From the AFL-CIO
Trumka: Wisconsin Uprising Helped Spur Wave of Collective Action
An excerpt from his speech:
“Brothers and sisters, the seeds you planted in 2011 and nourished in the years that followed are alive and well today. 262,000 new members joined unions in 2017…and here’s the best part…three quarters of them were under the age of 35. Gallup just did a poll that found our approval at 62 percent…a 15-year high. And new research from MIT shows half of non-union workers would vote to organize today if given the chance. That’s more than 60 million people!
Something is happening in America. Collective action is on the rise. It’s unlike anything I’ve seen in my 50 years in the labor movement.
The teacher strikes. #MeToo. Black Lives Matter. Students speaking out for safer schools.
From coast to coast, and all over the heartland of America, ordinary people are recognizing that the best way to win is by standing with the person next to us. And as a labor movement, it is our job to ignite the flames of justice, not contain them.
That’s what we did in Missouri. Last month, voters there went to the polls to decide the future of right to work. And with more than 67 percent of the vote, the Show Me State sent that horrible law into the ash heap of history. It wasn’t even close! Democrats voted no. Half of Republicans voted no.
After the Supreme Court ruled against us in Janus, many pundits wondered if it would be the death of the labor movement. Well, brothers and sisters, they got their answer! The Chamber of Commerce said that, for every punch they threw, working people threw ten more. Even the Wall Street Journal warned CEOs that unions are on the attack.
Hell yeah, we are!”
Read Richard Trumka’s full remarks at AFL-CIO
