=Tomorrow, local MoveOn members and the University of Washington Academic Workers for a Democratic University are taking part in the national Fight for $15 rally. They’re delivering a petition to the UW president calling on him to comply with Seattle’s historic new ordinance and raise the minimum wage to $15 per hour for all campus workers. Can you make sure they include your name? Click here to sign the petition, then share it with your friends.

Dear Washington MoveOn member,

I’m Garrett Shishido Strain, and I started a petition to the University of Washington administration, which says:

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On April 1, Seattle took its first step toward a $15 minimum wage by requiring all employers with more than 500 workers to pay at least $11 per hour. Despite being the single largest employer in Seattle, the University of Washington administration has argued that it’s not obligated to pay $15 per hour to campus workers. This means that more than 12,000 campus workers are at risk of not receiving a much-needed wage increase—including more than 8,700 student workers, who have seen UW tuition rise 82% since 2008.¹

Academically, UW is ranked among the best universities worldwide. Unfortunately, UW is also home to an ever-growing gap between the highest-paid administrators and the lowest-paid hourly workers. Instead of increasing student fees and tuition, or cutting research funding and campus jobs, UW can and should provide living-wage jobs for all campus workers by redistributing funds from highly paid administrators to the most marginalized workers on campus.

If every other employer in Seattle can pay at least $15 per hour, so can UW.

Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to your friends.

Thanks!

–Garrett

Source:

1. “Seattle’s $15 wage law might not affect city’s biggest boss: UW,” The Seattle Times, March 25, 2015
http://www.moveon.org/r/?r=304042&id=111593-17809870-4ce3tcx&t=2

This petition was created on MoveOn’s online petition site, where anyone can start their own online petitions. The University of Washington Academic Workers for a Democratic University didn’t pay us to send this email—we never rent or sell the MoveOn.org list.

By CAP Action War Room

Nearly Nine Out of Ten Americans Now Have Health Insurance Thanks to the Affordable Care Act

Some more big health care news is out today that continues to prove that the Affordable Care Act is working. And while some conservatives continue their efforts to dismantle it, others are finally putting people over politics.

Gallup released a survey this morning showing that the uninsured rate among U.S. adults fell to 11.9 percent this quarter, the lowest rate since it started tracking insurance rates in 2008. It is a one percentage point drop from last quarter, and a 6.1 point drop from the middle of 2013, just before the state and federal health exchanges opened for business. That’s a whopping 34 percent drop in uninsured American adults in less than two years.

In addition to this good news, a conservative-leaning state is also taking a huge step in expanding health care for its residents. This weekend in Montana, the Republican-controlled House approved a bill to accept federal funding to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat, is expected to sign the bill into law, which would make the state the 29th to expand Medicaid and give health coverage to up to 70,000 more Montanans.

While Montana is taking the right step both morally and economically for its residents, Florida is moving backwards. Talks to expand health care there have hit a roadblock, with GOP Gov. Rick Scott completing a flip-flop-flip from being against Medicaid expansion, to being for it, now back to being against it. Florida would benefit more than almost any other state in the nation from the move, but conservatives continue to play politics.

Speaking of conservative elected officials in Florida, those at the federal level are also ignoring the facts on health care. Sen. Marco Rubio, who is officially announcing his candidacy for president today, has consistently advocated the repeal of the health care law. And while it is expected that the 43-year-old Cuban-American will play up his heritage on the campaign trail, the fact remains that Hispanics are one of the demographics that has benefited the most from the Affordable Care Act, and would benefit from closing the coverage gap as well.

BOTTOM LINE: The Affordable Care Act is a profoundly important public policy and the evidence continues to pile up showing its effectiveness in providing health care to Americans. It’s time that all conservative lawmakers at the state and federal level look at the facts and stop playing politics with their constituents’ well-being.

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