On July 26, our Executive Director Doug Moore brought the voice of caregivers and child care providers to the fight for voting rights. Moore joined civil rights leaders Reverend Jesse Jackson and Reverend Dr. William Barber and hundreds of other advocates of free and fair elections who withstood the nearly 100 degree heat in Phoenix, Arizona, to take part in a peaceful, non-violent march and protest calling on Congress to take meaningful actions to protect our American system of voting and the economic security of working people.

The days’ actions were focused on ending the filibuster, a procedure in the Senate that allows minority parties to delay or obstruct proceedings. Although in theory the filibuster should be used sparingly in extreme circumstances, in current reality it is being used by anti-union, anti-worker forces stalling legislation that would rebuild our economy and protect the democratic process. The protest took place at the office of Senator Krysten Sinema and, along with calling for an end to the filibuster, demanded Congress defend our freedom to vote and act to improve the lives of working people, including raising the minimum wage to $15. With millions of Americans in danger of losing their housing as pandemic relief measures run out, the need for Congress to take these needed actions is urgent.

To demonstrate their commitment to these critical issues, Moore, Jackson, Barber and more than 100 others were arrested at the protest after staging a sit-in at the offices of Senator Sinema. When speaking at the rally before the march and arrest, Moore told the workers in Phoenix that the 140,000 providers in California stand with them in solidarity as all labor fights are our fights, and all fights for voting rights are our fight.

“As a union made up mostly of women and people of color, we know all too well what it feels like to be kept out of the voting process,” Moore said after returning to California. “We will not stand idly by while our members’ economic security and access to voting is threatened. We will fight back.”