Labor Day Picnic on Sept 4: Come On Down!

Posted on by Pamela Powers Hannley
Re-Elect Rep. Pamela Powers Hannley

Come and join Jim and I at the Powers For The People booth at the Pima Area Labor Federation’s Annual Labor Day Picnic on Monday, September 4 at Reid Park.

The Labor Day Picnic is like homecoming for Jim and me. We have had a booth or attended the Labor Day Picnic nearly every year since we met- first with Progressive Democrats of America (PDA), then with Arizonans for a New Economy, for the past two years as a candidate for Arizona House, and this year as an elected representative. Two years ago, I collected my first signatures and $5 Clean Elections Qualifying Contributions at the Labor Day Picnic.

There are five ways you can support my 2018 re-election campaign at the picnic.

1- Sign my petition

If you live in LD9, I will have nominating petitions for you to sign at my booth. Please help me get on the ballot in 2018.

2- Give Me $5 for Clean Elections

Yes, I am running clean again and looking for $5s. Running clean is part of my value system. I believe that elected officials should answer to the voters- not to big money donors, lobbyists, political action committees, or dark money. Clean candidates have no strings attached because we accept only modest donations from real people. I will have $5 Clean Elections Qualifying Contribution forms at the booth on Monday. To qualify for Clean Elections funds and avoid trap of big money politics, I have to collect at least 200 $5 donations from LD9 voters . Please help me out, and bring a $5 to the picnic.

Continue reading Labor Day Picnic on Sept 4: Come On Down!

Arizona Workers Deserve a Living Wage & a Lot More (video)

Posted on by Pamela Powers Hannley
Pamela Powers Hannley

Far too many good-paying, full-time jobs disappeared when Wall Street crashed our economy back in 2009. Unfortunately, these jobs were replaced with part-time, low-wage, no-benefits jobs in the gig economy. In Southern Arizona, the post-recession economic recovery has been slow. Arizona workers deserve better. Arizona workers deserve economic security.

On the campaign trail, I often talk about my upbringing in a union household. My Dad was a member and officer in the United Steel Workers local in Lorain County, Ohio, and my Mom worked as an admin assistant in another unionized factory. We lived modestly in a small house, yet we always were financially secure. My parents were high school graduates who never rose the corporate ladder, yet- thanks to unions- my family had many benefits that workers in Arizona today don’t have.

Arizona workers deserve better. They deserve a living wage; benefits like health insurance, paid family leave, paid sick time, paid vacations, overtime pay, and pensions; equal pay for equal work; full-time work if they want it; and they should be paid for every hour they work. If we can help Arizona workers become financially secure, it will not only help them and their families (obviously), but it will help our state thrive and save our state money in the long run in public assistance, crime, drug addiction, domestic violence and more. There are many negative consequences to living in poverty- or on the edge of it. Workers fuel the economy with their labor and their money. We need to help them and their families be successful in life; after all, like it or not, we’re all in this together riding this blue ball in space.

In this video, I talk about putting Arizonans back to work and about job creation through diversified, sustainable economic development, public banking and other economic reforms.

I want to go to the Arizona Legislature to help Arizona workers and their families. I am a progressive Democrat running for the Arizona House to represent LD9 in Tucson. Together we can build a stronger Arizona for future generations.

Please follow me on social media at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and this blog. I will be having more house parties, coffees with the candidate, canvassing, and phone banking. Please consider volunteering to help me- here.

AND, if you live in Legislative District 9, please vote for me on August 30 in the Democratic Party Primary and again on November 8 in the general election.

 

Tucson Then & Now: How Far Have We Come in 35 Years? (video)

Posted on by Pamela Powers Hannley
Tucson, Pima Canyon

" data-medium-file="https://powersforthepeople.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/barrel568.jpg?w=300" data-large-file="https://powersforthepeople.files.wordpress.com/2016/01/barrel568.jpg?w=648"/>

Tucson was a happening place back in 1981 when I moved here. Earthquakes in California and blizzards in the Midwest had prompted waves of migration to the sun belt. The town was bustling, and everyone was from somewhere else. Opportunity was in the air- as evidenced by all of the things that started in the early 1980s that we still enjoy today- the Tucson Weekly, KXCI, the Tucson Kitchen Musicians, and (until recently) Access Tucson.

Unfortunately, before I moved here, no one warned me about “right to work” states. All I had to go on was my Dad’s warning: “They didn’t like unions” out there.

With a bachelors degree and eight years of experience, I had been making $8/hour (with health insurance, paid sick time, and paid vacation) as a professional photographer working for a swanky graphic and product design agency in Columbus, Ohio. Prior to moving, I mailed resumes hawking my writing, photography, and graphic design skills to Tucson agencies and got a number of job interviews. I received two job offers pretty quickly, but when I told them I expected to make what I had made in Ohio, they literally laughed in my face. “You’re not going to make that here! You’ll be lucky to make $6/hour.” (That guy was right. I was offered $6/hour by both potential employers. I turned them down and opted for $25/hour as a freelancer- early shades of the local gig economy.)

In Columbus, I had been making about 2.5x the $3.35/hour minimum wage and was told to expect 1.8x the minimum wage in Arizona- even though our rent ($250/month) in Tucson was significantly higher for a much smaller and less stylish place than we had in Columbus.

Let’s Do the Math

What’s with the history lesson you ask? This is actually a math lesson…

Continue reading Tucson Then & Now: How Far Have We Come in 35 Years? (video)

Happy Labor Day, Tucson!

Posted on by Pamela Powers Hannley
Labor Day
Standing here with Eduardo and other local Steelworkers. My Dad and my husband were both Steelworkers.
Standing here with Eduardo and other local Steelworkers. My Dad and my husband were both Steelworkers.

Not ones to let grass grow under our feet, my husband Jim and I attended the Pima Area Labor Federation’s (PALF) 19th Annual Labor Day Picnic.

Usually we’re tabling at the Labor Day picnic, but this year, we circulated among the crowds of unionists, family members, and supporters and gathered signatures and $5 Clean Elections contributions. I had a great time talking with people at the different booths and reminiscing about my Dad’s days in the SteelWorkers in the 1960s. I was raised union, and I stand with them.

The picnic was HOT as usual but well attended. It’s is always a fun family event with tug-of-war, a hot-dog eating contest, dancing, and kids’ activities. And, of course, there are always fiery political speeches. This year, unionists were particularly riled up about the Teamsters’ bus strike in Tucson.