DEAR EDITOR:
In 2000, a policy was passed that provided low- or no-cost
health insurance for every child in Santa Clara County.
DEAR EDITOR:
In 2000, a policy was passed that provided low- or no-cost health insurance for every child in Santa Clara County. Since passage of that policy, more than 60,000 previously uninsured children have received insurance coverage, improving their ability to learn and to grow. This policy has been an unqualified success, earning praise even from those who opposed it at the time. This policy was brought to you by a partnership between the labor movement and People Acting in Community Together (PACT).
The 110,000 members of labor unions in Santa Clara County, including thousands in Gilroy, decided that, in a time of change and need, they were willing to put their resources and reputation on the line to advocate for the well-being of everyone’s children, not merely their own. They believed strongly that our community should invest in our children.
Those who fear what the working families of Gilroy are standing up for are the same ones who fought the Children’s Health Initiative and San José’s enormously effective Living Wage ordinance. It is they who rail against the “shuckin’ and jivin'” of the changing populace. And it is those who fear change that fight any attempt by working families to stand up for their rights, and grassroots support for public officials that represent the working men and women of Gilroy.
There are two mindsets about the appropriate way to act in times of change – the mindset that fears, and the mindset that embraces.
The minds that fear construct futile roadblocks to the inevitable, while the minds that embrace change manage to see the opportunity in these moments to make the world better for everyone.
Everyone recognizes that our world, nationally, statewide and locally, is in a time of change. Our population is changing, as it becomes larger and more diverse. Our physical environment is changing, as the population expands outward. And in this time of change, it is easy to spot those who are cowering in fear, and those who are excited by the prospects that this change brings.
Thankfully, our collective values remain intact. The value that people should earn a fair wage for a good day’s work. The value that sensible development decisions will benefit the whole community. And the value that understands that change is inevitable, and worth embracing.
It is all of us, working people joined by democratic values, that are those that are uniting and working together in this time of change. It is we that have a vision that will bring everyone to the table to be heard. And it is we who will make the kind of change that sees an opportunity to help the whole community.
Gilroy is evolving, and working families are stepping up to help guide how that evolution takes place. We are moving past the divisiveness that will hurt our families. We hope that fearful minds will move past that fear to step up and join the progress.
Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, San Jose, Executive Officer South Bay AFL-CIO Labor Council
Submitted Friday, Oct. 31 to ed****@****ic.com
