For Immediate Release

#TimesUp Comes to Oakland: Measure Z on November Ballot Will Protect Women and Workers

Hotel workers leading Measure Z campaign to share their stories at Oakland churches this Sunday

Oakland – This November, Oakland voters will decide on a critical local initiative – Measure Z – which would protect hotel workers from sexual assault on the job by providing every hotel cleaner in Oakland with a panic button so they can call for help. 

Measure Z also sets humane workload limits and a living wage for hotel workers, and strengthens enforcement of workplace and wage protections for all Oakland workers.

Hotel housekeepers, predominantly women of color, face sexual assault at alarming rates. According to a survey conducted by the East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy (EBASE), more than half of hotel housekeepers surveyed reported inappropriate sexual behavior perpetrated by a male guest. 1 in 4 housekeepers have been made to feel unsafe by a male guest’s behavior.

“We are Oakland hotel workers. We love this city and we work hard. But too often we are put in danger at work,” said Irma Pérez, an Oakland hotel worker. “All we are asking for is to be treated with respect, as all human beings deserve. Measure Z will help us feel safe at work, take care of our families, and contribute to the city we love.”

On Sunday, September 2, hotel workers leading the Measure Z campaign will visit congregations throughout Oakland to share their personal testimonies and talk to congregants about how they can get involved with the campaign. 

Their visits are part of the Labor in the Pulpit program of the Faith Alliance for a Moral Economy (FAME), in which people directly impacted by economic and racial injustices come to speak to communities of faith about a particular organizing campaign each Labor Day weekend. FAME is a project of EBASE. 

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Paid for by Time’s Up Oakland: Committee for Fair Workplaces and Ending Sexual Assault on the Job. FPPC ID# 1403165