Winning Wednesday: One agenda to rule the world
- Karen Young
- 20 hours ago
- 4 min read
Your top five wins this week!
5. Zohran Puts Another Advocate in Driver’s Seat
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani has wasted no time putting “our” people into positions of power in his administration, especially on his top issues. On Day One, he appointed tenant organizer Cea Weaver as head of his “newly revitalized” Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants. On April 27, he chose Elizabeth Adams, a former top executive at longtime transit advocate Transportation Alternatives, to spearhead an effort to speed up the slowest buses in the nation and, eventually, make them free of fares. You love to see it.
4. CA Billionaire Tax On The Ballot
More than 1.5 million people have signed a petition to get the one-time, 5% wealth tax on statewide ballots in November, according to organizers. The signatures still have to be vetted by the state, but they are very likely to get through that hurdle.
According to the Wall St. Journal, “the tax was proposed by the Service Employees International United Healthcare Workers West…to offset cuts to healthcare funding in President Trump’s signature tax-and-spending law last year.” If passed, the tax would apply to about 200 people who have a net worth of $1 billion or more. That’s out of a population of around 39 million.
Opponents include Democratic CA Gov. Gavin Newsom and Google’s co-founder Sergey Brin.
Supporters include Bernie Sanders and CA Rep. Ro Khanna, as well as Nvidia President/CEO Jensen Huang , who has said he’s “perfectly fine” with the proposed tax and recently encouraged other billionaires to move to California.
3. Rainbow Worker Coalition Wins Strike at JBS
In March 2026, 3,800 workers at a JBS meatpacking plant in Greeley, Colorado in UFCW Local 7 launched the industry’s first major strike in 40 years. After a three-week strike, JBS returned to the bargaining table, and when it was all said and done, the company had conceded to almost every demand. JBS is the largest of the “Big Four” companies who control the market.
According to Labor Notes, the wins included a groundbreaking policy on personal protective equipment, challenging JBS’s previous system of garnishing wages to replace necessary PPE when it was lost, damaged, or stolen.
What I found most interesting about this story was that the largely-immigrant workforce at the plant spoke 57 different languages. How did the union do it? “A communication system via text, email, and social media, translated into the most commonly spoken languages—Spanish, Burmese, French, and Haitian Creole…The picket line was filled with joyful chanting, singing and dancing to music from around the world, buoyed by the support that flowed in from the community, other unions, and supporters from afar,” and a lot of other smart strategy and tactics. Bravo!!
2. Bipartisan/Grassroots Team Fights Roundup, Scores A Win
It’s billed as a win for MAHA, but it’s much more than that. It’s a win for states’ rights and for the people vs. Big Agriculture.
On April 30, the House voted “Yes” on the farm bill and sent it to the Senate. The team managed to strip the bill of language that would have protected Monsanto owner Bayer from allegations that its Roundup herbicide and Roundup’s chemical glyphosate cause cancer. It would have prevented states from requiring warning labels on the product and from issuing regulations on its use.
None other than sometimes-loony Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla, led the effort in the House. MAHA members picketed outside the Capitol. Many thousands of families who have filed lawsuits over many years, contending that Roundup caused cancer, and other Monsanto victims, were no doubt cheering. And in the end, 6 Democrats voted to keep the shield for Bayer, but 75 GOP members voted against it.
1. CPC Announces Affordability Agenda
On April 29, Congressional Progressive Caucus head Greg Casar announced the CPC’s “New Affordability Agenda,” intended as a flag to wave in the midterm elections.
As you know, I’m always on about how Democrats MUST unite around a policy agenda that speaks to Americans’ real needs and differentiates them clearly from the GOP. Because being anti-Trump will never be enough. Casar and the CPC aren’t waiting for permission, but putting out their best effort now. They even managed to boil it down to three phrases!!
- Lower costs
- Establish better wages and benefits
- End corporate greed
This is exactly where it needs to be! Lower costs and raise wages – exactly what everyone knows they need, exactly what the GOP, in spite of their promises, will never do. And it puts the blame where it belongs – on corporate greed – and promises to end it.
I’m pleased that the CPC landed on many of the issues and solutions I mentioned in my recent series about winning the midterms. They are also highlighting, as I did, the fact that these policies have broad support among Republican and independent voters. More analysis to come.
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