BOSTON —Today the Massachusetts State Senate passed the Work and Family Mobility Act by a vote of 32 to 8. The following statement may be credited to the leaders of the organizations co-chairing the Driving Families Forward Coalition, Brazilian Worker Center Executive Director Lenita Reason and 32BJ SEIU Vice President Roxana Rivera:
“We are once again overcome with happiness, pride and gratitude for today’s historic vote in the Massachusetts Senate. The legislature has now resoundingly supported the Work and Family Mobility Act, moving all state residents toward greater road safety, improved security, better public health and a more vibrant economy, and promising a profound transformation in the lives of undocumented immigrants across the Commonwealth. The pursuit of these many goals is what brought us together in Driving Families Forward, a broad and diverse coalition of more than 270 businesses, faith groups, labor unions, community organizations and others. Working with law enforcement and other experts, Driving Families Forward also built in safeguards that led to the bill’s endorsement by the Massachusetts Major Cities Chiefs of Police Association, whose members lead two-thirds of the state’s total police force, as well as a majority of the state’s District Attorneys and sheriffs, and dozens of individual chiefs in smaller towns and cities.
“We extend our deepest thanks to Senate President Spilka for her support in moving the bill forward. We also thank the bill’s four lead sponsors, its dozens of cosponsors and the many thousands of individuals who have written letters, made calls, and attended meetings to help bring us to this point.
We now urge Governor Baker to sign the bill, which provides all the safeguards necessary to answer any doubts he may has raised previously, and we look forward to then celebrating with him and all our allies as the Work and Family Mobility Act becomes law.”
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The Work and Family Mobility Act has been endorsed by over 270 businesses and organizations:
ACLU Massachusetts
ADL New England
AFL-CIO
Alliance for Business Leadership
American Friends Service Committee Northeast Regional Office
Anti-Defamation League
Asian American Resource Workshop
Berkshire Interfaith Organizing
Black Ministerial Alliance
The Boston Foundation
Brazilian Women’s Group
Brazilian Workers Center
Business Innovation Center
Cambridge Police Department
Cape Ann Local Action Network
Cape Cod Coalition for Safe Communities
Cape Verdean Association of Boston
Catholic Charities
Catholic Social Services of Fall River
Center to Support Immigrant Organizing (CSIO)
Centro Comunitario de los Trabajadores
Centro Presente
Coalition for Social Justice
Community Economic Development Center
Congress Insurance
Dominican Development Center, Inc.
Episcopal City Mission
Essex County Community Organization
Executive Committee of the Mattapoisett Democratic Committee
Field First, LLC
Gomez & Palumbo, LLC
Greater Andover Indivisible
Greater Haverhill Indivisible
Green-Rainbow Party
Haitian Comm. Faith Leader
Health and Law Immigrant Solidarity Network
Immigrants’ Assistance Center, Inc.
Indivisble Mystic Valley
INDIVISIBLE: Nantucket
Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action
Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston
Justice at Work
Justice Center of Southeast MA
La Comunidad, Inc.
Latinos unidos en Massachusetts
League of Women Voters – MA
Main Street Alliance
Mass Business Immigration Coalition
Mass Interfaith Worker Justice
Massa Viana Law
Massachusetts Jobs With Justice
MassBudget
Mattapoisett Democratic Committee
MCAN
Merrimack Valley Project
MIRA Coalition
Movimiento Cosecha
National Association of Social Workers
New England Bangladeshi American Foundation Inc
New England Justice for Our Neighbors
North Parish of North Andover UU Racial Justice Team
Open Door Immigration Services
Parenting Journey
Pioneer Valley Interfaith Refugee Action Group
Pioneer Valley Project
Pioneer Valley Workers Center
Progressive Democrats of Mass.
Progressive Massachusetts
Rosie’s Place
Salem Chamber of Commerce
Salem No Place for Hate
SEIU 32BJ
SEIU 509
SEIU 1199
SEIU Massachusetts State Council
Solidarity Lowell
Student Immigrant Movement
Temple Anshe Amunim
The Irish International Immigrant Center
The Paulist Center Immigrant Advocacy Group
The Welcome Project
TPS Committee
Unitarian Universalist Mass Action
Unitarian-Universalist Society of Fairhaven
United Interfaith Action of Southeastern Massachusetts
United Workers Association, Region 9a
Western MA Jobs with Justice
Western Mass Area Labor Federation
Women Encouraging Empowerment
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With over 175,000 members in 11 states and Washington DC, including 20,000 in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, 32BJ SEIU is the largest property services union in the country.