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By the Freedom Road Socialist Organization Labor Commission
The past few months have seen a non-stop assault on organized labor by the Trump administration. Early removal of an NLRB member, stripping TSA workers of their union, moving to privatize the post office—each of these could be seen as a precedent-setting attack in their own right. In response, unions have filed lawsuits, pressured Congress, and held several National Days of Action.
However, on March 27, Trump carried out what Mark Dimondstein, President of the American Postal Workers Union, called “the most serious attack on unionized workers in this country in at least a generation.” Using an executive order citing “national security,” Trump unilaterally ripped away all union protections for upwards of 700,000 federal workers. For comparison, Reagan’s crushing of the air traffic controller strike led by PATCO in 1981 involved around 11,000 workers.
In 2011, the Republicans in Wisconsin introduced Act 10, which sought to take away public workers’ collective bargaining rights. From the beginning, it was an all-hands-on-deck situation. Union members and students occupied the state capitol building in Madison. At the crucial moment, many union leaders balked and focused on a recall election of the Governor, which failed. The struggle was successful to the extent to which it was militant. It failed when it was reduced to a “Get Out the Vote” effort. We cannot forget this lesson.
This historic attack on federal workers is in no way an attempt to save the government money or to maintain “national security.” It is a massive political attack on federal union workers—who are resisting Trump—and on the entire labor movement.
We have also seen targeted attacks on union members and leaders, as when ICE recently detained two union activists in Washington state, Alfredo Lelo Juarez and Lewelyn Dixon. The local AFL-CIO and immigrants’ rights groups called for action right away and brought people out into the streets. We need labor leaders to stand up for their members and fight back hard against the Trump administration’s agenda.
Using the courts and pressuring lawmakers is, of course, necessary, but it is in no way sufficient. The time to escalate actions is NOW. The time to get union members into the streets is NOW. The time to defend the working class with all means at our disposal is NOW.
April 5 has been designated the next major Day of Action to resist Trump, and we call on everyone to hit the streets on that day. If nothing is organized yet in your city, reach out to other unions and build it yourself.
International Workers Day comes every May 1, and this year it’s coming with a bang. Build with all people under attack by Trump, especially immigrants, to come out for May Day.
The billionaire ruling class has dropped the mask and is coming for blood—our blood. The slow decline of union density over the past fifty years has served them well, but that era has come to an end. Either we show them weakness, or we show them strength—and the working-class movement needs strength above all else. The future of the union movement will be defined by what actions we take now.
-All out for April 5!
-Build for a Massive May Day!
-When Workers and Immigrants Are Under Attack, We Fight Back!
