed survival funds.

Here’s the good news: It’s not too late to include this funding in the state budget — but our elected leaders need to know that New Yorkers will not stand for a budget that doesn’t fund excluded workers. These are a few things we can do to aid the work organizers have been fighting for this funding for the past year:

Contact your state representatives and tell them to fund excluded workers.
- Look up your assembly member here and your state senator here.
Contact Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie and tell them to stand strong on $3.5 billion in funding for excluded workers!
- Contact Leader Stewart-Cousins here.
- Contact Speaker Heastie here.

We also need to help the Fund Excluded Workers Coalition to turn up the volume on social media! Post using #FundExcludedWorkers and let Gov. Cuomo know that everyday New Yorkers will not stand down in the face of this injustice.

Here are some example scripts you can personalize for calls, emails and social media posts, courtesy of the FEW Coalition:

Hundreds of thousands of workers on COVID front lines have received ZERO gov't relief. A humanitarian disaster that will cripple our economic recovery. Stay strong @CarlHeastie @AndreaSCousins. Don’t leave many of them behind! #FundExcludedWorkers

I stand in solidarity with the excluded workers across this nation who have been blocked from Unemployment and other relief. Dozens entered day 20 of a hunger strike on Easter Sunday - they have received NOT A PENNY of income support. #FundExcludedWorkers.

Together, we can fight for a budget that includes relief for the New Yorkers who need it most.

In solidarity,

Team Dianne