Armanda Legros, ABB Client & Community Advocate, testifies before the U.S. Senate HELP Committee
Dear Friend,
Two weeks ago, we honored ABB client Armanda Legros from Queens, NY for her inspiring advocacy on behalf of working families. By sharing her own story of pregnancy discrimination and speaking out for others like her, Armanda has become a powerful voice in the fight for fairness in the workplace.
Today, Armanda brought her message to Washington D.C., where she testified in a hearing before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions in support of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA) and other protections for working families. We are excited by this movement in the Committee, but we need your help to make the PWFA a reality. Armanda also spoke about the importance of paid sick time and paid family leave. ABB will continue to fight for the PWFA and paid leave, so that no worker has to face the impossible choice between their economic security and taking care of their family.
“If you truly value families, and children,” Armanda told the Committee, “then you have to make sure that the women who bear those children and raise them can earn the fair and equal wages we need to support them.”
We are so proud to work with such a dedicated activist and would like to thank Armanda for her courage and leadership. The rest of Armanda’s testimony is available here.
Português | Español | Deutsch | [+]carmen –The jaguar, a mystical and magical creature, has long been a symbol of power and strength to many indigenous cultures. Today, jaguars face growing danger from deforestation and resource extraction; they are literally disappearing from our planet, with only 15,000 estimated to still roam the wild. But there is hope. Their last remaining stronghold is in the Amazon basin. That’s why it’s so important to protect this region. Please donate today to protect their home.The web of life on Earth depends upon biodiversity, and many animals in the Amazon depend upon the jaguar. The range and habitat requirements of a single jaguar is broad and thus when preserved, many other species are also protected. The survival of jaguars is critical to maintaining a delicate balance within the rainforest ecosystem.As jaguars and other creatures of the Amazon are interconnected, so is our work to protect them. One of the strongest populations of jaguars is currently found in Mato Grosso, Brazil – a region now at risk due to planned construction of mega-dams including the notorious Belo Monte Dam Complex. Another example, is the Yasuní National Park in Ecuador, where we continue to fight to prevent the government of Ecuador from drilling for oil which would put the jaguar – and all life – in danger in the Amazon.
Our ability to thrive as a species on Earth is dependent upon the peoples, plants and animals of the Amazon for the Amazon is a key component of our global life support system. With your support, we have increased our efforts each year to stop the expansion of massive dams, oil and gas development and roads – the primary cause of deforestation and the ultimate threat to the home of the jaguar. Join us now, support the jaguar, its children and our collective futures.
Thousands of East Africans have been kidnapped by sadistic gangs, and tortured in Egypt’s Sinai until their families pay huge ransoms for their freedom. If we show Egypt’s leaders that this dirty secret is out and damaging the Sinai’s tourism reputation, we can force them to end the horror. Sign now:
Nine months pregnant and in chains, Haben’s* torturers beat her ruthlessly demanding a $35,000 ransom from her husband. She gave birth in shackles, beside other terrified captives, with only rusty metal to cut the umbilical cord. It’s unbelievable that this is happening in 2014!
Amazingly Haben survived — but she is one of thousands of East Africans who have been abducted by criminal trafficking rings, and tortured in Egypt’s Sinai until their desperate families pay huge ransoms for their freedom. If we can show Egypt’s leaders that this dirty secret is out and damaging the Sinai’s tourism reputation as the ‘Red Sea Riviera’, they could break the trafficking rings, and free these slaves.
Every hour these men, women and children are in captivity is an hour too long. Sign the urgent petition now and forward it to everyone. When we reach 1 million signers, Avaaz will raise a massive media storm to pressure Egypt to act: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Interim_Egyptian_President_Adly_Mansour_Torture_camps_in_the_desert_stop_the_horror_2/?biEWLbb&v=35815
If we can stop human smuggling in the Sinai — one of the most notorious routes for human trafficking in the world — we can strike a blow against a trade that imprisons nearly one million people a year.
And it’s possible. The Egyptian government has the power and the local resources already deployed to shut the traffickers down for good. Here are a few of the ways we could help:
Join with elected officials from Egypt’s major donor countries to press Egypt to act;
Run hard-hitting ads targeting Egypt’s prized tourism industry;
Expose the names of the key traffickers in a series of national Avaaz campaigns in the region;
Help journalists get access to torture camps to investigate which officials are complicit.
Be a Seed for Change 
You must be logged in to post a comment.