With Labor Day 2023 just days away, we at Gamaliel publicly reaffirm our commitment to the labor movement in this country and to working people everywhere.

We are clear that there are major injustices in the United States and globally.  We believe that at the core of many of these injustices are the triple foundations of a growing extreme concentration of wealth in a very few, the lessening and undermining of democracy, and the weaponization of race to politically divide us so wealthy elites control government to serve only their interests.  

An extremely important component in reversing wealth concentration and strengthening democracy is a strong labor movement.  In both the United States and globally when greater and greater numbers and percentages of workers are in unions and bargaining with their employers, profits and wealth begin to be more equitably distributed and begin to reverse extreme wealth concentration. 

Additionally, unions have been accurately described as “schools of democracy.” Workers in unions vote on who their representatives are, discuss and debate issues impacting them, take part in the collective bargaining process with their employers, and gain confidence in voicing their opinions—all of which leads to them being more active in their communities and in the broader societal democratic processes. 

The weaponization of race to divide and conquer workers was often a strategy of employers. Unions have long fought for and overwhelmingly achieved contract provisions that mandate employers treat and pay all workers equally. These collective bargaining provisions have often been the foundation and examples for civil and human rights legislation. 

For these foundational reasons and many others, Gamaliel strongly supports workers’ rights to organize and collectively bargain and supports strong unions and a strong labor movement.  We support legislation at both the national and state level that protects all workers’ rights to organize and collectively bargain.  Specifically at the national level, we support the Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act 2023—which makes it an unfair labor practice to require or coerce employees to attend employer meetings designed to discourage union membership—and at both the national and state levels, we support sectoral bargaining legislation.