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Dear Members and Friends, Happy Year of the Rabbit! Rabbit is the symbol of luck, representing hope and prosperity. We wish you a new year of health, joy and bigger gains! We’ve had a great year of achievements, as Chinese workers led the fight against racist violence and displacement. Stop the Racist Violence Last year, Chinese women and other women of color home attendants set off the wave of actions against the racist 24-hour workdays, including rallies, sit-ins, testifying and legal actions. Fearless and determined, they pushed legislation with City Councilmember Christopher Marte to abolish the 24-hour shifts, and pressured the New York State Department of Labor to enforce the law and start investigating the huge amount of wage theft by home care agencies in those shifts—close to $40 million for just 300 workers. Ending the 24-hour workdays has become the top issue in society. The workers also care about the community: they did a big mobilization to rally against the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) and the Chu family’s racism and displacement. Fight Against the Criminalization of Our Community Jing Fong workers, young people and other people across the board have been picketing in front of MOCA, rain or shine, calling for a boycott of the museum and other Chu family’s business. They demand the big landlord and museum co-chair Jonathan Chu reopen the big Jing Fong dining hall, and the museum return the $35 million it took for supporting the City’s new jail. When Chu and MOCA colluded with the NYPD to harass the picket line and treat the whole community as criminals, they didn’t waver. Instead, they unified the whole community to march against Chu and MOCA’s racism and criminalization. As a result, they knocked off the police’s false charges, led to the investigation of the corrupt cop, and successfully delayed the racist new jail plan in Chinatown. New Year Expectation This year, to build on our achievements, we continue to unify people regardless of age, trade or status, to pass the Chinatown Working Group Rezoning Plan that would protect the community against displacement, the “No More 24” Act to abolish the 24-hour workdays in New York City and the SWEAT bill that would stop wage theft in New York State. Let’s celebrate! We invite you and your friends and family to our Lunar New Year Celebration on Sunday, February 19, 2023 at noon. The address is 350 Grand St, across the street from CSWA. If you would like to come, please fill out the required RSVP form so that we can do headcount. Ren Quan Yang Board president, CSWA |