OPINION: Unions vital to protecting our Democracy

By DAVID FALLICK

Let’s face it. You can’t say that you’re for democracy if you’re against unions.

Why? Because if you’re against unions, you’re against working people having a voice and having a voice is what democracy is all about. And the way that working people have a voice is by organizing into unions. Having our voice contributes not only to democracy in the workplace but also to the maintenance and protection of our democratic political system.

AGAINST DEMOCRACY?
But we know that certain people involved in the political process are against democracy. Republicans.

We know this not just from their violent attempted overthrow of our government on January 6, 2021. Not just from their voter suppression laws in states across the country. But also from one of their other core characteristics. They are anti-union.

There is more than one example of their anti-unionism, but here’s just one that proves the point all by itself. Did you watch President Biden’s State of the Union address? Joe Biden said, “Pass the PRO Act.” The Republican speaker of the House sitting behind him emphatically shook his head “no.”

BIDEN: TO PRESERVE DEMOCRACY
Well, it’s time to start campaigning for Biden again. I have already called a fellow 2020 Biden volunteer to see if any volunteering for Biden 2024 has started yet. That’s how we’ll preserve our democracy.

Vote the anti-democracy, anti-union Republicans out and campaign for and vote the pro-democracy, pro-union Democrats like Biden in. In this way, we will keep our society a democracy and keep our unions strong – and keep them, period.

Do you want a Republican president who seeks to amass even more power in the hands of those who would smash unions and our democratic system or a president who wants to protect our democracy and who wants Congress to pass the PRO Act? (And we also need the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act.)

We union members are vital to a protected and functioning democracy – the very vision of America.

Get behind unionizing. Get behind democracy. Get behind Biden. It’s not too early to start!

(David Fallick is a member of the American Association of University Professors, American Federation of Teachers. He teaches English as a Second Language. He is a periodic contributor to the Labor Tribune. Opinions expressed are his own.)