NORTH AMERICA – The #WeMakeEvents #RedAlertRESTART Day of Action on Sept. 1 exceeded the goal of having 1,500 buildings across the U.S. lit red as more than 2,000 buildings across 75 cities in 41 states and Washington, DC joined the “red alert” initiative from coast to coast.
Here is a slideshow put together by FRONT of HOUSE affiliate Stage Directions showing some of the buildings lit red:
The awareness campaign, which follows similar initiatives around the world, seeks to support the live events industry through RESTART, the small business relief bill that provides funding to companies to help them survive and to pay their employees, while also backing PUA and FPUC, the CARES act provisions that need to be extended and expanded to provide sufficient unemployment benefits to displaced workers, including 1099 independent contractors.
The existential threat to the $877 billion live events industry is hard to overstate. The entire sector has been closed since mid-March, and there is no way to know when mid-to-large-sized events can start happening again.
Here are some findings from recent PLSN/FOH industry surveys:
○Thousands of events have been cancelled
○77% of the people in our industry have lost 100% of their income
○96% of companies have cut staff
○97% of 1099 workers have lost their jobs
Call To Action:
Bandit chair Michael Strickland noted, “Remember, tonight is just the start. The next step is to answer all the call to actions in the next two weeks. We all must e-mail and contact our Senators and Congresspeople every time we are asked. The weight of what we do is in the sheer volume of communication.”
Here is what we must do now:
- Assure that RESTART language is inserted into the next relief bill.
- Assure that Enhanced Unemployment Insurance is included at $600 per week.
- Assure that our legislators do indeed pass another relief bill in September.
Those are our goals and they are very simple. Moving ahead, please answer every Call to Action from NAMM as well as other related organizations. A rising tide floats all boats. There is a lot of work to do in the next two weeks, and we will need the assistance of everyone one of you.”
What to Do NOW:
Go to https://www.extendpua.org/toolkit for next step and letters to submit congress
Go to www.wemakeevents.org to submit letters to congress
Also NAMM offers a letter generator to congress available here: https://app.govpredict.com/portal/grassroots/campaigns/pwaiiq7t/take_action
