July 24, 2024

Tactical thinking, please!

The Republicans are evil, vile ghouls who all deserve to have their noses fall off due to a curse from a witch. And, yet, they continue to win in our political system due to their ability to plan ahead. They gather up their minions and conceive of new and vile ways to strip rights from the majority of Americans.

Their capture of the judiciary—not just the Supreme Court, but all levels—is a sight to behold (in horror and shame).

I encourage you to engage in similar long-term thinking.

If you want the United States to change, we need to elect Kamala Harris.

And I know what you are saying:

• She’s a Democrat! Not a revolutionary!
• I have very good reasons for throwing my vote to a third-party candidate who would never bother to run for a lower seat and insists on ruining Katie McVay’s life every four years.
• Change doesn’t happen at the ballot box!

Did I say the change would come from Kamala Harris? No, I did not.

However, worker-driven change can only happen under a Harris presidency. Under a Trump “presidency,” there’s no presidency any longer. But that’s neither here nor there. We’re talking about long-term planning.

The National Labor Relations Board, under the Biden presidency, is stacked with people who answer the phone. This ability and willingness to not only answer the phone but respond to the needs of those who are attempting to unionize has resulted in a groundswell of union activity. You need only to look at the Cornell University labor action tracker to see all that is happening.

Shawn Fain, who leads the United Auto Workers, is not resting on his laurels. The United Auto Workers has been aggressively unionizing the South. He has also been encouraging unions to end their contracts simultaneously on May 1st, 2028. This would be the lead up to a general strike. A general strike, for those of you who are not French, is a mass action where strikes affect every sector of society, creating a work stoppage that warrants response and worker power that cannot be denied.

In the United States, where labor rights have been hard-won and are often eroded, secondary boycotts and sympathy strikes are broadly illegal. For a strike to be legal in the United States, it must only be taken against the employer in question.* By asking unions to end their contracts on May 1, 2028, the UAW avoids this problem entirely.

Real change would result from a general strike. Firstly, it has the potential to be the largest labor strike in American history. Secondly, a general strike would allow workers to demand more than simply fair wages. We could have it all.

Now, back to Harris. Under Donald Trump (who has already been president), the National Labor Relations Board was used to roll back, rather than expand, worker’s rights. This would continue apace in a second term. Not to mention, oligarchs like Elon Musk are trying to get the National Labor Relations Board declared unconstitutional.

The judiciary, which has been captured by conservatives, reads the Constitution as it reflects their values. It has been declaring all sorts of things “unconstitutional.” Just today, the FCC was dealt a major blow as the fifth circuit, against all legal logic, declared the “universal service fee,” which funds expanded rural internet access, unconstitutional.

Given these recent rulings, it is almost guaranteed under a Trump presidency that the National Labor Relations Board would be declared unconstitutional. Republicans have also been floating the idea of declaring OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) unconstitutional. Under those conditions, continuing the gains of labor would be impossible.

Real change comes from the people. Real change comes from workers. By voting for Harris, you give workers a fighting chance to make meaningful and impactful change in the United States.




*You cannot say “we, the Starbucks Union, are striking in support of the Trader Joe’s union” for example. Cesar Chavez, one of my favorite Catholics and labor organizers, did utilize sympathy boycotts, but that’s only because farm workers are not covered by the same labor laws—but that’s a different kettle of fish.