What is a tweet and why would we send one?

How do we get the media to show up at our event?

What is our message and how do we frame it?

These questions and more will be answered at the Democracy for America Campaign Academy.

DFA-MC is scheduling an Academy for anyone who would like to run or work on a campaign, but we need at least 50 people to express interest by signing up here.

We are not asking you to commit now, just express interest.  We will send details to all when we reach the magic number and can schedule the two day training.

Corrine asked that we send letters to the Phoenix City Council concerning the working conditions at Sky Harbor  Airport.  Please copy the letter below or write your own drop them off at Democratic Headquarters or send them to Corrine Horowitz at UFCW99, at 2401 N Central Ave, 2nd Floor, Phoenix, 85004-1331.

August 4, 2011

TO:      Mayor Phil Gordon

Members of the Phoenix City Council

Danny Murphy, Phoenix Sky Harbor Aviation Director

Members of the Downtown Aviation Advisory Committee

Sky Harbor Airport workers take pride in making a great first impression.  They serve our guests coffee, offer them a ride to their gate, and keep them company while shining their shoes—and they do it all with a smile.

Because workers at Sky Harbor Airport are the first and last faces visitors to our great city see, they are extremely important to the local economy and community. As such, business that have contracts there, or anywhere else with the City of Phoenix, should be a source of high quality jobs for Valley residents.

Yet many Airport workers, who are also residents of our city, are struggling to feed their families and face difficult conditions at work every day.

A group of employees at GCA Services—one of the companies contracted by the City of Phoenix to clean the Airport terminals—recently began to respond to those conditions.  In May, over thirty of these working men and women went to GCA’s Mesa headquarters to talk to company management about these and other concerns. GCA management refused to even meet with the employees, and just days afterward, the company terminated three employees who were trying to form a union.

GCA employees have stated their wish to improve their access to health insurance, to earn fair wages, to share costs for their security badges and uniforms; and to end the requirement for a doctor’s note for even a single day in which they are sick and cannot work.

The men and women who make Sky Harbor “America’s Friendliest Airport” must be treated with the dignity and respect they deserve.  In particular, employees at GCA, should be able to exercise their right to improve wages, benefits, and working conditions without fear of harassment, intimidation, or termination.

We, the undersigned, ask that you ensure that GCA and all other companies that do business with the city of Phoenix, treat their workers with dignity and respect.

Sincerely,

*****

Tim Hogan (The Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest (ACLPI)) asked that we go to their website and support the work they are doing in court on behalf of the environment, education and healthcare.  http://www.aclpi.org/.

*****

Tim Schmaltz of PAFCO told us of their monthly training sessions for activists on the last Wednesday of the month at 3pm.  Check back for the location of training.  Tim emphasized that Facts are not enough. It takes a combination of facts, stories and persistent citizen action to make change or persuade a policy maker.  See the PAFCO website at http://www.pafcoalition.org/.

We will also have a lesson on using Social Media for our cause.