On “The Fight for Higher Education”:
“This resolution represents a vital fight before working-class Americans. [ … ] When my fellow academics ask me why I'm involved in my union and why I have no shame in being loud about my involvement, I say it is to make graduate education more accessible to everyone.”
—Grayson Arnold, Local 1105
“We work in order to live just like every one of us here, and we understand that education should be a human right.”
—Lauren Chua, Local 256
On “Medicare for All”:
“Medicare for All is something that is near and dear to my heart. As you can see, I have a lifeline. Our company discontinued company insurance a little over a year ago. So we had to go to the marketplace. Well, now, with the big, beautiful bill, and us all losing our jobs come the end of November, that lifeline is going to go away. My medication alone, as well as my oxygen, is over $10,000 a month without insurance. So the reality is, without some kind of a rescue, I will die. And that is not just my reality. That is a reality for hundreds of thousands of people. Without Medicare for All this country is going to see a die-off like it's never seen before, just because of the lack of health care.”
—Dawn Meyer, Local 808
On “A Safe and Healthy Workplace for All”:
“Our brother’s name is Dave Disbrow. One day at work, he collapsed, had a heart attack, died on the floor. And the way that we handled that was to put up tape around him, put a blanket over him because we had to wait for the coroner. But [the company insisted] you're going to keep working by your work center that's right next to his body. That really messed people up. [ … ] These companies, they don't give a shit about us.”
—Andrew Moore, Local 770
On “A Green New Deal for People and the Planet”:
“Obviously, this has been a passion project of ours with the Green Locomotive Project. And it's extremely disappointing at the moment with all the dismantling of green initiatives that's occurring. But the important part here is, is we don't give up the fight. We continue to struggle, and we push forward. Regimes change, things change, and we can drive change. So I ask everybody, please, please, please support and push for green initiatives.”
—Scott Slawson, Local 506
“I am so for this resolution. Because I'm looking forward to our children, our children's children, having a world that they can live on and breathe on and have food to eat.”
—Rhiis Buswell, Local 228
“Climate change is a threat to humanity. It's going to kill us all, but really, it's going to kill the working class first.”
—Corey Larson, Local 1186