Chicago labor leaders denounce Trump

Chicago, IL – A group of diverse and high powered labor leaders spoke out at the Labor Against the Trump Agenda panel held in Chicago on Saturday, August 16. The full house at the Casa Michoacan gave rousing applause to federal workers in attendance who have been the point of attack for the Trump administration’s union busting tactics. These policies have not only gutted important national unions but have taken away vital services for working people in this country.

Since Trump took office, hundreds of thousands of workers have lost the union-negotiated rights in their collective bargaining agreements. The United States government broke its contractual agreement with all of these workers. Many thousands have lost their jobs, including scientists who test our air and water, health care workers who care for U.S. veterans, those who provide Social Security benefits and so many more.

Keith Richardson, president of the American Postal Workers Union Local 0001, talked about Trump’s plans to privatize the United States Postal Service. In Richardson’s view, the postal service provides good union jobs to hundreds of thousands of workers. The USPS is over 250 years old. If Trump and his allies succeed in privatizing this service, Richardson said, “the price of packages and mail could rise 30 to 100%.”

The Chicago working class’s long history of struggle, fight and solidarity was highlighted by Chicago Federation of Labor Secretary Treasurer Don Villar. He recalled the heroic battles of workers in the Rail Strike of 1877, the Haymarket Affair of 1886 and the Pullman Strike of 1894 saying, “we need to engage in that kind of fight again now.” Villar gave a fiery speech defending federal workers.

Next Villar connected this to the racist gerrymandering going on in Texas, stating, “they want to go back the days of Jim Crow racial segregation.” He charged, “This is white supremacy.” We need strong unions to fight these attacks, something we lack in Texas.” He ended to thunderous applause with, “The struggle never ends. Who is with me!”

Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Jackson Potter put forward a practical alternative to Trump’s plan: “Tax the billionaires!” but Potter didn’t let the Democratic Party politicians off the hook. He pointed out that in Illinois the Democratic Party has veto-proof majorities in both state houses and a Democratic governor.

Potter encouraged all the organizers present to help build a strong Labor Day protest in Chicago. These protests are happening around the country. “We are in a united front moment,” said Potter, “ all the movements including immigrant rights, labor and others are coming together for this protest.” In Chicago, they will single out hedge fund billionaire and DOGE leader Antonio Gracias who has undermined union rights, Social Security and more. “We are going to Gracias’s headquarters, we are going to Target to protest their attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion,” Potter announced.

After the presentations, a lively discussion ensued with audience members and panelists discussing electoral as well as street strategies to motivate the power of the working class.

Panelist Jill Manrique, who is the executive director of Chicago Jobs with Justice, offered insight into the complexity of electoral politics, the need to hold elected officials accountable and the importance of unity against the current attacks.

“Genocide hasn’t been mentioned. For a lot of us that was a no go,” Manrique said, “What keeps us together is even stronger than what keeps us apart. What keeps us together is that we are all workers, we are all suffering under capitalism, we are all suffering when we don’t need to be.”

This panel discussion was sponsored by the joint labor committee of the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda and Jobs with Justice.

Richard Berg is co-chair of the Joint Labor Committee and host of the Fight Back! Radio podcast.

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