A Message from Business Manager Chris Erikson Jr.
We are in the midst of election season, and we all know what’s at stake: control of Congress and the ability to put the brakes on the out-of-control Trump administration that has been more concerned with enriching themselves than helping ordinary Americans. The facts are clear: this administration is the most anti-union and anti-worker in our nation’s history. They fired tens of thousands of federal union members; they took away collective bargaining rights for nearly 1 million unionized government workers; they cut the budgets for OSHA, the DOL, the NLRB and so many other critical agencies and departments with the explicit intent to choke them out of existence. Trump’s agenda has only been about cutting taxes for the rich and for corporations, leading to increased costs and more inflation. Thanks to the tariffs and war in Iran, the cost of living has gone up tremendously – energy, gas, groceries, everything. Interest rates continue to rise. Trump has attacked funding for key infrastructure projects, such as the Gateway Tunnel and the Second Avenue Subway, and for clean-energy projects like offshore wind, directly costing us jobs.
Meanwhile, Trump is more worried about arches, ballrooms, and his name on the Kennedy Center. These are distractions, while he and his awful appointees and staff run rampant, breaking down key institutions critical to our country’s well-being. It is up to us now to make a change, get our country back on track, and build momentum for the presidential election in two years, so we can begin repairing what has been terribly damaged. It is up to us to put in the work over the next three weeks to help elect pro-worker and pro-union candidates to Congress and the State Legislature. It is up to us to protect the rights that we have fought for and are worth protecting. Because all of it is at risk.
