April 29, 5:00pm
Can a community benefits agreement work at Canal Side? It worked in Pittsburgh. Find out how from Professor Emma T. Lucas-Darby of Carlow University, who helped win the Pittsburgh CBA as an organizer with the Hill District Community Development Corporation. The forum is at 237 Main St., Suite 1200. To reserve a seat, email megan@ppgbuffalo.org by April 26.
April 30, 10:00am to 12:00pm
Roughly one third of our region’s workers are in low-wage occupations such as child care, retail, home health, security, food service, and landscaping. Join Sam Magavern and students from the UB Law School as they present their research on low-wage work and public policies that can help move workers out of poverty. The workshop is at 237 Main St., Suite 1200. To reserve a seat, email sam@ppgbuffalo.org by April 27.
Another key plank in the PPG Community Agenda is improving conditions at the Holding Center, a campaign on which many PPG Partners are working — including Prisoners Are People Too, The Erie County Prisoners Rights Coalition, and the National Lawyers Guild. You can get involved by signing a petition, joining the weekly rally outside the Holding Center (Wednesdays at 5:00 pm), or otherwise asking your county government to stop litigating and start improving conditions. For a wealth of documents and resources, visit our new Holding Center web site.
For the last two years, PPG partners have voted to make a community benefit agreement (CBA) for the $300 million Canal Side development a plank in the PPG Community Agenda. A CBA would include binding guarantees about quality jobs, green design, local businesses, local and minority hiring, and mixed income housing. On March 16, the campaign for a CBA, led by the Coalition for Economic Justice, took a giant step forward when the the Buffalo Common Council unanimously passed a resolution stating that the City will not transfer 13 acres of land to the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation without a CBA. For more detail, read PPG’s comment on the Canal Side Program and a question and answer sheet prepared by CEJ. You can also find more resources about Canal Side and CBAs here. If your organization would like to join the Canal Side Community Alliance supporting a CBA to be negotiated by CEJ, PUSH Buffalo, and the Buffalo Urban League, find the sign on form here.