A Labor Day Like No Other
This is a Labor Day like no other. Our nation is in the midst of three major crises — the United States has now had more than 6 million COVID-19 cases; our economy shows increasing signs of weakness when it comes to working folks and Main Street, even though Wall Street just had its best month in 30 years; and racial injustice still plagues our country’s soul.
It’s been America’s workers who have been on the frontlines confronting these crises. And workers’ unions, like the AFT and others, have been supporting workers every step of the way. Nurses and health professionals continue to put their lives on the line to save others and keep families safe, while fighting for the personal protective equipment and federal health response we need. Educators, who last spring — basically overnight — moved to remote learning and made sure their students still got the meals and supports they needed, are now fighting to ensure schools reopen safely for their students and themselves. Grocery workers are keeping communities fed. Emergency workers and public employees are keeping communities running. There are countless examples of workers going above and beyond in service to their communities and to help their neighbors, patients and students. And, sadly, many of these frontline workers have lost their lives while fighting to keep others safe.
Thank you for your persistence and perseverance. Thank you for caring, fighting, showing up…and, this November, voting.
It has always been working people acting collectively who create change — on the streets and at the ballot box. It’s always been the labor movement that fights for workers and communities and for a better life for all. From securing safety standards and workers’ rights following the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, and fighting for better conditions for meatpackers a century ago, to today’s fights for PPE, the safe reopening of schools, critical funding for schools and essential services, and justice and fairness for all, we continue to demonstrate that we can achieve together what would be impossible to achieve on our own. The American people understand the importance of labor unions in this moment. Support for unions, according to Gallup’s annual survey, hit 65 percent this year, the highest it has been since 2003. Everyone should have the right to the voice that a union provides.
Never has that collective power been more important. In Donald Trump’s America, workers and children seem dispensable. Rather than fight the virus, Trump simply demands that schools just reopen, without a plan, without supports, and without the necessary measures to ensure the health and safety of children and educators.
And it’s not the first time. In February, the president denied the virus was even a threat and refused to marshal the resources necessary. Even when our hospitals started becoming overwhelmed and nurses and health professionals were crying out for lifesaving equipment, Trump refused to act and even accused nurses of stealing PPE.
At every turn, Trump prioritizes himself and his wealthy cronies at the expense of working people — fighting to rip healthcare away from millions of Americans, attempting to cut funding for public education every year of his administration, passing a trillion-dollar tax cut for the rich, miring our democracy in corruption, fanning the flames of racial division, and sowing chaos at every turn to try to distract and divide. He’s even trying to undermine the U.S. Postal Service to make it harder to vote in November. All the while, 1,000 Americans are still dying of COVID-19 every day.
And now we learn that even the military is not immune from Trump’s disparaging comments.
It is well past time to confront the crises we face: to make sure kids can go to school safely, workers can have job security and living wages, and families can have decent healthcare, particularly in the midst of a pandemic. But it will take a change of leadership in the White House. Nothing is more important this Labor Day than our collective work to win this fall, starting with electing Joe Biden and Kamala Harris to confront these crises and work for a more just and fair America.
From combating the pandemic, to funding public schools, to making sure healthcare is a right, to rebuilding our economy so working families have a shot and a voice, Biden and Harris have a plan. They understand we have to combat the virus before we can really reopen the economy and reopen schools. And they know that we must make sure states, schools, hospitals and other healthcare institutions have the resources they need to maintain essential services.
That is what a caring, competent, effective administration would do, and Biden and Harris plan to do it.
Elections are always about choices, but this one is about more. It’s about who will help us achieve a better life, and it is also about saving our democracy, as imperfect as it is. And it’s about fighting for a more perfect union, a country that is more just and more decent. That is not going to happen without our action.
That’s our job in the next 57 days.
Together, we’ve faced existential crisis after existential crisis, and not only have we weathered them all and survived, we have thrived. We are a thriving union today because of the work you do for those your serve, because of your activism, and because of your commitment to a more perfect nation.
Now we are in a battle for the soul of our nation, and nothing is more important than ensuring we prevail on Nov. 3. By caring, fighting, showing up and voting, we can win on Election Day and create the better life we dream of for our families and communities.
Thank you for all that you do.
