Every election matters, but there are moments when the stakes for working people are simply too high to sit on the sidelines. This November is one of those moments.
On Nov. 3, Americans will vote in the midterm elections, determining who represents us in Congress and in important state and local offices across the country. For union members, this election is about far more than political parties, however. It is about who will stand up for working people, who will protect our right to organize and bargain collectively, and who believes workers deserve a meaningful voice in the decisions that affect our lives, jobs, families, and futures.
We have seen what can happen when those rights are taken for granted.
During the past two years, organized labor continued to face serious attacks, particularly against our union brothers and sisters in the federal government workforce. Collective bargaining rights have been targeted and union contracts challenged or canceled.
Those workers may not belong to Local 1180 but what happens to them should matter deeply to every one of us. An attack on one group of workers’ collective bargaining rights is an attack on the principle at the heart of the entire labor movement. We know working people are stronger when we have a collective voice.
We also know that what happens in Washington affects us as more than union members. It affects our families and our communities.
That is especially important to remember as we celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and recognize the tremendous contributions Latino workers and families make to our union, our city, and our country.
Immigration was a major issue in the 2024 presidential election, and many Americans supported stronger enforcement believing the focus would be on dangerous criminals. What we are seeing today goes much further. People without criminal convictions have been swept up in immigration arrests. Families and attorneys have struggled to locate some people being held in ICE custody. Migrants have been deported to countries other than their own, sometimes places where they have no connection or support system.
Whatever your position on immigration policy, we should all agree that people deserve due process and that families should be able to know where their loved ones are.
This is a powerful reminder that elections have consequences. Who we send to Congress matters. Members of Congress write our laws, decide how federal dollars are spent, and have the responsibility to conduct oversight of the executive branch. The people we elect can either remain silent when they believe an administration has gone too far or use the powers of their office to demand answers and push for change.
The same is true when it comes to workers’ rights.
America’s labor laws still make it far too difficult for millions of workers who want a union to organize one. At the same time, corporations and billionaires have enormous resources to influence our government and our elections. We will never be able to compete with billionaires dollar for dollar, but our strength has never come from having the deepest pockets. Our strength comes from our people.
It comes from millions of union members talking to their coworkers, families, friends, and neighbors. It comes from understanding that the same solidarity that gives us power at the bargaining table can give working people tremendous power at the ballot box.
The AFL-CIO has set a goal of turning out 16 million union members and family members in this election. Imagine what working people can accomplish when we understand the power we have and actually use it.
That is why I am asking every Local 1180 member and retiree to pay attention during this election season. Learn about the candidates. Look at their records. Find out where they stand on collective bargaining, workers’ rights, wages, health care, pensions, Social Security, public services, immigration, and the issues that affect your family.
Do not vote based on a television commercial, newspaper ad, social media post, or what someone tells you a candidate stands for. Do your homework — and then vote in your best interest.
Talk to your coworkers. Talk to your family. Talk to your neighbors. Make sure the people in your life understand what is at stake and encourage them to participate as well.
We have spent decades building Local 1180 into the strong union it is today. Those who came before us fought for the wages, benefits, protections, and rights we now enjoy. We have a responsibility not only to protect what they won, but to make sure the next generation of workers has the opportunity to achieve even more.
The labor movement has always understood something very simple: there is strength in numbers.
That is true on a picket line. It is true at the bargaining table. And on Nov. 3, it will be true at the ballot box.
Our jobs matter. Our families matter. Our communities matter. Our unions matter. And our votes matter.