Dear Sharra, Happy Father's Day!
Thinking about my dad today, I remember many of the stories he told me. One involved his labor organizing in Detroit when he was a young man. He always taught us the importance of organized labor, and why it's so vital to support it.
Some traditional unions have already endorsed the president, making me wonder about the state of organized labor today.
I remember a time when the relationship between organized labor and the Democratic Party was a much more equal partnership; the Democrats got votes, and Labor got policies that upheld the rights and dignity of workers.
But on the heels of Biden breaking up the railroad strike, and given that establishment Democrats have not provided a higher minimum wage, universal healthcare, paid family leave or a guaranteed living wage, it makes little sense for establishment unions to endorse Biden without considering all of their options.
Endorsements need to be earned, and a union endorsement offers powerful leverage on policy. But if you don't use your leverage you forfeit that power.
I also understand how we got here. Over the last few decades, Americans have been played – trained to limit our political imaginations, simply accept what the system says we can't have, enable our own abusers, and fall in line for whatever false narrative they spin in order to keep us in line. Unions have been systematically and purposely disempowered, and union members – like all Americans – conditioned to accept less while ironically and deceitfully being promised more.
If our ancestors had been so similarly played, we wouldn't have the rights we have today.
We need a new, revitalized sense of hope in America today. And our campaign provides that. Despite the efforts to lure us into the belief that a kinda-sorta-making-things-better is the best we can hope for, I reject that belief.
We are Americans. We have the strength, the resilience, and the collective ingenuity to build whatever we want if we are willing to rise up, demand more, and disrupt the status quo. That is what our ancestors did when times were tough, and what we need to do today.
As my father used to say, there are times in life when you have to say "Hell no." No to crumbs. No to half measures. No to incremental change. No to limiting our opportunities or the opportunities of our children.
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| This campaign is for those who want universal health care, just like the citizens of every other advanced democracy. We want tuition-free public universities and tech schools, just like the citizens of every other advanced democracy. We want paid family leave, guaranteed sick pay, and a living wage for all workers. And we want robust and meaningful efforts to mitigate climate change and rein in the military industrial complex.
We want policies considered moderate positions in every other advanced democracy. And we are no longer willing to be gaslighted into thinking that such things are not possible here.
This is the message we must continue to forge. It is our turn to show up now; Americans haven't been asking for too much, we've been asking for too little.
As Lincoln said, "As our case is new, we must think anew and act anew. And then we will save our country."
Gratefully,
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