UE Political Action Updates

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.

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.”

A coalition of hundreds of worker, community and environmental organizations, including UE, launched a new People’s Bailout campaign yesterday, to demand that congressional coronavirus responses focus on the needs of working people.

“Now is the time for bold actions that will not only save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, but also create an economy that works for working people,” said UE General President Carl Rosen.

The proposed replacement of NAFTA, now known as the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), remains a tool for corporate interests and provides insufficient relief to address the problems for working people embedded in the original agreement. At their core, these trade agreements serve to guarantee corporate investments in foreign countries and stop elected governments from passing measures that might impact corporate profitability while offering no real guarantees to workers in exchange.