Stand for a city that works for all of us.
As a city that upholds progressive principles, Somerville should be a place where everyone is welcome and where innovation and creativity drive change, where the needs of residents are respected. Unfortunately, affordable housing and workers’ rights in particular have fallen to the wayside, that’s why we need to stand together to ensure fairness and accountability.
The Platform
We are proud of our diversity and our history as a place where hardworking families can build a life and a community. We are a city that upholds progressive principles, where everyone is welcome regardless of race, creed or orientation; and where creativity and innovation are part of the fabric of our city. Somerville stands for immigrant rights, quality education, LGBTQIA rights, racial and economic justice, green justice, affordable housing and workers’ rights.
Somerville should be a place where everyone is welcome and where innovation and creativity drive change, without disregarding the needs of residents. Yet with growing opportunities in Somerville, have also come challenges. In particular workers’ rights and affordable housing have fallen to the wayside.
Many families have been forced to move due to increased rents and a lack of affordable housing options. City employees that provide our essential public services are being forced to go years without fair pay or fair contracts. Developers continue to come to our community and maximize profit by eliminating affordable housing and hiring contractors who don’t consistently pay their workers, eroding our community standards. This disproportionately impacts low-income families, communities of color and immigrants who are often too afraid to come forward to report these abuses.
That’s why to ensure fairness and accountability, Somerville residents are calling upon our elected officials to stand for a city that works for all of us.
Standing together, we can win the good jobs and housing our community needs by:
- Investing in new and existing affordable housing, to safeguard residents against displacement.
- Ensuring respect and fair contracts for our city’s municipal workers.
- Updating and enforcing Somerville’s existing fair labor ordinances.
- Allowing employees to form unions and hold free and fair elections at businesses that are given tax breaks by the City of Somerville.
- Hiring local and union labor on major construction projects to ensure high standards for safety and training and provide career pathways for workers.