As we settle into summer and spend time with family and friends, I want to focus on something that will have a lasting impact on our jobs, our families, and our future—the November elections
For union members, elections are never just about politics. They are about our livelihoods. Every benefit, protection, and right we enjoy as working people exists because someone fought for it. The eight-hour workday, overtime pay, paid leave, workplace safety protections, pensions, health care benefits, collective bargaining rights, and retirement security were not simply handed to workers. They were won through decades of organizing, activism, and political engagement.
The same is true of many of the freedoms and opportunities we enjoy as Americans. The Civil Rights Movement was about much more than ending segregation. It was about ensuring that every person had the opportunity to participate fully in our democracy and our economy. The movement led to protections against discrimination in employment, housing, education, and voting. It helped open doors that had been closed to women, people of color, and countless others who were denied equal opportunity.
Many of us lived through a time when opportunities were not available equally to everyone. In fact, in some ways, we still are. Others may find it hard to imagine that someone could be denied a job, a promotion, housing, or even the right to vote because of who they were. Yet, that was the reality for millions of Americans. The progress made during the Civil Rights era changed lives and transformed our country. It also strengthened the labor movement by helping ensure that workplace opportunities and protections extended to more workers.
The labor movement and the Civil Rights Movement have always been connected. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. understood that economic justice and civil rights go hand in hand. His final campaign was supporting striking sanitation workers in Memphis because he believed that every worker deserved dignity, respect, and a fair opportunity to provide for their family.
Today, many of those hard-fought gains are under pressure.
Across the country, we still see attacks on unions, collective bargaining, workplace protections, and retirement security. Anti-labor politicians want to weaken unions because they understand that organized workers are one of the strongest voices advocating for fair wages, safe working conditions, quality public services, and economic opportunity.
For public sector workers, these attacks can mean staffing shortages, increased workloads, delayed contracts, reduced resources, and threats to benefits and pensions.
For working families, they can mean lower wages, fewer protections, and greater economic inequality. History has repeatedly shown that when unions are weakened, working people pay the price.
The stakes extend beyond labor issues as well, with challenges to voting rights, efforts to limit access to the ballot box, and attempts to diminish the history of the struggles that brought us this far. That's why it's so important for us to educate not only ourselves, but our children, grandchildren, and future generations about the sacrifices made to secure the rights many of us now take for granted.
The months between now and Election Day will move quickly. While November may seem far away, the work of educating voters and building engagement starts now. Political engagement is not optional; it is one of the most important tools we have.
During the coming months, Local 1180 will be working to educate voters and support candidates who understand the importance of workers' rights, strong unions, and economic justice. We need members to step up, too, by volunteering for phone banks, distributing literature, talking to coworkers, knocking on doors, and helping ensure working people make their voices heard.
When we call on you, please answer the call. This is not the time for complacency. This is the time to get involved, to take action, to work with your union, your coworkers, and your friends to fight for what we've won and to continue making strides. Sitting back and doing nothing is not an option. Even one hour of your time will help make a difference.
The people who oppose workers' rights are organized. We must be more organized. We must show our strength, show our numbers, make our voices heard.
Local 1180 has never achieved progress by standing on the sidelines. We have always moved forward by standing together, speaking out, and taking action. The generations before us fought too hard to build these protections for us to become complacent when they are threatened.
This November, the future of working people is on the ballot yet again. We need to meet this moment with the same determination, solidarity, and commitment that have carried both the labor movement and the Civil Rights Movement forward for generations.
The right to vote was not given freely. Generations before us marched, were arrested, faced violence and intimidation, and some even gave their lives to secure that right. We owe it to their sacrifices, and to future generations, to make our voices heard. Voting is not only a right; it is a responsibility. We cannot afford to take for granted the very freedoms that those before us fought so hard to achieve.