Our power is in our unity

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the divisions in our country, how we are increasingly split—red vs. blue, old vs. young, even men vs. women.

Undoubtedly there’s some truth to that national portrait. But one thing most of us can agree on is that division is not the American way. The preamble to our country’s Constitution defines its fundamental purpose as forming a “more perfect union.” And we are a nation that fought a civil war in order to preserve that union.   

So if there is a divide, we need to try to bridge it, not deepen it.  

That’s why the American labor movement is so essential to this moment. Union is who we are. Unity is what built us and what keeps us strong.

That fundamental truth was brought home to me most powerfully when thousands of union members gathered in Springfield just eight days after the national elections. We were there to advance a shared cause essential to our shared humanity: Achieving dignity and security in our retirement years.

We came to make the case for fixing Tier 2—the diminished pension benefit that irresponsible politicians forced upon all public employees in our state hired after January 1, 2011. “Benefit” is hardly the right word for an accrual that some employees essentially pay for themselves—contributing more out of each paycheck than they will eventually receive in retirement.

We had a powerful case to make to state officials that day: Tier 2 pensions are fundamentally unfair and urgently need to be improved to provide a benefit comparable to Tier 1.

Equally important, we had a powerful means to make that case—our steadfast unity. Yes, we came from AFSCME, but also from both teachers’ unions, the nurses’ association, the firefighters’ union, the teamsters, the service employees, the laborers, and three police unions. As I looked around the crowded State Capitol, I saw red shirts and blue shirts and white shirts and, of course, green shirts. We embodied the slogan on our signs: “We Are One.”

Many said it was the largest rally ever held in the Capitol rotunda. It called to my mind another massive rally in Springfield—so large it couldn’t even fit inside the Capitol building—the labor movement’s 2016 protest against then-Gov. Bruce Rauner.  

Then too we refused to accept injustice. And then too we knew beyond any doubt that our unity—almost every union in the state of Illinois standing up together—was our strongest weapon in that pitched battle to protect the rights and standard of living of working people.  

All of us in AFSCME have found that truth again and again in battle after battle. We have traveled across the state to support each other’s contract fights. Those of us in local government have rallied to protest the planned closures of state facilities. We have risen up together in anger from Chicago to Anna when our bargaining rights are threatened. We have seen our retired members come out to join us on picket lines.

We know what union is. We live it every day. And we know why it matters so much. It is the foundation on which all of our progress rests, on which all of the gains that have improved working people’s lives are built.  

And, of course, that is why the forces of division are so unrelenting. We see it in groups like the Illinois Policy Institute and the Freedom Foundation—funded by dark-money elites—who bombard us with their disinformation campaigns, trying to pit us against each other, to convince us to abandon our union and go it alone.

We see it in the forces that seek to lay the blame for our problems on one group or another, to foment animus, to belittle and isolate rather than inspire and elevate.  

We know it is those who sow division who stand firmly against our efforts to build a better country with good-paying jobs, safety at work, access to high-quality health care, affordable housing and a secure retirement.

But we won’t be deterred. Union is who we are. Unity is what we do. Year after year we have worked together to improve our lives. We have seen the progress that we’ve made—and we are keenly aware of how much more yet needs to be done.  

I saw it this month in the Capitol rotunda, as the chanting reached a crescendo—We Are One! We Are One! Honestly, that just about said it all.