This Saturday, Bernie will be delivering a speech on "the Agenda Americans Need" at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire. Please subscribe to his YouTube channel to be alerted when it begins.

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In this unprecedented moment in American history we, as progressives, are engaged in many struggles.

We are trying to defend and improve democracy against those who want to move us toward authoritarianism; we're trying to create an economy that works for all of us and not just billionaires; we're trying to create a public health care system that guarantees health care to all; we're trying to protect a woman's right to control her own body; and there is the not-so-small matter of trying to save our planet from the ravages of climate change so it is habitable for our children and our grandchildren.

Big stuff.

So I can understand why all across this country — despite some of the successes of the Biden Administration — there are those who are giving into hopelessness and cynicism and believe change that will affect their family is not possible.

I can understand why across this country, we have millions and millions of people who look at the political process and say, "Not for me. I don't know what these guys are doing, but it's sure is not relevant to my life."

If you are feeling anxious, confused, or angry — you are not alone. Millions of others feel the same way.

But in the midst of our many struggles, we cannot simply remain on the defensive. The answer to all of this is not simply to bury our heads in the sand or wallow in despair. It is to fight back.

And one place that is happening — that all of us should be paying attention to — is among workers and their unions who are fighting back aggressively against corporate greed with the kind of energy and solidarity we have not seen in decades.

We are seeing it at UPS, where the International Brotherhood of Teamsters took on UPS in a brilliant negotiating campaign that resulted in a victory for more than 340,000 UPS workers nationwide — a contract ratified by more than 86% of members that raises wages for full and part-time workers, creates more full-time jobs, and secures more important workplace safety protections. It's the most significant collective bargaining agreement in the history of UPS, a corporation that made $13 billion in profits last year. The workers there stood up, fought back and they won.

We are seeing it in the auto industry where the United Auto Workers are in the middle of contract negotiations with the Big 3 auto companies; Ford, Stellantis, and General Motors, who have made a quarter of a trillion dollars over the past decade.

There was once a time, decades ago, when union auto jobs were considered the gold standard for blue collar workers in this country. Sadly, that is no longer the case.

Today there are tens of thousands of UAW workers who are working 60, 70 hours a week and making inadequate wagers and benefits. These workers are getting squeezed while the guys at the top have never had it so good.

And what these workers are saying is, NO, it is unacceptable that while the Big 3 auto companies are making record-breaking profits, the autoworkers who are responsible for those profits are not receiving decent wages and benefits.

We are also seeing it on major college campuses across this country where there has been an incredible expansion of graduate student workers standing up and fighting for economic justice. For decades, these young workers have received minimal benefits, unpredictable schedules, and unsafe working conditions while some of the universities who employ them are sitting on HUGE, sometimes multi-billion dollar endowments. In the last year alone, graduate student workers have gone on strike at Harvard, Temple, University of California, Fordham, Rutgers, Columbia, New York University, University of Illinois Chicago and at the University of Michigan.

We are also seeing growing worker militancy in healthcare. All across the country nurses are organizing and fighting for decent contracts, which include strong patient safety standards. And in some of our major hospitals we are now seeing physician-residents, who often carry a very heavy work load, organize for better conditions for themselves and their patients.

Bottom line: All across the country workers, whether they’re blue collar, white collar or in-between, are organizing unions and they are WINNING their battles. They are leading the fight against the outrageous level of corporate greed that permeates our country today. They are demonstrating what solidarity, and fighting for economic justice, is all about.

So yes, there is no doubt that we are living through painful and frightening times. But despair is not an option. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not anytime. That is exactly what our enemies want.

To my mind, at this moment in history, there is nothing more important than bringing working people together in the fight against corporate greed and oligarchy.

The very good news on that front is that all across the country, in every sector of the economy, we are seeing that happen with a major resurgence in labor organizing.

In the history of this country, real, significant change has never happened from the top-down. It always happens from the bottom-up. So today, let us stand with organized labor. Let us stand for economic justice. Let us take on greed and oligarchy and create a government and society that works for all, not just the few.

I hope you will tune in to my speech on Saturday.

In solidarity,

Bernie Sanders

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