Unions protect 'sanctity of this election'
Labor groups plan day-after rally, threaten general strike to ‘protect and defend our democratic rights’
Unions plan to flex their political muscle Wednesday to defend election results in support of counting every ballot. (Chicago Teachers Union)
By Ted Cox
Major Chicago labor groups have joined in a pact “to protect and defend our democratic rights” and “ensure the sanctity of this election” as the last voters go to the polls Tuesday on Election Day.
The Chicago Teachers Union and locals with the Service Employees International Union led a news conference late Monday outside the Thompson Center in Chicago in which eight labor groups called “for every single vote to be counted and for the final results of the 2020 presidential election to be respected.”
The unions issued a joint statement saying: “We stand firmly in opposition to any effort to subvert, distort, misrepresent, or disregard the final outcome. We invite our fellow members of the labor movement to join us in defense of these democratic rights.”
The groups planned a day-after rally at 5 p.m. Wednesday in Chicago’s Daley Plaza in support of what’s expected to be a continuing count of ballots across the nation, as election boards across the country process not only Election Day ballots but mail-in ballots cast in the pandemic.
“Donald Trump wants to steal this election,” the statement declared. “We won’t let him, and we are prepared to engage in mass nonviolent protest — up to and including a general strike of all working people, if necessary — to protect and defend our democratic rights.”
“Our world is upside down and inside out at this moment,” said Stacy Davis Gates, vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union, at Monday’s news conference. “We fully intend to shift the trajectory of everything that is upside down and inside out.”
“Our world is upside down and inside out at this moment. We fully intend to shift the trajectory of everything that is upside down and inside out.”
CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates (YouTube)
Adding that they were out to “put humanity ahead of partisan bickering,” Gates said, “We are going to ensure the sanctity of this election. We are in solidarity with protecting the results.”
“Every vote that was cast should and must be counted,” said Dian Palmer, president of SEIU Local 73. “We stand united, and we intend to speak out peacefully and legally to protect every single vote.”
“We also need a peaceful transition,” said Joe Richert, the local’s secretary-treasurer.
“We will fight back against any attempt to steal this election,” said Roberto Clack, of the Warehouse Worker Organizing Committee. “We need to stand in solidarity and begin to heal this country.”
“We believe that the labor movement has an essential role in demanding and defending democracy. We believe in the power of the people — the multiracial, working-class majority — and we are ready to defend our right to a free and fair election and a peaceful transition of power,” the statement declares. “We will stand up for democratic rights wherever they are at risk. We call on all unions, community, faith, and civic organizations, and public leaders to unite in vigilance and readiness to defend our rights as the votes in the Nov. 3 election are cast and counted.”
Other labor groups joining in the declaration included SEIU Healthcare Illinois, the American Federation of Government Employees Local 704, the United Electrical, Radio & Machine Workers of America, the Cook County College Teachers Union, and Fight for $15 and a Union.