UE is proud to join over 100 organizations and more than 75 representatives and senators in endorsing the THRIVE agenda, a bold plan to address the economic, environmental and social crises facing working people and our country. The THRIVE agenda would create nearly 16 million new jobs and sustain them over the next critical decade, essentially eliminating the unemployment crisis.
Working people need a robust federal response in order to prevent millions of Americans from being evicted from their homes, to keep food on the table and state and local government services operating, and to ensure the safety of our elections. Congress must pass a new bill to meet the needs of the millions of unemployed workers and all of us who are still facing the threat of this virus. A majority of senators are ready to vote on a relief bill, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has refused to let a bill come forward.
Call your Senators at (202) 224-3121 and demand they take up meaningful relief measures now!
Working people deserve a government, and a president, who will stand up for them against the corporate onslaught of the past several decades. We have to be honest that the 2020 elections will not deliver that president. Nonetheless, as UE delegates noted at our convention, “it is critical that working people remove the anti-labor and racist Trump from office.” We encourage all UE members and locals to make every effort to oust Trump from office in the November elections, recognizing that the only way to do that is to elect Joe Biden. Members should then be prepared to fight like hell to hold a Biden administration accountable to the people.
There are issues and problems that working people face which cannot be addressed at the bargaining table, and we have the right to expect that our governmental bodies and representatives will respond to the needs of the people. Tomorrow (Saturday, August 22) there are two opportunities to join volunteer-led, socially distanced events as part of two National Days of Action:
Over five million people in the U.S. have lost their employer-based healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now is the time to redouble our efforts to win a universal, Medicare for All system. Read more for three actions you can take right now to build the movement for Medicare for All.
Essential workers have continued to ensure that we can have access to food, health care, sanitation, and other vital goods and services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet employers have failed to provide essential workers with safe conditions, appropriate equipment, safety standards, or job protections, which has led to the deaths of far too many working people. If employers will not ensure the health, well-being and financial security of all essential workers, the government must step in to protect workers’ lives.
Pennsylvania State Representative Summer Lee, who addressed UE’s 2019 convention, easily defeated a primary challenger supported by the Democratic Party establishment on Tuesday. “This is a win for all working people and all who live and are from the 34th District,” said Local 610 President Antwon "Swanny" Gibson. “Summer is the leader we need to stand up for racial justice and racial equality for an economy that functions not only for African-Americans but also for workers, the sick, and the elderly.
It is with shock and horror that we watched the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minnesota this week. Along with the recent killings of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, it serves as a reminder that Black lives simply do not matter to many of the people who run our society or the police forces who enforce their laws.
On May 15, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representatives Pramila Jayapal and Karen Bass introduced the Health Care Emergency Guarantee Act. It would have Medicare pay for all necessary medical expenses for all uninsured Americans, including those tens of millions of unemployed workers who have lost their employment-based health insurance. Medicare would also pay for all out-of-pocket expenses for those currently covered by private insurance or any public insurance plan (including traditional Medicare).
Reacting to Senator Bernie Sanders’ announcement this morning that he is suspending his 2020 presidential campaign, UE General President Carl Rosen said that “In his two presidential campaigns, Bernie Sanders highlighted the way corporations and billionaires have corrupted our democracy and showed that by standing together, working people can successfully fight back. He has fundamentally changed American politics, making pro-worker policies like Medicare for All, a $15 minimum wage, and strengthening workers’ ability to join unions central to political debate.”